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Written by BLieve
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 Watching the Lakers in the NBA playoffs these days, it is hard to imagine that Kobe Bryant has been in the league for 13 years already. It was 1996 when the seventeen year old was drafted, about the same time that Ali Vegas was chilling with Lamar Odom in Jamaica, Queens. Yes, the same Lamar Odom doing for Kobe what Pippen used to do for Jordan. Now let’s take it full circle and ask Ali Vegas how he defines his style of music. “I don’t know, it’s kinda weird because it’s unorthodox. It embodies all aspects of music. It’s not backpack, it’s not trendy, it’s like all of that in one. I made my style to be like my favorite basketball player, Scottie Pippen. He could shoot the three, put the ball on the floor, go to the rack… basically do it all, so that’s how my style of rap is. I really can do it all. It’s nothing in music that I can’t do.” |
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Written by BLieve
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 Asher Roth is a little different from the rappers you see on TV. He goes to (or went to) college, he doesn’t rock transformer chains and he is very light skinned. Ten years ago, this combination probably would not fly with A&Rs and label executives but this is 2009…and there are no more recipes for guaranteed success. For years, the industry has relied on deceit and mystery to sell records but as all the Rick Ross in hip hop get exposed by regular schmucks on the internet, we feel a little cheated for the tall tales we paid $12.99 for in the past. And though we all wanted to be a rapper for all the glory and riches, we can’t help but doubt how much are our idols are really caking when the rap industry and NBA are having flopping contests. |
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Written by BLieve
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 Hip hop fans are unforgiving listeners with a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately-approach. So all rappers accelerating in a fast ride, take note and drive towards that finish line before you run out of gas. It’s easy for a talented lyricist to gain a buzz (and non talented ones these days), just ask Papoose, ask Crooked I and nearly every emcee that has attained some sort of success over the last 3 decades. Some of them achieved hood fame with a debut album only to never be heard from again while others shined under international stardom with multiple platinum records. Joe Budden falls somewhere in the middle of this range. |
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Written by BLieve
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 If there is one emotion every storyteller must draw out of their audience, it must be respect. The same story may be told by two individuals, and one will receive a standing ovation as the other is drowned in boos. Even prominent authors that lose their listener’s approval will find a hard time being heard again. (Prodigy, Rick Ross, anyone?) |
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