Hip-Hop will never be what it once was, there’s no getting around that.

It began as a form of expression that was of us, for us, and by us in many ways that it will never be again.

In today’s world the ideal hip-hop product is not one that rings true for those who shares the artists’ experiences, but one that provides a vivid, cinematic fantasy for those who will never share the experiences conveyed.”
~Jay Smooth

Above is an excerpt from a post called “Rumors of our Death…” written by Jay Smooth and posted on his blog hiphopmusic.com on April 24, 2003. Yeah that’s right, 2003. That’s crazy to me for 2 reasons:

#1- Jay Smooth has blog archives that go back to 2002. His older posts have links to other sites that have long gone, a testament to his longevity in this field. Could he be the G.O.A.T. of the Hip Hop blogosphere?

#2- There have been “Rumors of our Death…” since since 2003 worth writing about in terms that are still true today. Nothing’s changed in all this time.

There were rumors of our death way before 2003 too. We could debate a lot of things here but according to Jay Smooth’s hiphopmusic.com “If you think Hip-Hop is dead, don’t click here.”

Word up!

Check out the “Rumors of our Death…”. The whole post is a quotable.

This song is from way back in 1994 when Common was Common Sense. Is this song sexist? Another debate for another time….

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