>There were songs with
>pro-black rhetoric. Why did the people embrace Dre's message
>and not Guru?
>
>I'm sayin...it's gotta be deeper than that.
You know what I think it is, Brother? I think it's a couple of things. It's EASIER to listen to that mindless trash...EASIER to listen to stuff that appeals to your carnal desires. You mentioned Guru...what is "easier" to listen to, Gangstarr asking the question "Who's Gonna Take The Weight?" where they are talking about "each one teaching one" and "becoming a strong nation", or the mindless stuff them "G-Funk" cats were talking about? Fast money, fast women, fancy lowrider cars, and all the weed you can smoke. The former is telling us we need to get to WORK...the latter is nothing but hustle up some money, get some gin and juice, smoke you some bud, and before the night is over, a big-booty b_tch is gonna screw you and suck you all night long. To brothers who have no knowledge of self, and don't have an interest in learning it, what is going to be most appealing?

>But where is the love for the conscious emcee? Why are they a
>pariah?
Like I just said man, if you are a lazy-minded person, you don't want to spent "leisure" time listening to somebody talking about books you need to read, people you should know about, togetherness in the community, getting an education...etc. I remember when my cousin (who is now in his early 30's, has been in and out of jail since he was 17, never graduated high school, and is STILL claiming "piru") moved to Dallas from Miami in like '89, he was all into 2 Live Crew. When he rode in the car with me, that trash wasn't getting played. I was a P.E. FANATIC back in those days, I used to listen to "Nation of Millions" AT LEAST once a day. My cousin used to say "Maaaaan, I don't see how you listen to this all the time...n_igga, if I wanna get preached to "I'll go TO CHURCH..." As sad as it is to admit, everybody isn't concerned about the same things you and I are.

>In the south I heard
>folk hate on that shit for YEARS cus they couldn't relate to
>alot of that shit. The fuck 5% jargon mean to a Baptist
>Preacher's Kid?
I went through similar experiences here in Texas...cats saying they can't "relate" to "East Coast" hip-hop...they didn't even know what the M.C.s were talking about...ESPECIALLY M.C.s whose lyrics reflected their 5%er "knowledge". I remember my brother and I used to catch GRIEF because we LOVED Brand Nubian's "Wake Up,(Reprise in the Sunshine"...and almost everybody here in town HATED IT. Especially when Maxwell ran down the Supreme Mathematics in the song. Cats would be like: "N_gga, what is dat nigga talkin' 'bout?!?!? Dat n_igga ain't talkin' bout sh_t!!!" I always would ask them why they could "relate" to "West Coast" gangbanger mentality...especially when cats I knew who grew up in middle class neighborhoods and went to the same suburban schools I did started claiming sets. How is it that you have never BEEN TO SOUTH-CENTRAL L.A., but you are claiming Rolling 60's Crips? I'm telling you, the "death" of hip-hop consciousness is a manifestation of the ignorance far too many of us a people embrace.


>Why did Eminem have to stop
>making positive music and come out like a angry lil white kid
>from the hood?
When was blondie making "positive" music? I must have missed that.

"Is it not one father that all of us have? Is it not one God that has created us? Why is it that we deal treacherously with one another?" --Malachi 2:10