1350 Okie Doke Street: Five Overrated Hip Hop Albums

Being a Libra often means one thing: I prefer harmony and avoid confrontation like the plague--often to a fault.  However, being the man Big Dadi Scribbler helped to raise also means I have no problem defending my position if that's what I believe wholeheartedly.  Besides, when you've gone a significant portion of your life flying under the radar, having the occasional unpopular opinion is light work.  With that said, the inspiration for this new posting series came from one of those "one gotta go" memes featuring Sade, Erykah Badu, Beyonce and Lauryn Hill.  Mrs. Scribbler and I talked about how people often make those memes to target a certain artist they feel is overrated, i.e., it's always Beyonce who takes that "L".  However, I have been in some of the most virulent arguments over everything from hip hop needing to be a form of "edutainment" to what makes a quarterback "elite" to anything regarding the Dallas Cowboys to...well...Beyonce.  So as an ode to the now defunct Dream turned Love Nightclub--which was more hype than actual dope, especially since I once had to beg a DJ to play go-go music in a nightclub in D.C.--I welcome you all to the grand opening of "1350 Okie Doke Street" where "controversy create conversation".  First up: I present five hip hop albums which I love, like or tolerate, but believe have been vastly overrated.  Preparing to lose friends and followers in five...four...three...two...one...

Living Legend or Urban Myth? The Concept of "Real Hip-Hop"

(First things first: I must give credit where it's due to my unofficial contributor for this particular post, Mrs. Scribbler.  Many of the issues that I plan on tackling in this potentially-controversial post are the end results of a conversation that she and I had on this topic recently, and for that, I say "thank you beeb" :-)!  Now, let's start the show...)

When I did a Google search for "real hip-hop", the image above was the first that popped up, including several variations of it further down the page.  The next image featured 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G. and Run-D.M.C. in the center with other hip-hop legends like LL Cool J, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Rakim, Ice Cube, Jay-Z, Nas, KRS-One, Public Enemy and a host of others on the outskirts.  Conversely, the sixth image in the search showed a picture saying "THIS ISN'T HIP-HOP" with an "X" through pictures of artists like Lil' Wayne, Drake, Big Sean, Rick Ross, Wale, Wiz Khalifa, J. Cole, Nicki Minaj and even Busta Rhymes--whose face ironically appeared on the aforementioned collage with the hip-hop legends.  I also saw images of graffiti, DJing, breaking, boomboxes, cassette tapes, microphones, headphones, and all of the typical associations with "real" hip-hop.  However, I write this post because I have become perplexed and somewhat annoyed by the notions of "real hip-hop" or "real hip-hop is not on the radio"--concepts that I believe are nothing more than "urban myths".