Published: Wednesday - November 28, 2007
Words by Tika Milan
Hip-hop has seen its share of scandals and salacious reporting this year, from slow CD sales, gimmicky artists and run-ins with the law. The "industry" and community have become a hotbed of gossip, criticism and scapegoating. Some of the finger pointing was warranted, but many times we have to take the fall for bigger issues that have not been addressed. So for this installment of The Badd Rapper, I'm going to give you the run down on all the things I hated about 2007.
12. Red Man, one of the most creative and lyrically gifted MCs in hip-hop dropped, Redman Gone Wild: The Album, his first album in over five years, and no one bought it. This album ranks up there with some of his best work, but Def Jam didn't push it. While they were putting money and effort behind ringtones, singles and songs that sound like jingles, which seem to have become hip-hop's mantra, Redman Gone Wild, one of the best releases from Jay-Z's powerhouse is ignored and basically seals Redman's irrelevance in the every changing face of hip-hop music.
11. Hurricane Chris. I hated that "Ay Bay Bay" bullshit and he's hard to look at. The braid, the shades, the barrettes in his hair. He looks like a girl. Like a butch gay girl. He looks like the Brat.
10. Somebody slapped fire out of Jimmy Henchmen's son and it wasn't Tony Yayo (so they say). What I hated worse about this incident was that right afterward, someone shot up Yayo's mother's house. I'm not assuming that the two incidents were related or trying to fuel a rumor, but when people start bringing drama to your family like that it's time to take a step back. It's just entertainment people!
9. Jay-Z has a love child in Trinidad. This rumor was so silly and people were really running with this one, particularly Wendy Williams and Hip Hop Weekly. What a waste of time this was.
8. Disco D commits suicide (see "Producer Disco D Commits Suicide"). Many people may have never heard of him, but he was an accomplished producer who'd worked with lots of artist including 50 cent. He had a unique sound and a promising career. RIP
7. The Fugees reunion will never happen. This past year there was talk of a Fugees reunion and for a hot second, it looked like it might happen. However, both Wyclef and Pras stated, and I'm paraphrasing here, that L-Boogie is a certified nut and absolutely impossible to work with. Then those photos of her surfaced looking like she escaped from someplace that she shouldn't have. All we got is The Score, which is still dope.
6. Just when you thought she had run through all of the industry, Superhead writes another book with more names and more sex. I'm all for calling out the man-whores in the industry, but I'm over it. I think everyone's over it. She's a hoe the industry is filled with man-whores and DL brothers. We get it. Stop writing. Please.
5. Stack Bundles is shot and killed in the lobby of his apartment building (see "Dipset Affiliate Stack Bundles Murdered"). He was affiliated with Dip Set and was making a name for himself on the mixtape circuit. It was senseless death. RIP.
4. The Feds raided DJ Drama's Aphillates Music Office (see "DJ Drama, Don Cannon's Offices Raided By RIAA; Website Shut Down"). Drama's Gangsta Grillz mixtape are the most popular mixtape series out there and he is making a killing on the scene. But, when his mixtapes became wildly success, those cut out of the deal (RIAA) tried to shut him down. The hypocrisy with this situation is that record labels for the most part, support mixtapes because it's basically a marketing tool that they don't have to pay for. But, when the mixtapes start to compete with the actual album sales, then it becomes a problem. Fucking haters.
3. Don Imus and his Nappy-headed hoes. After Don Imus made his tasteless joke about the Rutgers's women's basketball team, he was taken off the air (temporally) and the media rained down on hip-hop as if we were at fault for the ignorance that came out this man's mouth. Everyone from Oprah to Anderson Cooper to friggin' Al Sharpton had something to say about hip-hop's content. The worst part of this was the rappers and moguls who co-signed this bullshit. When we disrespect and degrade each other, no one speaks above a whisper, let a white man do it and all hell breaks lose. By holding ourselves at a lower standard is some real internalized white supremacy shit. Wake up people. For more details check my column.
2. The Hip-Hop Police. They were working overtime in '07. Rappers were getting arrested for everything from driving with a suspended license, impersonating a cop, dead dogs in their backyard, buying assault weapons and attempted murder. It's easy to say that they were all set-up and blame it on a conspiracy against hip hop but, some of these rappers just need to get their shit together. The cops always have it out for young black success people, but we need to not put ourselves in questionable situations is all I'm saying. If T.I was buying assault weapons (which is just a polite way of saying people killers. No one hunts with assault semi-automatic guns. People kill people with those guns) then he's stupid (see " T.I. Arrested, Home Raided By Feds In Atlanta"). A criminal empire fronting as a record company, calling themselves, Black Mafia Family is damn stupid (see "BMF Boss, Big Meech, Pleads Guilty To Running Criminal Enterprise; Faces 30 Years"). You're asking to get caught. But honestly, those in the hip-hop community, from the artists to the people behind the scenes are unfairly targeted and the Hip Hop Police did very good job of criminalizing the culture.
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