No brother, I don't think conscious cats are more apt for the emcee title at all. I don't think Talib is any more conscious than 50 Cent, if what 50 is rhyming about is truly his experience. As a matter of fact I don't like or subscribe to the term "conscious" at all. Even if I did, I wouldn't put Pharoahe in the "Conscious" category.

In my eyes, Nas would be the most "Conscious" cat out there then, because "God's Son" was a damn site more personal and poignant than Quality or anything else that year for me. Yet Nas is as mainstream as they come.

No, what defines and seperates a rapper and an emcee to me is one word flow. Rappers tend to have a much more straight forward, linear almost easy listening type approach to their wordplay as opposed to an emcee whose primary task is to literally flip the script with authorship. I think that's the main reason why an emcee remains less known than your average rapper. But I don't think subject matter or content has anything to do with it. Big Daddy Kane for me was the ultimate emcee and had mainstream success. But would he be in the conscious category? I think not. Jay-Z's "Blueprint" was much more personal in my eyes than Talib's beautiful struggle. But isn't Jigga "Mainstream"

I think we should delete the word "Conscious" from the Hip-Hop dictionary because as long as you rhyme about your reality and your world, it's all conscious, whether it be Guns and drugs or black unity.

I do think it's Rappers and Emcees. That might simplify it, but I think simplification and even re-definition needs to be applied once in a while. Example;

Usher = RnB
D'angelo = Rhythm & Blues
Sisqo = RnB
Jill Scott = Rhythm & Blues
Ginuwine = RnB
Erykah = Rhythm & Blues

Call it Rhythm & Blues or Soul Music, whatever, all I know is Usher and D'angelo's music are as different as Rock and Opera and in no way belong on the same shelf. They may have started out the same but somewhere ended up being chalk and cheese.

Rappers and Emcees are totally different, but it isn't content nessarserily. Jay_Z for me is an emcee that has mastered the "art" of Rap. Same with Eminem. Nas has remained an emcee in my book, and thank God, for when Nas ventured into rapping he really fell off in my books.

So there you have it,

Rappers And Emcees

By the way, my book "Rappers And Emcees" will be out on the 21st October released through Puffin Books. Click here for reviews;

http;//www.rappersandemceesbook.com