I'll just put up the original post from that thread in quotations and i'll just post a short opinion of it after.

"All I Need In This World Of Sin Is Me And My Girlfriend.
-Tupac Shakur

Okay..Since the inception of Hip Hop, the stance on defending your rep was basically two MC's getting into a cipher surrounded by a group of spectators, and going all out in a war of words, battling to see who has the sharpest wit, master and manipulate the English language in rhyme form. And basically whoever won, thier rep was solidified as being the illest, bottom line. That was then..


This is NOW.

From Schooly D and N.W.A., where 1st heard gunplay lyrics Hip Hop was definitely taking a twist to the world where in the actual factuals, being strapped was a neccessity(especially in the hardest hoods of South Central,
Philly, the NYC boroughs and Houston(the Geto Boys especially Scarface, were the main mouthpieces of the South from the jump when it came to gunplay lyrics..)

Most of these artists today are definitely "living by the sword, die by the sword"(in today's case our sword is the gun)...from our favorite artists getting killed by the gun(Tupac, Biggie, Big L, Jam Master Jay, etc.), to artists catching gun cases (T.I. and Prodigy most recently, and a bunch of others in Hip Hop on a long list as well.) You hear it in the lyrics about 90% of Hip Hop, and to some artists, they actually live like that but afterwards it's like hearing an audio version of "Guns And Ammo" magazine..

Does living out the dream of being a successful Hip Hop artist have a clause that you must be strapped at every cost, even if you do roll with bodyguards? Or is it a case of being a soft pu*sy, because bottom line..niggas is just scared as fu*k and needing "their girlfriend" to protect them at all cost?

I know it's jealous muthafu*kas that's playing Robbin Hood in the hood it's understandable, but seriously...is gunplay necessary in EVERY situation?




Discuss or bitch.."

"Hip Hop has gotten to a point where gunplay is the 5th cornerstone with MCing, DJing, Breaking and Graffiti..it's must to walk the walk and talk the talk now. Especially when it comes to someone buying your record and to solidify street cred."

My response was mainly to the 2nd quote, i'll probably give my whole opinion on the subject a little later on...

It's pretty much a product of all these mixtape rappers being clones of eachother, if somebody is doing the gun talk thing and being successful at the same time, you'll see 50 more guys on mixtapes that sound just like him (Ras Kass said something along the lines of "If homosexuality was cool you'd see a lot of gay rappers", probably not even close to the word for word as i've forgotten exactly what song he said it on, but you get the point)

hmmm interesting topic..ill rep u now and post my opinion later...the jets are plaing =]

Guns/Violence is only subject matter, no hiphop artist should feel the need to carry guns or take part in violence unless they need compensate for their lack of musical talent and deficiency of rhyme skills. The music itself should be the foremost thing that a rapper should fret about, because that's ultimately what they are supposed to be doing, creating hip hop music.

People need to break-dance more often too.

Good post.
They should not carry guns, most rappers are rich enough to have bodyguards, It's like that whole T.I. shit, why did he wanna buy all those guns....because he is an idiot and for once i agree with ScottishHead they are only carrying the guns to make up for thier lack of talent.

"This is an art form, a form of expression
Communication, something that you relate with
Gang related or peace statements, it's all up to the artist
We got freedom of speech, and each aims for a different target"

That pretty much sums it up for me. We need balance. We need the violent rap, we need the party rap and we need the backpack rap. But we need all of them to stay balanced..

Too bad there's no balance today.