100 Ways to Save Hip-Hop

[VIsqo]

100 Ways to Save Hip-Hop

Every year, critics get together and hold a premature funeral for hip-hop. Then, people like me are forced to write articles on why hip-hop is grossly misunderstood by mainstream America. Well, guess what? I'm tired of defending hip-hop. So, rather than defend it endlessly or declare it dead, I compiled a list of things you can do to help save the genre. These suggestions apply to artists, DJs, journalists, record labels, and fans. Pick the ones that apply to you and behave accordingly. Here are 100 things you can do to save hip-hop.

1. Stop playing the same 5 songs on the radio.
2. Stop listening to radio stations that play the same 5 songs.
3. Stop blaming Diddy.
4. Stop Diddy.
5. Stop dubbing every new jack "the next great" this and that.
6. Stop charging body parts for shows.
7. Stop fabricating feuds to sell records.
8. Stop putting Lil Wayne on every song.
9. Stop saying hip-hop is dead.
10. Stop hating Kanye for being weird.
11. More battles, less beef.
12. Stop biting Jay-Z's flow.
13. Stop biting Biggie's ad libs.
14. Stop putting weed carriers on your album.
15. Stop trying to please everyone.
16. Stop leaking entire albums song by song.
17. Stop making posthumous collaborations.
18. Stop getting arrested for dumb things.
19. Stop being homophobic.
20. Stop blaming record labels.
21. Stop whining about how much you miss the golden age of hip-hop.
22. Stop cluttering albums with corny skits, unless you're Prince Paul.
23. Support creativity with your wallet.
24. Stop making 50-song albums with 90% filler.
25. Stop faking the funk.
26. Stop calling people who disagree with you "haters."
27. Stop hating.
28. Stop kissing ass for favors.
29. Stop saying you miss "real" hip-hop.
30. Stop hating Jay-Z.
31. Stop saying you're carrying ___ city on your back. That's not even possible.
32. Stop acting too cool for school at concerts.
33. Stop rapping about the same three topics.
34. Stop rapping about UFOs.
35. Stop promoting sexual violence under the guise of hood reportage.
36. Stop defending misogyny.
37. Stop being a Twitter groupie.
38. Stop taking contrarian views for the sake of being different.
39. Stop hating people who disagree with you.
40. Stop dissing Soulja Boy.
41. Stop Soulja Boy.
42. Stop dissing people who make dance-tastic rap. It's been around forever.
43. Support innovative DJs.
44. Actually make the effort to move the crowd.
45. Stop radio payola.
46. Stop blog payola.
47. Push the envelope.
48. Stop biting.
49. Stop yelling on mixtapes.
50. Stop blaming bloggers.
51. Make meaningful music.
52. Stop obsessing over airplay (or lack thereof).
53. Stop showering undeserving veterans with blind praise.
54. Stop sleeping on unsigned talent.
55. Stop hopping on trends.
56. Stop making everything a race issue.
57. Stop being so gimmicky.
58. Stop calling everything a concept album.
59. Stop making tinkerbell beats.
60. Stop blaming skinny jeans.
61. Stop blaming hipsters.
62. Stop explaining your art.
63. Let your music speak for itself.
64. Stop playing it safe.
65. Invest in better artwork and packaging.
66. Stop promoting ignorance.
67. Stop burning bridges over stupid things.
68. Stop bragging about sales.
69. Stop showing up six hours late to your own shows.
70. Stop blaming the South.
71. Stop putting people in a box.
72. Stop tossing "classic" around.
73. Stop congratulating yourself on every other song.
74. Stop trying to sell the same album twice.
75. Stop looking for the next 50 Cent.
76. Stop hating people who color outside the lines.
77. More rapping, less singing.
78. Stop wasting your budget on video hos.
79. Do tell me, how do you get in those jeans.
80. Stop getting murdered by Eminem on your songs.
81. Stop telling me to "bring that sh-t back!"
82. More improvised freestyles, less written freestyles.
83. More originality, less biting.
84. More RZA, less Bobby Digital.
85. More effort, less ghostwriting.
86. More albums, less mixtapes.
87. Stop using auto-tune to mask a lack of singing talent.
88. Stop making contrived girl songs.
89. Stop wearing obnoxious gold chains.
90. Stop calling everything a movement. Civil Rights = movement; Bugatti Boys = not a movement.
91. Stop shooting up the clubs.
92. Stop wearing jackets that look like LV handbags.
93. Stop nominating idiots for Hip-Hop Honors.
94. Stop handing out giving awards to the same 5 people every year.
95. Stop sending impostors to your show (I'm looking at you, DOOM).
96. Ban Diddy from Twitter.
97. Stop putting baby pictures on your album cover.
98. Be aware that the roof is not literally on fire.
99. Retire the word "swag."
100. Stop trying to save hip-hop. It doesn't need saving.

http://rap.about.com/od/articles/a/100-Ways-To-Save-Hip-Hop.htm

Edited November 30, 2010 by VIsqo

[bigted]

This list is funny but mostly true of course, and one of the main things to save hip hop which we'd all agree on in this board is that we need another JJFP album ASAP!

[JumpinJack AJ]

This list is funny and true at the same time....as things are often funny because they are true. One thing is for sure, I will still diss Soulja Boy because everything about him is garbage, I will diss Kanye as long as he acts like an idiot and I will say that I miss the golden age of Hip-Hop as long as the current mainstream look of things are half as bad as they are...lol.

[dparrott]

I agree with most of that, but who raps about UFO's????? I'd like to hear that.