The truth is Kwe, you gotta let things go sometimes man. Folks is gonna hate, some will criticize-- constructively and some not. It bes like that sometimes. I have mad respect for you as an artist, even though I haven't bought anything since the jawn with Waiting for the DJ. Honestly, I'm waiting for your next BlackStar jawn because I truly believe you and Mos create something special everytime y'all share the mic. I like the Reflection Eternal jawn but nothing hit me like BlackStar. I love Mos too, loved both his solo jawns but BlackStar was the nicest. The truth is I know what it's like to get hated on. As an artist (or one who was on his way), I experienced hate with my crew because we tried to do something different when everyone else was doing the same thing. But then, I also got love from people. I found we had a target audience and I knew I could count on them for real feedback-- positive, negative, whatever. These were folks who knew me personally, people who had listened to my crew before, folk who knew what we were trying to do. I say that to say there's always gonna be haters, that's the way it is. But ya folks know you. Cats who've been down from the beginning, they listen, they dissect, they relate to what you have to say. I love BlackStar because the music spoke to me and still does. Respiration is still one of my favorite songs because it truly speaks to me. Thieves in the Night is nice because your verse was one I rewound and memorized-- that's just how hard it hit me.

What am I saying? I'm not trying to tell you to go back to 1997 or 98 or 99. What I'm saying is folk like me-- we looking, listening, waitin' for something that's gonna hit us like that. And f'real, I know there's alot of folk like me and the cat that was saying not liking an lp won't stop us from going to a show. I still think you're flow is alot better live than it is on record and that's from seeing you like 5 or 6 years ago. But, as a fan, I'm entitled to my opinion. I could tell you how much I liked RE and BlackStar over Quality and tell you about it in a positive manner. But you may feel differently. I liked all the Roots jawns exvept Phrenology. ? may not like hearing that but again, my opinion. I enjoyed all of OutKast's except Stankonia-- my opinion. I'm entitled to it as you are to yours. I do agree hatin' just for the sake of hatin' is stupid. I wouldn't criticize an album I haven't thoroughly listened to. I wouldn't personally attack an artist unless it was warranted. But I think you should give okayplayers a li'l more of a chance. They ain't all bad