Ok, I just read the "why are the roots not sellouts?" post and then this one, so i got some shit to vent. noone would care if you decided to do some rock shit that came from the heart because you would be doing some shit from the heart. i can use the example of "it's just about over" from goodie mob's still standing as a great fusion of rock and hip-hop that came out of a true quest for something artistic. i can use that bullshit krs song on i got next as an example of someone trying to do a rock song just to do something different and failing miserably. ok, rambling...the difference between you (quest) doing some unorthodox ish and vibrant thing is that tip did not do vibrant thing because he thought it would make a good song nor did he push any sort of envelope. he made a song that is radio friendly and would get play, not to mention the lyrics are trash. this is why tip now joins nas and o.c. in the land of fall-offs. i will not flatly say that tip is a sellout because maybe he is really on some other ish and thinks this is a good song, but as far as i can tell he's trying to do some hot 97 club shit and that, to me, makes him a sell-out. not because he is trying to make comercially viable music, but because he is letting himself fall into what is currently considered commercially viable, which, as opposed to a few years ago, is terrible. just my humble opinion. peace...go slow...<P>p.s. i hope you get a chance to take another listen to the track quest. i know you won't be able to come out on a fellow artist and friend here on the site, but i'm guessing you will not defend this track with the same fever you reserve for jay-dee.