Big Boi Is A Better MC Than Andre 3000: There, I Said It
“Designing fire rhyme patterns since I was 17, kids”
– Big Boi, ‘Walk It Out (Remix)’
Antwan 'Big Boi' Patton, painting by Shoryuu
I know I’m in the minority and will likely offend the holy gatekeepers of all things Hip Hop with this post, but that’s the nature of opinions. I’ve spent years studying the music of Outkast, and the work of Big Boi and Andre 3000 as solo artists. To this day, I still enjoy every one of their albums, with Aquemini being my favorite and Andre 3000’s Detox being my least. After critiquing these two legendary emcees for most of two decades, I’ve come to the conclusion that Big Boi is a better emcee than Andre 3000.
5 Other Signs That Hip Hop Grew Up
1. Jay-Z and Mentee, Rihanna, Headlining 2012 Olympics Festival in London
Jay-Z with Rihanna, nephew Juelz Knowles
2. Goodie Mob’s African-Americana Single ‘Fight to Win‘ is 2012 NBA Playoffs Theme
The Unexpected Greatness of Nasir’s ‘Daughters’
“More conscious of the way we raise our daughters” — Nas, 1996
photo courtesy of Destiny (pictured, right) on Twitter
Easy: There’s so much to decode in this song, and a whole book we could write on the amazing creative space that Nas appears to be in. I suppose we can start from the top of the track. When that No I.D. beat comes in, I thought two things: 1. Hip Hop!! 2. Nas is aggressively answering the critics who say he’s an ill lyricist who tends to pick weak beats.
Bavu: I wish Dion and Nasir could’ve emailed me the track, because I was day-jobbing when it dropped, and Soundcloud doesn’t fancy my phone. Ok, I just found a way to get a first listen via HipHopDX on my work computer and, well, we’ve got a Hip Hop Hall of Fame lyricist handling vulnerable, grown up subject matter in a straightforward manner. This is well-suited for the social media age, and certainly for HipHopGrewUp.
5 More Signs That Hip Hop Grew Up
Brandon "Lil B" McCartney
1. GZA [Harvard], 9th Wonder [Duke] and Lil B [NYU] Lecturing at Major Universities, David Banner Heads to Harvard This Week
Paul Wall Grew Up
Paul Wall, the 31-year-old Houston native who once told you to call him George Foreman, is a legend in Texas [and beyond] for being the People’s Champ willing to sell everybody grills. Always an affable personality with a unique niche in Southern rap, Paul blew up to #1 on the Billboard 200 with his 2005 major label debut. His weight also ballooned to over 300 pounds in the years to come, resulting in his choice to undergo gastric sleeve surgery and lifestyle changes that arguably saved his life. The married father of two [Will, 5, Noelle, 4] finished his term as the Texas Grammy Chapter President this spring, and was recently elected to be a National Trustee.
Paul Wall and wife Crystal at the Grammys
B: I probably have, maybe, five or six questions and I don’t know if you’ve seen the site Hip Hop Grew Up yet…
P: Lemme ask you this. Is the actual audio going to be posted on the site, or are you going to, like, type it out?
B: I’m going to type it out.
P: Ok, cool, I’m just saying, because I’ve got my little girl in the background watching this Barbie movie and I was just thinking, you know… As player as I am, I may not want this Barbie in the background [laughter].
B: Shoot, I’ve been recording music and my son is all in the background on the recordings.
P: So I know you can feel me on that, the same thing… I did this song for this dude out of Dallas named T-Cash, he’s got this song called “I Don’t Play” and it’s like this gangsta song, “I don’t play, gimme my money” and all this kind of stuff. I’m on there kinda talking a little gangsta, and in the background between takes you can hear me [gentle daddy voice]: “ok, guys, y’all be quiet! be quiet guys!”
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The Passion of 2Chainz
I realize that at least 1/3 of HipHopGrewUp’s audience lacks appreciation for Rick Ross. [Confession: I've never listened to a whole Rick Ross album either.] But since we already opened the door with Tuesday’s debate about Rauce’s eligibility to be the undisputed Bauce of the rap game, we might as well talk about Tity Boi.
I understand that when I say Tity Boi, at least 1/3 of you say “who?!”, but let’s proceed. Introduced to us as a member of Ludacris’s Disturbing Tha Peace crew, Tity Boi — whose biggest hit was ‘Duffle Bag Boy’, by his former group Playaz Circle — more recently changed his named to 2Chainz.
Enter The Rick Ross Era?
“If Ricky Rozay’s next album, God Forgives, I Don’t, is as good as his previous work, Ross will hands down be the #1 MC in the game today. And there is no close second place.” — Peter Rosenberg, HOT 97 NYC
Easy: Peter Rosenberg set the internet on fire last week when he declared that we are living in the Rick Ross Era of Hip Hop. That’s an interesting argument. I remember telling you back when Ross’ second album Trilla came out that his music was one of my guilty pleasures. I said ‘guilty’ back then because people still didn’t get it. You got it and I got it, but the jury was still deliberating on the talent and vision of Rick Ross. But things have changed. I think the majority of Hip Hop fans get it now, and even a few Pop fans are catching on … Ross jams. But the #1 MC … hands down … no close second … not Wayne, not Drake, not Jay, not Kanye? Did Rosenberg go too far?
Bavu: He probably did. I just heard one of Rick’s first mainstream singles, ‘Push It’, on KDAY last night. Rauce has a come a long way with his sound quality, to the point of making really nice soul records, give or take the inappropriate lyrics. Like Slim Thug and Young Jeezy before him, you can’t deny that this guy has his own sound. From 10,000 feet away, I see the image of Isaac Hayes and I hear the sound of Symbolyc One. So, for me personally, it’s really hard to knock the big black guy with the superman beard and the soul beats. But to say this next album would put him at #1 in the game with no close second? Please. Rosenberg’s got my attention with this statement, but it’s too far. Not way too far, but pretty far!
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