::: Roy Jones Effect :::
Ya'll know how cocky Roy was. But when hey got laid out... he said the exact same thing fifty said. He just wasn't feeling it. I don't know if it is just a cop out or the truth or both. You don't get the same rush the second time through. The fact that he even beefed with Kanye was a sign he was worried about the sales in the first place. Like the reporter asked him, was it a marketing trick? It was a marketing gimmick. But that ain't nothing new. Hip Hop is all about competition and sometimes that comes out as beef. Especially lately. It is the first thing new artists resort to... beef.
The problem with fifty is the drama.
Kanye is going to have the same problem if he keeps it up. When you build a persona where your antics overshadow your music, no one will buy your music. You can't identify with an artist that is self absorbed. No one has come through the game so self absorbed that it effected their progress like these two have. Jay Z as hella cocky but his moves never overshadowed his work. It was all about the music. Kinda like the whole Sony PS3 shit. They came out in the press and said... we can price our shit however high we want and you will still buy it. People systematically reject control. That's why so many people hated on Sony and PS3 is in last place as far as the console wars go. As soon as an artist starts geting way too big and no longer represent what they came in the game with, they fall off... BECAUSE PEOPLE STOP CARRYING THEM. Lot of people don't like 50 no more because of how he has gotten so full of himself. Kanye is right behind him. Why do I want to give a muthafuka who writes songs about how much more money he makes than me another dollar?
The difference between kanye and 50 right now is he has a lot more to say than fifty so we are listening. But if he ain't careful... the crowd will turn on him just like they are on 50 right now. Kanye is like the Britney Spears of hip hop. You tune into him because you are more interested in seeing what kind of crazy shit he is going to do instead of being interested in his work. He is almost all image but his saving grace is that he does have substance to him. He just needs to be careful.
That's why Stress, and many others, don't wanna hear no more bullshit about the politics and drama involved. Hip Hop ain't supposed to be about gimmicks used to push sales and trying to become a corporate mogul. And it ain't suppoed to be associating itself with shit that don't have nothing to do with it.
I can go on and on about this but I'll leave it at this. 50 knocked Oprah for not supporting Hip Hop. Well Hip Hop has no business on Oprah... it ain't made for 50 year old white women. It is not meant to be understood by people who have nothing to do with it. Hip Hop has no business fukn with Pamela Anderson and Evil Kennevil. Kanye is getting close to the edge. Seriously... he sampled Daft Punk and the song is huge and he things he did something fukn super amazing. Give me a fukn break. Daft Punk's song was legend before he touched it so why does he think he is a fukn God. Common called him the new Primo and he had to call Primo to provide the cuts? How that fuk does that work? Everytime he gets his props he ain't even humble enough to appreciate it. You ever see his acceptance speeches? Ridicoulous. He's like the black guy that gets on the bus and acts a damn fool and then eveyone looks at you like you are responsible for his actions.
His ego will end his career if he keeps it up.
Now the reason why I had to say all this is.... I hate to see a self made man, not just a black man, but a man period, self destruct like that. I don't wish that kind of downfall on anybody. Like Britney. I hate Britney. But I wouldn't wish that kind of downfall on her. And worst off all...
That is why cats like WILL.I.AM have a hard time getting their props. They call it the GROWTH of hip hop. But they ain't fooling nobody. Hip Hop fans know selling out when they see it. Rap is not pop if you call it that then stop. That'w what Q-Tip said back in the day. Now Rap is POP and everyone's goal is to make money and guys like WILL.I.AM try to mask it buy calling it growth.
::: My TWO CENTS :::