Comments on: His Royal Highness, Na-PAUL-eon Bonaparte Hereby Decrees…

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:24:36 +0000

No No…I def feel you on that but I do think Common switched it up…I don’t think it’s bad…just a bit comical. It’s great to see Common get the love he deserved…I just wish he could have gotten it for something as groundbreaking as Electric Circus instead of the safer Be (which I am a big fan of as well)…and yea outside of “T.I. vs T.I.P”….I do have a lot of respect for the Rubberband Man.

By: Ed

Ed — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:20:52 +0000

One thing I will say tho is I like T.I, I don’t know if you were joking when u said look at weezys competition but T.I can spit

By: Ed

Ed — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:19:00 +0000

yea on second thought i guess i did take a kinda pointed approach with that one. Didn’t mean to attack u for ur jokes or whatever im just sayin i personally dont take commercial to mean the literal definition of selling records, when i hear someone say someones gone commercial i take it more as someone is selling out, or completely 180′ing there style so they can get into the main stream and sell records. Or being lyrically gifted but dumbing it down to sell records. All in all i like the blog man, it makes for a good read. Keep doin ur thing my dude

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:05:39 +0000

I had this long winded response written with lots of witty retorts and clever analogies going point by point with your argument…but it’s just not worth it. This happens in literally every single post I write. People see what they want and find the negative instead of actually engaging the post. You’re probably a Common fan and saw the couple jokes about dude and got offended, thereby missing the entire point of the piece. It’s not big deal…I do it like everyone else when I see someone who writes something in a scathing or sharp-witted way. We see something we don’t like and jump on that one thing because someone goes extra hard on it. I suppose that’s what I should expect when I write with a sharp pen…people take the language to heart and don’t actually read what I am saying. If you had you would understand the fact that I joke about the whole Common thing, as I joke about literally everything in my posts. I am a huge Common fan and like to poke fun at how he has completely switched up his entire presentation and thusly won over a huge fan base. Are they not Common fans…maybe…maybe not. It’s a little suspect to call yourself a fan if you only know one album. I didn’t jump in from the beginning so trust me that wasn’t my point. Either way the post wasn’t about Common it was about Wayne, more importantly a much bigger topic on hip-hop, which you apparently missed.

I’m sure people think I hate Wayne too…simply not the case…I critique things by presenting valid points…hating is when you just clown just because. Nothing is perfect: Me, Wayne or Common Sense.

And commercial just means you sell products and records…well…which Common now loves to do…so what?…every “commercial” rapper, “those MC’s who gross more than most”, I am a fan of… withstanding Soulja Boy. If you want to make “commercial” a negative that’s fine…but I don’t.

Again I could probably retort each of you’re points as well as you retorted mine…however, considering I wrote the post, I believe I have a leg up having understood the argument.

By: Ed

Ed — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:41:20 +0000

Come on now, are we really gonna accuse common of going “commercial” and “mainstream?” Is Common going commercial because he debuted at #1 on the billoard charts? No. Is a real lyricist, a real hip hop artist finally getting the recognition he’s deserved his whole career? Yes. What about Finding Forever is commercial? Kanye West producing? So now Kanye can’t produce tracks just cause he’s blown up? The Finding Forever album is a musical masterpiece, from the way one song flows into the next to the lyricism to the overall vibe. That is hip-hop, hip-hop doesn’t have anything to do with how many people are listening or buying your records, hip-hop is about the music. Is Common’s music commercialized because he acts and does commercials? That’s ridiculous.

Furthermore you write like ur a hip-hop elitist…”Now I like Be, however I am curious as to where everyone was at when Like Water for Chocolate dropped in 2000″ people get put on to the game at different times man, is someone who doesn’t have Like Water for Chocolate not a real common fan? Is someone who downloads his discography automatically a Common fan cause they have all of his material? Common’s style has evolved as the game has evolved, but that doesn’t mean he’s gone commercial. Youa’re a Jay-Z fan right? What about Big Daddy Kane? Are you not a Jay-Z fan if you aren’t a fan of the people who inspired him, of the people who layed the ground work for his flow? Where does it end? Speaking of Jay-Z, is he commercial? I’m guessing you would say yes. But his commercialization didn’t start with Kingdom Come, no it started with Vol. 2 Hard Knock Life. With the one “crossover” track that he needed to catapult him into the mainstream but you have no problem quoting lines from The Black Album and touting them as real hip-hop. The point is that just cause u go platinum or make movies doesn’t mean u are going mainstream or commercial. That’s something that a lot of artists do, but it’s also something that the fans have a lot of control over. If we as fans decide to buy Common albums we are making him mainstream, it isn’t necesarily because he has change or is making an effort to appease us. Last time I checked “The People” didn’t sound like 95% of what’s played on the radio…
The one thing I can agree with is that u cant make a sweeping statement about who the best rapper alive is, its all subjective. However, let’s be clear that Lil Wayne has said that he believes he is the best rapper alive, and that’s all that matters to him. The reason why he calls himself the best rapper alive is because he believes that in order to be successful you have to approach what you do as if you’re the best at it. And if you don’t you’re not living up to your full potential.

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 02:05:32 +0000

Hey man don’t walk in my line of fire…might get clapped up…Chidi: Welcome to the Terrordome!

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 03:03:48 +0000

Damn Paul, it was just chidi. no need to come with the ether treatment.

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 02:38:58 +0000

So basically the entire idea of this “theory” is pretty facetious…I am honored you took me that seriously. First off the King of France, as you may or may not know, does not and hasn’t existed for some time. This directly parallels the fact that the idea of being the “best rapper alive” is also as absurdly ridiculous (what does that even mean…you rhyme the best?…it’s completely subjective). As far as sells giving you a claim to the top spot…well I mean yea so does spitting 16 bars in your mom’s basement…I never actually debated that. He can posture himself however he wants, even though I don’t believe that he even thinks that he is the best but is using it as a clever marketing gimmick (I Declare War Concert between Jay and NaS, 50 v. Kanye, etc.) So again there’s really no argument there friend…let’s not get all sensitive when it comes to poking fun at Common, I mean dude was talking about Mary J’s “cat” and The Bitch In Yoo and now he sells Lincolns and v-neck sweaters…furthermore have you seen him in concert lately, dude stands on stage for fifteen minutes talking about ppl who are “misunderstood”…Assata… misunderstood…Martin Luther King… misunderstood…Lauryn Hill (really?!?!) …misunderstood…Ronald McDonald… misunderstood (sorry but dude acts like a clown at this point…harry belafonte voice overs in between sets…come on now?) I mean listen he is a shell of his old self. It’s actually quite funny to me. Yes, you can sell things as all of the other people did…as I said in my post you skimmed…I understand they have to make a buck because clearly people don’t support their albums. It’s just humorous that my man from the South Side now drives through it in a Navigator pointing his “hood” like he’s at the zoo. Furthermore let’s not get all sanctimonious and talk about Common making a social statement by selling thing’s for a cause…pause think about it and reevaluate your point…we’re all complex individuals folks…he’s not static and nobody expects him to be such…however, if your “evolution” is more of an adaption to the climate…I’m just saying it looks a little suspect…either way not that serious…just a pointing out a obvious change.

p.s. as far as Common changing his rap…well I believe “bling-a” speaks for itself

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 23:36:12 +0000

What facts could possibly back up the theory of pompous repetition? All that it says is that if you say something over and over again, it eventually becomes true. It’s hard to disagree with the fact that lil wayne constantly refers to himself as the best in one capacity or another.

By: JusticeinZimbabwe

JusticeinZimbabwe — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:20:19 +0000

I agree with you that the general hip hop audience and has changed their preferences as far as the content that appeals to them. Unfortunately, its been a change for the worse in certain instances.
And I find problems with your theory of pompous repetition for the reason that it has no facts to back it up. Duwayne Carter is probably selling more music,ring tones, etc than any other rap/hip hop artist out there. Does that make him the best rapper in the game, no? But it does give him claim to say that he is the best MC in the game.
Finally I don’t think we should attack common because he’s done Gap commercials. After all it didn’t change his style of rap or his beliefs. Gap ,btw, contributes a portion of their profits to aids prevention in Africa via their RED campaign. For all we know that could have been the reason he did the tv commerical in the first place. You talk about Mos Def as not subjecting himself to the commercialism of hip hop when Blackstar, Talib Kweli and KRS one have done Levis, Ecko and Adidas ads respectively. At the end of the day, these artist have jobs and need to provide for themselves.