>i'm do not agree on the
>constant money fixation of hip
>hop, but i'm not surprised
>by it .... once something
>gets even remotely popular in
>this country, it always falls
>victim to capitalist goals of
>greed and money,

Hip hop has always been about paper. Walking with a Panther, LL Cool J is rocking a Moet Bottle.

Cover to Rebel without a Pause, Chuck D and the posse in front of some American Luxury Cars.

Run DMC names their adidas sneakers after cadilacs.

we have
>a history of making money
>off of art, most of
>the time throwing the true
>essence of the art to
>the wayside .... i don't
>like it, but it was
>destined to happen to hip
>hop once groups started movin
>serious units ...

Plenty of the so-called righteous groups sold more records to white kids than black kids and brown kids. As a result, everybody started to rock leather medallions. And when the fad played out, so did the nationalism.

>imo, the only way that it
>can't happen is if hip
>hop remained what it originated
>as .. an artform celebrated
>and practiced by people in
>mostly urban communities simply for
>the love of that art

I don't know what urban community you are from, but no one now or then was doing hip hop for the love. You forget that Kool Herc was getting payed to do those parties. He wasn't inspired by some mystery ghetto altruism. Watch Wildstyle, they are about ho's and getting pissy. Fools came out rocking Derby's and tommy guns.

>... simply to have fun
>and / or express one's
>feelings on a certain subject
>.. once it went from
>the streets to the stage,
>corporations got involved, and yada
>yada yada ...

Corporation's don't have anything to do it. They only ride the wave of what is really going on.

>this is one of the reasons
>why i prefer lesser known
>artists within hip hop ...
>groups such as the alkaholiks,
>who can have fun and
>bug the eff out even
>though they don't have huge
>sale ...

The alkaholiks, whom I like a lot, does not compare to the "fun" groups of back in the Day. Kool G rap and Big Daddy Kane could be a Gangster and a Pimp, but at the same time "Erase Racism". When's the last time the Liks did anything on that level. (you could make an argument for the Lootpacks' first 12", but that might be a bit to obscure for the rest of the group)

groups like mop,
>who bring mad energy without
>the sales to back it
>up .. artists like j-live,
>who can make albums that
>cover just about every piece
>of the hip hop spectrum
>and still struggle to push
>100,000 units ... groups like
>company flow (even though they're
>broken up) that don't give
>a shit about how abstract
>their shit may sound cause
>they're doing it for themselves

It's all image. Jus, Len, and El are just folks trying to make a dollar. They are willing to do some illegal ish to get their music made. I don't know how many times they talk about selling a ton of wee in order to make fun crusher plus.

>...
>
>i'm also happy that some of
>these lesser known acts are
>now getting recognition ... i've
>been following mos def and
>kweli since "fortified live" in
>97, been following common since
>"ressurection", and been following the
>roots since "do you want
>more" (yes, i was down
>with each of these artists
>before i even knew about
>okayplayer),

I won't even get on the roots. I've got respect for all the artists that made this board happen, but considering what they are capable of, they aren't even trying to do what Dead Prez, a far less talented group compared to the folks who run this site, are doing. (and if anyone wants to debate Black Thought or Common vs M-1 and Stic Man, we could take this to the Lesson).

Kari Orr
giraffe killer
disenchanted hip hop head.
mad at the world, and taking it out on okayplayer.