Y’all thought Hamptons’ Homecoming was going to stop me?
(SN: S/O to the REAL HU’s Homecoming this past weekend! It was great seeing everyone. I swear the Hampton Glow was something serious!)
Let’s get to the topic.
Now that the hype has died down I can finally discuss with you all my opinion about the 2017 BET Hip-Hop Awards. As a fan who always tunes into the award show no matter how crappy the BET network is, I always end the show with mixed feelings about performances, awards and of course the outfits. But the most significant event to occur at the BET Awards are the freestyles during the commercial breaks. The freestyles showcase new and old artists lyrical talent (Or lack thereof) outside of the studio or concert stage.
One freestyle that stood amongst the many performances was by the beloved Marshall Mathers aka Eminem, the Real Slim Shady. It was refreshing to see Slim come out of hiding to send a message during the trying times of 45. But was it the message that had me turning up the volume or was it the fact that real lyricism made a comeback for a good 3-5 minutes?
I don’t judge the new artists that are hitting the scene, I may not listen to them as much as my 17-year-old cousin but I do respect their hustle. But, I will say that these new kids on the block do lack “off the top of the head” lyricism. My opinion of their flow stems from the XXL Freshman list freestyles, specifically from 2016. I remember watching those freestyles and I honestly screamed out “This shit sucks!” with the exception of like two artists. Even looking at Dj Dramas face said it all! I don’t even want to get into the debate of how much the freestyles sucked so you all can watch them yourself. I have only one question…. Who picks the Freshman?
On to Marshall, I am a semi-fan of Eminem. During my elementary/middle school years, our bus 43 driver would play 92Q and Hot 99 so of course, his music would play on the stations. When Eminem came on, the white kids and black kids rapped his music in harmony. His word play back in the day was dope for a white rapper, and the subjects of his raps were interesting as well. He always talked about real life so candidly. My reaction to him showing up at the BET Awards cypher was probably like everyone else’s’ “Oh Wow Eminem is back”. I got too caught up in his message at first so I didn’t pay the quality of his cypher any mind.
I enjoyed his message, it was good to hear a white male rapper use his voice to spread a message but, everything he was talking about has already been said. But my question still stands, why was Eminem the one to get our ears really open? Outside of his message, I was more intrigued by the real rap that I was subjected to that night by Eminem, Cyhi the Prince and of course Cozz (He has been growing on me for-a-while). Seeing real artist rapping brings me back to the good old’ days of Freestyle Fridays on 106 & Park, Rap City: The Basement and even watching Meek Millz battling Reed Dollaz w/my cousin Corey.
The true art of freestyling is slowly disappearing from the music scene. I feel like it’s not a requirement for rappers these days. Just make a hit and beats that slap, forget everything else. So, with this being said, Eminem wasn’t the reminder that I needed to wake up and see how crappy the 45 Admin and his followers are but, how much I miss freestyling over random beats and actually creating quality work.
Here are some of my favorite freestyles from then to now!
The Infamous Eli Porter Vs. Envy (2007)
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