Nicki Minaj and Cardi B: Here We Go Again...

While a global movement for women's rights to bring about an equitable society gains momentum, the bitter rap feud between Nicki Minaj and Cardi B is still a trending social media topic. That in and of itself should do more than raise an eyebrow in regards to its social engineering implications for Hip Hop culture, marginalized women within that industry and the plight of black women across America.

There’s nothing new about rap beefs. They go all the way back to Hip Hop’s cultural inception when the first Emcee picked up a microphone and proclaimed themselves the best. Regardless what career field of industry that we’re in, as soon as we claim to be the champion we’ve just created the number one, two and three contenders. Hell, that’s the driving force behind Capitalism; competition. We must not forget, Hip Hop came directly out of New York City gang culture and as an alternative to violence youth began to slowly advocate peace, unity and having fun superimposed over a new musical genre called Rap. Movements of social consciousness, youth advocacy and community outreach such as the Five Percent Nation and Zulu Nation are primarily credited with making this paradigm shift happen.

Roxanne Shante' and Marly Marl

The first female rap beef goes all the way back to 1984 to a young 15 year old girl named Lolita Shante’ Gooden AKA: Roxanne Shante’. One of the first females to be recognized for rocking the mic, Shante’s song inspired over 50 responses from both male and female artists. The brainchild behind Shante’s song was legendary producer Marley Marl who wanted to create a record for his Rap Attack radio show. Marl took the instrumental of the popular song Roxanne, Roxanne by UTFO about a stuck up girl named Roxanne who rejected all of the members of the group. Marl’s idea was to tell Roxanne’s side of the story and this song became the birth of Roxanne’s Revenge. Roxanne Shante’ recorded it off of the top of her head and this birthed one of the most notable battles in the chronology of rap music. Marl released it and instantly sold 5,000 copies throughout the city of New York. When UTFP heard it they issued a cease-and-desist based upon Marl’s use of their instrumental so Marl re-recorded it over a different track and sold over a quarter of a million copies. While there were various responses to Roxanne Shante’, with UTFO’s Real Roxanne being the most notable, the lowest response to this 15 year old girl was an artist named Ralph Rolle who recorded Roxanne’s a Man in 1985.

Just like the rap beefs we see today, artists got involved in the 80’s to get a piece of the action. However, things were much different prior to Rap’s Golden Era. Hip Hop culture, as a localized community of DJ’s, Emcees, Dancers and Graffiti Artists in NYC, functioned as such; a community. Everybody pretty much knew or knew of everybody. They went to the same parties, frequented the same record stores, danced in the same neighborhoods, patronized the same stores for supplies, gear and accessories and developed names and reputations for themselves as DJ’s, Emcees, Dancers and Graffiti Artists. Rap music wasn’t a nationally recognized and respected genre at this time and people had limited places where they could go to even hear it. In fact, rap was often referred to as "jungle music" and mainstream radio would not play it. From Hip Hop culture's inception, its elements were considered dissonant, vandalism, criminal and counter culture by the mainstream society. As the DJ and Emcee eventually took center stage as growing park jams spread throughout NYC, record labels began to see the marketability of a new music genre called “Rap.” While some record labels were genuinely interested in giving artists a platform, many simply saw it as a trending money grab. This symbiotic and often parasitic relationship between artist and record label began in 1979 when Curtis Blow recorded the first solo album on the Mercury label. For some, this environment bred competition for stardom and coveted record contracts. The rap beefs that did come out of this era such as Busy Bee vs Kool Moe Dee, MC Lyte vs Antionette and Roxanne Shante’ vs Everybody were not vulgar nor did they result in funerals. Another difference then, in comparison to now, is that we didn’t have an international audience. Just like when children fight in school yards, the bigger the audience the more people tend to put on a show, today that audience is the worldwide web and social media. Instead of a few friends instigating a fight in a school yard, there are millions of people using Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snaptchat and other platforms to instigate feuds such as this one between Nicki Minaj and Cardi B. People instigating fights used to be frowned upon in our communities but nowadays people make a living monetizing drama as talk show and radio hosts, bloggers and vloggers. So to see two young women who are within the top 5 female artists within Hip Hop today, tear each other apart in a male dominated industry that already marginalizes them is not inspirational or empowering for other women; especially young black women who are striving to self-actualize their potential. As artists, and black women who share a common plight in America, there is much more they could accomplish with unity. Willfully this negativity exposes them to the downside of public feuds like this and inspires them to humbly learn from elder sisters; Queens such as MC Lyte, Salt-N-Pepa, YoYo, Heather B, Monie Love, Boss and of course Roxanne Shante’. Not only can their wisdom help Nicki Minaj and Cardi B navigate these treacherous waters, but it equips them to teach and train the next generations of women how to effortlessly walk on those waters. Both of these women do some amazing philanthropic work in various communities and it would be beautiful to see more coverage of that, perhaps even on a unified front. This beef, past beefs and any future beefs are ultimately lucrative for corporate controlled Hip Hop and the thousands of businesses and gossip columns that make a living off of the narrative of our drama. Culturally speaking, in a community where the highest value lies in our relationships, this is not good for the brotherhood and sisterhood of Hip Hop.

Peace,

Saladin

Eminem Is Not My Rap God

   This week about three different people told me Eminem is Top 5. Not Top 5 in 2018. Top 5 since Rap music existed. One person was a child who didn't even know who Rakim was so I shrugged my shoulders. The other two were adults. One of them mentioned Big L in the same sentence and the other person didn't even acknowledge The Notorious B.I.G.. Although Biggie wasn't one of my favorites I have enough sense to mention him as one of the greatest to ever touch a mic. I understood his brilliance and learning that he simply listened to the music and wrote in his head, it puts his almost peerless quality into perspective within such a competitive industry. Let me just say this right off of the rip, Eminem is not my Top 5, Top 10 or even Top 25. I've seen and experienced too much over the twenty plus years of experiencing Hip Hop culture, and its element of Rap, to think otherwise. In fact, Posdnuos from De La Soul is more lyrical, witty, conceptual and substantive than Em. Fight me. See, I came of age in the 1980s and mid-1990s during the Golden Era of Rap music. From that time onward I have witnessed some of the most diverse, creative and substantive music this genre has ever produced. I've also witnessed strait up trash. Now I wouldn't go as far as saying that Eminem is trash. I think he is quite good in terms of rhyming words. If Eminem played basketball and words were ball handling skills he'd be like The Professor. Yet he IS NOT NO Kyrie Irving, Zeke, A.I. God Shammgod, Kenny Anderson or Tim Hardaway. 

   Hearing debates like this often indicates to me how poorly educated people are about Hip Hop culture, its chronology and Rap music specifically. Artists that we personally like is a matter of opinion. When it comes down to critically analyzing and articulating the Artist's music, its content, delivery, social impact and creativity that's a strata above some people's intellectual pay grade. Unfortunately, it's often that opinionated demographic who has the acultural platform to share opinions veiled as facts. The above video of Shock Gee explaining the technique of some Artists is an excellent example of what some folks don't even perceive who have a very topical, generic, voyeuristic approach towards Rap music and Hip Hop culture. I'm talking about the kinda folks who will wear an NWA or Wu-Tang Clan t-shirt because it looks cool, but would not be caught dead, their pun intended, in these artists' communities or with its community members. Some may think this is pretty innocent. On a local, every day, "It's Hip" kind of way it may seem harmless. When you start talking about Hip Hop culture and the element of Rap music in the larger global context and the Who, What, Where, When and How its narrative is controlled, framed and interpreted it doesn't seem so harmless any more. 

   For example, Seatsmart.com, one of the biggest ticket brokers in the world published a study in 2016 that stated Country music is Most Intelligent genre in the last decade and yup you guessed it, Eminem is the Most Intelligent Hip Hop/RnB Artist in the last decade. Let that sink in. On the other hand you have a much more legitimate data driven study that determines the size of Rap artists vocabulary and not surprisingly the Wu-Tang Clan and Wu-Affiliate Killah Priest were at the top of the class. In fact the GZA, host of Liquid Science, was second only to Aesop Rock. You can check out the study here: Rap Artist's Vocabulary.

   Speaking of vocabulary, did you know that children 6 years old and under from impoverished communities may hear up to 30 million fewer words than their privileged counterparts? Did you also know that this vocabulary gap sets a cognitive, social emotional and economic trajectory that widens between impoverished and privileged children as they grow? Scientists in the area of Neurocognition, Psychology, Neonatology, Biostatistics and others have only recently concluded in their research that there is a direct link between potential mental and physical health outcomes and a child's language development, including disparities between communities and their access to resources. Ironically, people thought Ol Dirty Bastard of the Wu-Tang Clan was crazy for interrupting the 1998 Grammys and announcing, "I don't know how ya'll see it but when it comes to the children, Wu-Tang is for the children. We teach the children, know what I mean? Puffy is good, but Wu-Tang is the best. O.K.? I want ya'll to know that this is O.D.B. and I love you all. Peace!" after losing in the Best Rap album category to Puff Daddy & The Family. Was he crazy or did he and other perceptive people understand what these Scientists and Rap Reporters had to verify about lyricism, access to vocabulary and why Wu-Tang Forever should have won Best Rap Album in 1998?

Although I was a teenager when the Wu-Tang Dynasty began, both of my Queens [daughters] experienced it during their early childhood development years; I took them to Wu-Tang concerts and sometimes had them on stage. The Wu expanded the vocabulary of every day people, and for those of us who had KOS [Knowledge of Self] it built upon a rich vocabulary and culturally coded language that existed in Rap music since its inception that we were fluently speaking in urban America for almost 3 decades. Although my Queens' Mother and I intentionally built upon their vocabulary and helped provide access to resources and developmentally appropriate practices to assist in their growth, their background music played a critical role in their cognitive journey. Today our eldest is a Forensic Psychologist and our youngest is a Chemist [Scientist]. Brain development is experiential and none of that was happenstance. 

   One of the most powerful inventions of this generation is the word "Hater." It's the forerunner of the Active Denial System (ADS) the U.S. military developed to stop protesters hundreds of over 3,000 feet, almost a mile, away. Yes some people strongly dislike who we are or what we do, and may have a legitimate reason why they think or feel that way. Calling a person a hater is often used to invalidate and not acknowledge their perspective, which may be right and exact. This empty expression can literally be worth the weight of the wind it's carried on out of someone's mouth, yet its effect can leave a person as toothless as an old tiger in captivity. Why am I sharing this? Welp, just to say that just because Eminem is not in mine or others Top whatever, it doesn't mean that we are hating on him. If he is not my Rap God.

Peace,

Saladin

Is Mumble Rap Killing Hip Hop?

     
   Some time ago I interviewed Dej Loaf, a platinum-selling Hip Hop artist from Detroit MI, after a concert in Toronto Canada. We discussed her career and what her thoughts were on being compared to the 90’s rapper Boss; another platinum-selling artist from Detroit known for her popular song “Deeper.” Dej Loaf’s response was, “Who is Boss?” I knew at this moment that something a lot deeper than unintelligible lyrics, vocalator effects and Lil Uzi Vert shoulder rolls was happening in Rap's transformation.

 

   Hip Hop culture consists of five elements: MCing, DJing, B-Boy/B-Girl, Graffiti and Knowledge. From its 1970s inception these elements were considered dissonant, vandalism, criminal and counter culture by the mainstream society. As the DJ and MC took center stage and park jams spread around NYC, record labels began to see the marketability of a new music genre called “Rap.” While some record labels were genuinely interested in giving artists a platform, many simply saw dollar signs. This symbiotic and often parasitic relationship between artist and record label began in 1979 when Curtis Blow recorded the first solo album on the Mercury label.

    In the late 1980s and mid-1990s, Hip Hop’s Golden Era, we witnessed some of the most diverse, creative and socially conscious rap music this genre has ever produced. From the mid-1990s onward we’ve also witnessed its mainstream decline; where rap music lacking diversity, creativity and social commentary reached its zenith. Today many of these rap artists. and their inaudible mutters. have come to be known as Mumble Rap.

Telefone by Nonome

     Coming from an era where lyricism was important to listening to incoherent artists is challenging. Yet I refuse to proclaim that Hip Hop is dead. Not because of a stubborn nostalgia to linger in its past, I simply have confidence in our millennial artists to expanding its cultural legacy. Sure there’s a control mechanism in ‘corporate rap’ that has co-opted many mainstream artists, yet there has always been an underground; a subterranean world of sight and sound that infuses Hip Hop with color, consciousness and the creative content we seek. Artists like Noname, Bishop Nehru, Earl Sweatshirt and others are leading the way. In this millennial age where the internet created a direct-to-consumer business model, artists are more accessible and now have a platform to build their brand and distribute their products/services without a mainstream label. Given these factors, Hip Hop is independently alive more than ever before. 

Peace,
Saladin

Madam Alchemsa and the Metaphysical Music Serum

   As a Creative Artist I'm always inspired and working on some project whether it's literary or musical. The other day I woke up with an idea of putting an album together and making it a free download so I went into my studio and about an hour later I was finished. To include my readership and listening audience I put out a call on my Facebook Page for people to share a photo of themselves, an image they took or an image they created and encouraged people to vote on the one they liked best. The one with the most LIKES I would use as the Album Cover for this music project. I received many entries and all of them would have made beautiful covers yet the winner was the above image submitted by a Queen named Shaina. Based upon her image I also came up with the Album Title: "Madam Alchemsa and the metaphysical music serum."

   I want to THANK EVERYONE who participated by submitting images and voting and I will that this project is inspirational, empowering and educational.

FREE DOWNLOAD HERE

Peace,

Saladin

Battle Royal

 Battle Royal

When the media coverage of Meek Mill vs. Drake first went viral I excited me! Not as a fan of their work but as a lyricist, poet and outright music enthusiast. This moment put the focus back on lyrics. The last time the mainstream or general public were really interested and concerned about what someone had to actually say was that BET cipher verse by ‪‎Kendrick Lamar when he put the entire industry on notice. To this day NO ONE has reasonably responded to that. Do you know who truly listens, dissects and critically analyzes rhymes regardless to whom or what? Rap Enthusiasts  who genuinely appreciate lyrics, poets/spoken word artists, battle rappers and emcees/femcees. Last week 85% of the mainstream audience were just bobbin' they head to beats.

Another thing that I appreciate about this situation is it's potentiality to bring out the best lyrical content of artists. Busy Bee Starski vs. Kool Moe Dee, LL Cool J vs. Canibus, Jay-Z vs. Nas, KRS One vs. MC Shan, Ice Cube vs. Common and etc. are all instances where artists came with their best. As long as it doesn't go waaaaay left on some government co-opted Tupac/Biggie scenario it's a healthy landmark moment for ‪Hip Hop‬ in general and rap music specifically. Something else I've considered is its economic stimulus. The peripheral memes, videos, vintage tees, product placement and co-signs that not only generates web traffic but creates commerce is important. When Drake dropped his second Meek diss track Back To Back he used a picture of forgotten "World Series Hero" Joe Carter after hitting a three run homer to beat the Philadelphia Phillies. We would be naïve to believe that people didn't go out and buy Joe Carter paraphernalia that day? Brilliant! Drake also made good on his lyrics by sending ‪Charlemagne‬ 6 bottles of Dom P.. That was dope yet imagine if he would used his celebrity to get behind an up and coming entrepreneur and support their brand of alcohol by sending it to Charlemagne. What if Meek Mill responded by talking about charity work he's done for the Blackstone Foundation Library in Toronto? Personally I would love to see instances like this used to better empower everyday people and support local businesses.

After all of this Meek Mill finally came back with his response entitled Wanna Know which was wack from my perspective. His words weren't clear, Funk Flex added his theatrical explosions, there were samples and anything else you can imagine that distracts a listener. Although many people, including Philadelphians, expected more I still appreciate this moment in Hip Hop. Politically speaking it's no different than lobby groups putting the pressure on public officials to respond to a current situation. In rap music, people, not necessarily artists, oftentimes don't have this kind of pressure on them -especially when they're mainstream [Top 40]. Therefore, they say, do and sell whatever they want to the public. In this instance the lobby groups were everyday people using social media and hashtags to call for a response and we got one. Some may not realize this power to social economically engineer events and the growing political consciousness of the people but it's happening.

Almost three decades ago The Cosby Show highlighted an upper middle-class African-American family living in Brooklyn in the beginning of the golden era of ‪Hip Hop‬. Yet the first time the culture was explicitly addressed/introduced was on a Season 2 Episode when the children were in the studio with Stevie Wonder and he sampled their voices and produced a beat with a synclavier. This was 1986 when Run DMC, Just Ice, Salt and Pepa, Steady B, The Beastie Boys, Afrika Bambaataa, Doug E. Fresh, Whodini, Too Short and others were making their mark within the chronology of rap music. At this time rap was still mocked as "jungle music", marginally accepted and Stevie Wonder served as an ambassador for a sound, creative process and exposure to a culture that would ultimately reshape the world. We have come a long way from this mainstream moment of time. Now it's common to hear some element of Hip Hop culture in every facet of television and radio globally. It doesn't mean that it's accepted, it means that it and it's people are financially useful. We cannot overlook, minimize or trivialize that.

Some people have called this Meek Mill vs. Drake media coverage boring, overrated, wack, a distraction and etc. Yet the irony of this is the fact that they still found themselves commenting about it. That's like an Atheist talking about there is no God. At the end of the day, whether we like Drake, Meek Mill, Nicki Minaj's neutrality, this is a teachable/educational moment. If you're a Hip Hophistorian, use it as an opportunity teach others about the chronology of rap battles. Take a moment to educate yourself, and others, about "ghost writing" and one of the most prolific one's Smokey Robinson. Are you a rapper/emcee? Well make your own response to the situation or state of rap music. Do you make custom tees, a producer, graphic artist or etc.? Do something with Joe Carter or others such as Meek Mill's sister who has over 1 million youtube views in 48 hours. Find something of value in this that is inspiring, empowering and educational as opposed to just complaining. Add-on!

Peace,
Saladin

"It's not you, it's me"

For those of you who didn't know, I facilitate a youth mentor program called STYA which is an acronym for Successfully Transitioning Youth to Adolescence. My demographic are nine to twelve year old's and we do everything from critically analyze cartoons, arts & crafts, cooking classes and etc. to encourage them to expand their consciousness, build self esteem and discover their purpose in life as they transition into their teenage years. What I love most about working with youth, which I've done with various programs and initiatives for over a decade, is learning ideas, attitudes and behavior adults have in their infancy. In other words, I see nine year old girls learning to play the "make a boy jealous" game that eventually becomes a fully functioning operating system I see thirty something year old's use every day. Some things don't change, people just get older and continue doing the same thing. And the same way jealousy games may not change among females, some male's level of sophistication to appropriately respond to these games doesn't change either. I can't tell you how many times I've had to talk a ten year old boy down from an emotional ledge because some little girl was playing with his emotions. His reaction is no different than seeing emotionally unstable men committing social media seppuku because of what some female is, or isn't, posting on Facebook. Some of us simply never matured intellectually or emotionally; we're just older versions of the same child.

Because my Ole Earth was a Psychologist/Sociologist I've been orientated to analyze human behavior my entire life, literally. Normal family outings were going to places just to people watch; my Ole Earth would find a public place to sit with some of my siblings and I and we would discuss what we see in people's body language, style of dress and etc. One of the games she would also play with us was the book of questions -which I discovered later in life was a psychology book, not a game at all. This kind of investment into my growth and development as a child, coupled with the cultural contributions of my Ole Dad, has helped in my successful transition from boy to man. Some males never had a mother invested in them in this way nor did they have a father around to teach him what it means to be a man. Because of this, some of us have manufactured our idea of manhood 'a la carte' and the emotions and intellect surrounding this lacking remain raw, immature and underdeveloped. This is not an excuse, it's an assessment of what I've witnessed in its infancy and what it has the potential to become when it's not responsibly addressed as an adult. Ladies, young boys may destroy toys when they don't get their way. The same boy who doesn't get his way as a grown male, will destroy you. There's a lot of truth in what Drake says about these days.

Like with any group or society of people, some of its members are going to be emotionally and intellectual immature. One of the challenges I've dealt with over the years are these same boys/girls, not yet men/women, referring to themselves as Gods/Earths. Thankfully this doesn't reflect the overall consciousness of Five Percenters I know, yet there are some of us who are like that -sometimes for reasons only known to them. This is the reason I wrote the book Explorations of God/Earth Mental Health; to empower my peers to recognize and address it. Because one of our cultural motto's is "Peace" or Positive Education Always Corrects Errors, we've always encouraged each other to grow and develop beyond whatever circumstance we've come from or are presently in. For any of us who are sincerely striving to elevate their consciousness and condition, it's a journey that involves removing the negative residue that comes along with seeing and believing ourselves to be inferior. All of us who have taken this step to gain KOS [Knowledge of Self] started out emotionally and intellectually immature. On many levels we're rewiring ourselves emotionally and intellectually and that takes work, sometimes a lifetime. Nothing happens over night, except the night -especially not the growth and development process.

In closing, I want to reiterate the importance of us men getting ourselves together. This is not to minimize the responsibility of grown females who need to grow up either. There are women I know who are successfully speaking from this perspective. As men, we can start getting ourselves together by being more vulnerable with one another by speaking honestly about our upbringing and emotions. I'm not talking about ranting, posturing or posting inappropriate stuff on social media under the guise of "keeping sh#t real"; that's immature and messy. I'm talking about investing the time to really examine the who, what, when, where, how and why we think/behave the way we do with each other and the opposite sex. That is one of the most integral parts of KOS. Females share and are vulnerable with each other all the time. That female-to-female Educator and Student relationship directly, or indirectly, has remained pretty much intact since we've been in this country. Males are the one's usually holding stuff in and back from one another. Some of us males were grown up before we had an open conversation with men about hurt, lost, frustration, insecurities, inadequacies, embarrassing situations and etc. Even though some of us aren't sharing these things with each other in a healthy way, it always come out in the most unhealthy of ways -whether that's throwing tantrums or shade, being abusive, gossiping, broadcasting how great we are, taking serial selfies, being a whore or etc. Additionally, there are some things we've experienced as boys that we decided to take with us to our grave. Part of the emotional frustration or indifference you see us express is us trying to live with that lifelong decision. So ladies, when some grown males tell you, "It's not you, it's me", believe it! Also believe the likelihood that they haven't said or done anything about it for over twenty something years and don't plan on saying or doing anything about it after telling you that. We got work to do in order to help get our families/communities back in order and emotional instability and intellectual immaturity won't get us there. As civilized men who advocate righteousness, as Five Percenters and definitely as Gods, we must expect more from ourselves, and each other, to get that job done.  

Peace,
Saladin

A Journey of Sight and Sound

Kontact is my third musical project; a concept album released through my company Quanaah Publishing. Reminiscent of the 1997 film, you are the album's lead character; a scientist listening to coded radio transmissions seeking evidence of HipHop's Extra Celestial life. You learn that each song contains lyrics of technical drawings that reveal a complex world of advanced civilizations, subterranean folklore and self exploration. Through this sequence of sound sent from a star light years away, you've been chosen to make first contact.

Official Track Listing

Kontact is now available globally and can be ordered through any store that sells music, here at this Amazon Link, my E-Store and my Quanaah Publishing Store.

Peace and Thanks for your Support!

Saladin

Jay Electronica

and

The Freshman Jinx

On Saturday July 12th at the annual Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival, all eyes were on Rapper Jay Electonica, adorned in a Fruit of Islam [FOI] uniform and flanked with an entourage of Nation of Islam [NOI] believers. After bringing out J. Cole, Talib Kweli, Mac Miller, Jay Electronica finally brought out Jay Z and they performed four songs together before exiting the stage. Since this Festival, many have taken to social media to articulate what they believe to be the significance of this event, and today I want to share my perspective on this subject matter.

Heralding Jay Electronica's performance as an iconic return to take his throne, some have declared him as the rightful King of Hip Hop. Others are defining this demonstration with his Muslim entourage as an Islamic Renaissance of rap music; being led by Jay Electronica as a Farrakhan-like figure, reminiscent of the days when the God MC Rakim defined Hip Hop's Golden [Conscious] Era. Jay Electronica himself appears to echo many of these sentiments with the tweets/photos he's posted after the Festival: LINK

Whatever those sentiments may or may not be, I think that many people overlook the fact that Jay Electronica is a Rapper who has never put out an album before in a music industry he does not control. That in itself is a tremendous amount of pressure and level of expectations that a Rapper putting out a sophomore album doesn't even experience. A sophomore jinx is when artists prepares to drop their sophomore album after putting out a classic freshman album. Because their first album was classic, it's often believed that they jinxed themselves from creating a classic sophomore album because the first one was so good. Aside from A Tribe Called Quest, the Wu Tang Clan, and arguably others, there are not many artists who've been able to escape the sophomore jinx. Since Jay Electronica has only successfully recorded some classic verses as a lyricist, he has set a high mainstream bar to put out nothing less than a classic album, classic music production and classic features on his first long awaited album. This is equivalent to a freshman jinx.

You know, the music industry is a very fickle thing, and just as easy as the media loves you, they can hate you the very next day. Ask Chris Brown. So as I'm sitting back watching all of these Jay Electronica fans sharing pictures of him and his entourage on facebook/twitter and philosophizing about how this is a demonstration of Rap's Time and What Must Be Done, I'm wondering if these people realize they need to actually support him, financially. I wondering if they know what soundscan is, what first week albums sales means, if they understand what "merch" is, a HHQ [Hip Hop Quotable] and what a paradigm shift in an industry they don't control will require. Because if not, then all of this social media posturing will be all for not and this critical mass, or 85% of the people I see acting like they support him, will be one of the main reasons for his freshman jinx if it happens. Let me explain why.

Because Jay Electronica has shown himself to be a Muslim affiliated with the NOI under the leadership of Minister Louis Farrakhan, there are many Muslim believers and those whom are affiliated with the NOI, that have expressed their admiration and support of him via sharing pictures, links and comments on social media. Because he is a Rap Artist, in a music industry, that support is great yet it must be demonstrated in concrete quantifiable terms. In other words, unless this critical mass of people are actually supporting him by buying tickets to his concerts, downloading his album, buying his album in record stores and purchasing his "merch" [merchandise], it would be difficult for Jay Electronica to grow into the cultural arts leader some are declaring him to be. Worst than that, his resources to do more will be limited and you will give the media the means to actually destroy his career. I can see the headlines now: "Iggy Azalea goes Double Platinum, Jay Electronica goes Wood", "Rap's so-called King is Crucified", "Jay Elec-flop-ica's long awaited album is a dud", "Jay Electronica Concert cancelled because of low ticket sales" and etc. Most of my favorite Artists are not mainstream, yet in my opinion, they're some of the most lyrical and creative. In many ways, Jay Z publically knighted Jay Electronica into mainstream Hip Hop on July 12th. So the whole idea that "Jay Electronica makes music for the listeners" is no longer the driving force or marketing strategy of his music going forward. It's business and the bottom line is he must now appeal to the masses.

In closing, I want to encourage those of you who are watching this moment in time, and think/feel that it's truly a paradigm shift in rap music, to get involved. Don't just get involved by sharing pictures, links or commenting on statuses. I'm talking about supporting what you think/feel in concrete quantifiable terms. Just because Jay Electronica is giving Minister Farrakhan a shout out and you're feeling good because you're a registered Muslim in the NOI is not enough. Buy a ticket to his concert even if you don't go to rap concerts; gift it to someone who does! For those of you who are 5 Percenters and kith with Jay Electronica, rep his brand by purchasing his merchandise! And those of you who simply like his music, make sure you buy his album when he drops it. If there is any worthwhile demonstration in all of this, then this is what it needs to be demonstration; financially supporting any creative/performing artists whom we truly believe have something of substance and significance they're offering to this world. Chuck D and other artists have been advocating this for longer than I remember and its importance is still relevant and timely. All of the other empty posturing and "I'm affiliated" politics/pictures mean nothing if we're not invested in artists, or striving to encourage others to invest in them. On a personal level, I am not a fan of Jay Electronica although I do think he is lyrical and I like some of his songs. As an artist myself, artists that have more clarity in terms of their determined idea, a sense of consistency with their body of work and their art itself is what resonates more with me, regardless of the art form or genre I'm critiquing. As I've stated, Jay Electronica is still waiting to release his first album and willfully with his release he evolves to manifest a positive determined idea and body of work that inspires, empowers and educates people.

Peace,

Saladin