Old School

The Rose That Grew From Concrete

Posted on by raphiphopevolution

After the past few weeks talking about rap beefs and everyone trying to take each other down, I thought maybe its time to take it back to what hip-hop was originally about, which is the words that are written and spoken. Hip-hop is not just music, which it what many people think, its actually starts with the lyrics and poetry behind it!

When thinking about this, the first person that comes to mind here is Tupac. Yes, the one and only! Many of you may be unaware that in his time Tupac didn’t just write rap lyrics, but also a lot of poetry. After his death, there was a book released ‘The Rose that grew from Concrete’; which is a book complied of all the original poems he has written, and it’s even in his own handwriting. Many years ago, when I was first getting into hip-hop, I had a close family member buy the book for me, which helped to show and teach me where music was actually coming from. In reading the book, you can see his heart and honest emotions; its so real being written in his own writing because you can really feel his happiness, sadness, pain and anger.

This is the poem ‘The Rose That Grew From Concrete’ which would likely be his most well-known poem and what the book is named after.

Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete

Proving nature’s laws wrong it learned 2 walk without having feet

Funny it seems but by keeping its dreams it learned 2 breathe fresh air

Long live the rose that grew from concrete, when no one else even cared!

However, here is one of my favourite ones that he wrote called ‘And 2morro’. It really spoke to me when I was younger, and still does today. It’s one of those poems that just sticks in your head if you know what I mean? After not hearing it for years I could still remember every word and how I felt reading it.

Today is filled with anger

Fuelled with hidden hate

Scared of being outcast

Afraid of common fate

Today is built on tragedies

which no one wants 2 face

Nightmares 2 humanities

and morally disgraced

Tonight is filled with rage

Violence in the air

Children bred with ruthlessness

Because no one at home cares

Tonight I lay my head down

But the pressure never stops

gnawing at my sanity

content when I am dropped

But 2morrow I c change

A chance 2 build anew

Built on spirit, intent of heart

and ideals based on truth

And 2morrow I wake with second wind

And strong because of pride

2 know I fought with all my heart 2 keep my dream alive

There’s one last poem I thought I should share called ‘ Sometimes I Cry’, its rather sad but very true in today’s world, even though it wasn’t written for today’s reality, it appears some things don’t change even after 20 plus years.

Sometimes when I’m alone

I cry because I’m on my own

The tears I cry R bitter and warm

They flow with life but take no form

I cry because my heart is torn

and I find it difficult 2 carry on

If I had an ear 2 confide in

I would cry among my treasured friends

But who do u know that stops that long

To help another carry on

The world moves fast and it would rather pass u by

than 2 stop and c what makes u cry

It’s painful and sad and sometimes I cry

and no one cares about why.

So, after reading the last three poems, I hope I have opened up your mind to the words, feelings and emotions behind what real musicians write. This shows just how real Tupac was, he wrote about life, and the truth; whether it was good, bad or ugly. The problem was back then that a lot of people didn’t want to hear the truth which is why hip-hop faced such an upward battle back in the 80’s and 90’s. However, after reading this I hope it will make some people take a second look at others rather than just judging people based on what they look like. Tupac was more than a rapper, he was a real artist.  He was something rare that I don’t know if we will ever see again.

Here’s what the book looks like for any of you who are interested:

 

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Hip-Hop Beef

Posted on by raphiphopevolution

Well after last week’s beef between Eminem and MGK, which is just heating up; it has brought up conversation about other hip-hop beefs, who has made the best diss tracks and who has ended whose career. Now its too early to tell whether Eminem has lyrically killed MGK yet as that is an ongoing battle, however Eminem fans will tell you that MGK won’t be around for much longer. This is shown by Eminem’s past track record, he’s gone up against other artists such as: Mariah Carey, Ja-Rule, Everlast, Limp Bizkit, Benzino, Iggy Azalea and Canibus. Now who have you heard of, and who is still putting out music? Its safe to say who won those battles; so maybe MGK should look back at the past to see what his future will be.

So, who had the biggest beef in hip-hop? Tupac vs Biggie, Ice Cube vs NWA, Dr Dre vs Eazy E, Nas vs Jay-Z, The Game vs G-Unit, 50 Cent vs Ja-Rule, Eminem vs, well anyone? Well, arguably I would say the biggest beef in hip-hop has to be Tupac vs Biggie because even after more than twenty years since they were both killed they still dominate the sound of old school hip-hop, their fans are still arguing over the two of them and still pick sides of the war. These two were both kings of hip-hop in their own ways and most hip-hop fans will have either one of them in their top three rappers of all time which goes to show the impact they have had on the industry. It is impossible to say who won this war between them as it is more of a subjective argument to who you prefer as they are both on the same lyrical level. Me, I prefer Tupac 100 percent, but that’s just my personal view due to who I grew up listening too. The facts here are that neither of them could end the others career because they both had so much talent and passion behind what they were doing.

The same cannot be said for rap beefs nowadays. When someone old school like Remy Ma comes at (new school) Nicki Minaj in a beef, she comes strong with two diss tracks. But the way Nicki fires back is by getting her friends on a track to diss Remy. This is pathetic, it destroyed all her credibility in my eyes (not that I respected her in the first place). But how can you enter into a rap battle with someone, thinking you’re the best and can out-rap them, when you can’t lyrically take on someone on your own? The difference here is that would kill her career in the eyes of true rap fans, however the rap fans of today don’t seem to care about that or respect the unwritten rules of hip-hop, battle rap, and diss tracks.

Out of these rap beefs over the years come some lyrical geniuses, and some great diss tracks. Now everyone’s got a different opinion on which is better, but it always brings a good debate! One of my personal favourites is by The Game. His song 300 Bars and Runnin’ is a fifteen minute long diss against 50 cent and his group G-Unit. Its just shot after shot at them, its non-stop lyrical bars, its not focused on being a top 40 hit or making a perfect song, it’s about what its meant to be. You would struggle to find many other rappers who can do this for fifteen minutes straight, so I have a lot of respect for The Game since he made this.

I also can’t miss out Eminem’s song Nail in the coffin, it completely buried Benzino! There was no way for Benzino to come back in the rap game after that song. I then have to give a special shout out to Tupac’s song Hit ‘Em Up, Ice-Cube’s song No Vaseline and Nas’s song Ether. To me these are all classic diss tracks that represent the true meaning of lyricism and battling for the crown! These are all songs made by true rap legends who have earned their place in the game through their skill and rhymes. They all fought the hard way to get to the top and have never had anything handed to them unlike the rappers do nowadays.

What do you think?

Eminem vs Machine Gun Kelly

Posted on by raphiphopevolution

Well after what’s been happening in hip-hop this week, I thought it was only fitting to write about Eminem and Machine Gun Kelly.

Now Eminem is someone I would still consider to be an old school hip-hop artist, he was in the later part of the old school music, but he still belongs in this category. He came up on the music scene in the late 90’s and grew his career through the early 2000’s but he came up with other old school legends like Dr Dre which is likely why he has always had that old school flow to him. He has then grown to legend status over the years and has now claimed the tittle ‘Rap God’, which hasn’t really been challenged; even true legends like Redman, Rakim, Nas and Snoop Dogg respect his game and have openly declared they wouldn’t come up against him. People couldn’t deny his success when he lyrically killed Jay Z on his own song Renegade.

He would likely appear in most real hip-hop heads top five, or at least top ten. Yes, Eminem is in my top five rappers, however I have been bitterly disappointed with a lot of his more recent music. Its not the same as it used to be, he seems to have fallen off his game for a while now. But in listening to his new album ‘Kamikaze’ that he released this past week, it has some old feel to it, it feels like he’s coming back strong, which is exactly what the hip-hop industry needs nowadays.

One of his new songs ‘Not Alike’, he’s taken some shots at some shitty new generation rappers. This then caused a fire back from MGK who he took shots at for talking about his daughter Hailey. MGK’s song ‘Rap Devil’, while I’ll admit has some good wordplay in it, just isn’t on the same level as Eminem, its basic wordplay with some auto tune thrown in there.

Here’s Eminem’s first shot at MGK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCCQVu5wroM

(not the best quality)

Here’s MGK’s fire back to Eminem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp0BScQSSvg

The whole hip-hop industry is now watching and commenting on the new beef between the two of them, everyone is now waiting for Eminem’s diss track to be fired back as we all think (well most of us) that he will completely burry MGK. What was MGK thinking going up against a rap god? He must know there’s absolutely no way he can win this one!  Unless this was only a PR stunt to get people speaking his name; because let’s face it, does anyone really know who he is, and does anyone really care about him? Ha, not really, so I guess from his perspective it has at least got people speaking his name and raised people’s awareness of him, regardless of whether it’s in a good way or not. Well for now we’re just waiting for Eminem’s reply that will likely end his career.

The great thing to come out of this is that it is bringing real rap back. Its taking away from the current crappy mumble rap that’s everywhere around us and has people listening to music for what is actually being said. These battles that are coming are hopefully going to put real hip-hop back on the map!

#theworldiswatching

Have your say:

 

Old School Rap Music

Posted on by raphiphopevolution

Old school rap music generally refers to music made in the 80’s and 90’s. Generally, most of the music made after this time isn’t worth the paper that its written on. Back in the 80’s and 90’s music was a real art, and rappers had real talent.

There was real meaning and lyricism behind everything that was written and said. The music was about the skill of rhyming and the lyrics spoken rather than the beat that its on. This meant that if you didn’t have any real rhyming skills, you wouldn’t make it far. This was a time of battle rap and freestyling which meant everything had to be authentic, creative and have an impact!

Back then rap music was an expression of how people felt and what was going on at the time. There was a lot of good party music made, but in addition to that a lot of the music spoke on social issues that were surrounding the times. They weren’t afraid to stand up for injustices and call things how they saw it. This music was something that could bring people together and unite them from all over.

Old school rap is a term referred to by people who can’t stand the music of today; and those people (us) are also referred to by many as old school hip-hop heads. I don’t mind this name actually because to me it means I respect and listen to good music; so, I’ll take it!

The biggest thing to take away about old school rap is that no matter who or what style of rap you listen to from those years, or even whether or not rap music was your type of music or not it was 100% REAL!