*cancels life subscription at that quote*
While the teacher expressed his love and respect for the Def Jam brand, he also fingered them as the reason for hip-hop’s demise.
“Def Jam is the dopest label in hip-hop, in the culture of hip-hop,” he said. “There really would be no hip-hop as we know it today if it wasn’t for Def Jam. But you don’t get that respect without also being the label that single-handedly destroyed hip-hop.” – XXL
PREVIOUS: KRS-One & Buckshot – We Made It f. Slug (Atmosphere)
Uh.
Wow. Can’t co sign that
i know where he is coming from.they dont let the real mcs shine on that label..
Elaborate.. This is out of context
Dude actually got a point but I think what he saying might go over some niggas heads. We need that monster of a machine so that it gives the underdogs somethin to fight for, that’s the nature of the beast, there’s always a push and pull between the powers that be and the underground that refuses to conform.
Commercial hip hop isnt going anywhere, so Im a little confused why “underground” MC’s continue to fight it. Instead of complaining about the inevitable, focus on your own music.
krs spoke real shit … niggas gonna hate on em
I’ll co-sign that…Def Jam was the 90’s…..think about it!!
I don’t know..I think the KRS/Buckshot album is the best hip hop album this year thus far..but KRS has a serious borderline personality..everything black/white with him.
He’s right….it’s sad to say but he’s right. Def Jam used to THE LABEL! And now Def Jam is just some R&B factory.
Indeed, it’s fucking up. Let the hate begin?
Artist that have been on Def jam:
LL Cool J
Redman
Method Man
Ghostface Killah
Nas
Slick Rick
3rd Bass
Public Enemy
Onyx
Eric Sermon
Warren G
Jay Z
DMX
EPMD
CNN
Ludacris.
Okay…so Def Jam put in MAD work and EARNED their position. So what’s the problem?
Sounds like hating to me.
This is the second clip I’ve seen of KRS in the past two years (The previous being the one about the 50 Cent and Kanye album battle). In both interviews, he contradicted himself multiple times and just seemed confused,.
He needs to get HIS own opinion completely figured out before he tries to give reasoning for it.
Rrich1016, you’re absolutely right.
Plus, I see commercial hip hop as just a name of the marketing. Underground style and real emcees have gained commercial success as of late: Wale, Lupe Fiasco, Kid Cudi, etc.
This is not a bad thing.
Plus, you know what’s more lame and annoying than maybe novelty, cliche hip hop?
Rappers (mainly East Coast Underground Hip Hop Purist, but not just them) who rap about how commercial hip hop and dancing music and all of this killed hip hop.
I don’t want to hear another “You’re A Jerk” just as much as I don’t want to hear you rap over a 1982 Breakbeat in 2009 about how everybody in the game are “sucka emcees” and killing hip hop.
^this fat sean kingston wannabe does not understand shit at all
grindtime the only person who knows what’s up
kinda contradicted his own damn statement but i see wat the man is sayin… but as far as the @ tha jay-z/raekwon comment:
of course BP3 is whats hot right now. IT WAS MADE for jay and non jay fans everywhere. he made music that anyone can enjoy. but as far as slaughterhouse and OBCL2, how do you expect mainstream radio to play records from those??? i dig those albums too but they dont have ANY mass appeal whatsoever. they’re only intended for real hardcore lovers of hip-hop… quite frankly thats such a small number compared to mainstream. jay-z audience is everyone. raekwon’s audience is hip-hop fans. slaughterhouse is merely an internet entity. sorry no comparisons there. truth is quality of music is only one aspect of this industry
@Wow
I’m glad you did your research on my appearance. That REALLY makes you more credible.
To be real, what GrindTime is talking about sounds similar to what I was saying. He is saying that DEF JAM’s strong force in the industry is needed to keep underground heads working harder and harder. It’s a challenge. Without the challenge, it makes the battle less of a real accomplishment.
And some of the dopeset underground lyricsts like Blu, Jay Electronica and others don’t base their WHOLE musical content around hating on mainstream hip hop. Those are the REAL artists that I rock with. The other ones who do base it on that is what I was referring to.
I wish people on here wasn’t so ignorant and could just state their opinions and rebuttals without trying to throw it pointless ridicule.
Yes, I’m fat and I look like Sean Kingston. GET OVER IT!
@Moose
That’s exactly what I’ve been thinking. It’s that same way in my actual city in the Minneapolis scene. there is all these underground rappers making music for the hip hop heads, original raw hip hop, but then complain because the local radio doesn’t play them on the Hip Hop Top 40 stations. Its like, the music they play on those top 40 stations are the popular, universal type songs that try and reach everybody. If you’re not making those types of songs, why would you want to be played on air with them?
#MakesNoSense.
Check…
This Is some real shit too. But Radio Aint Playin Slaughterhouse nd The Chef Simply cuz 14-18 year olds wont understand. Me Being 18, i Slap SH and The Chef ALLL DAY as Well As CuDi And Wale and J.Cole And Biggie. And I Go To An HBCU and niggas Be Like ICan’t Dance To This Shit, You Cant get girls from that. And Thats Whats On The Radio…Money, Clothes, And Hoes. I just SMH and understand that real Shit Will Never Get Radio Play
Def Jam is doing what other major labels is doing: destroying and rebuilding. I feel where KRS is coming from, but I don’t agree with him 100%. When you have majors such as Def Jam, Atlantic, Universal, etc. they’re constantly destroying and rebuilding. Why? Because they can no longer sign an emcee/singer without knowing the consequences of what they get into once they sign the jotted line. Think about all the rappers that signed a major deal but have nothing out (Saigon, Papoose, etc.) or all the veterans that get poor promotion (Redman, Methodman, etc.). From a major standpoint, they can’t constantly rely on talent like that in the digital age to push their label to play keep up with the internet. So I ain’t mad at Def Jam for pushing Ne-Yo, Rhianna, Kanye, Jay, etc. It’s a destruction/rebuilding process to help keep the major label alive in the age of the internet.
Krs-One should shut his wildebeest ass up. Every interview he is on; he is always complaining about something. Your generation is R.I.P., move on. Go get that Ghostdini on Tuesday, shit is slappin on these hoes.
I like KRS’s music but most of the shit that comes out of his mouth has always sound like dumbshit to me.
Also, that’s why the internet is winning. An artist don’t have to audition for the internet. The internet doesn’t wear a suit & tie, puff a cigar, and tell you if your stuff is hot or not. The internet is the new “streets”, meaning it’s practically ran off society’s opinion. So I feel what Mike Dreams said; I’m all for the culture and the underground, but why complain about radio play when your Myspace or Facebook page is your “trunk full of music” and the internet is the “streets”?
Just sayin’.
problem with the radio is most of it sounds the same. the radio needs diversity but its like radio stations realize diversity doesnt get you paid it might not in the begining but if you throw raekwon blu j cole, black milk, jay electronica, etc anyone who makes dope music and keep doing and keep doing it will catch on and then maybe a the majority of good music and be on top. the average mainstream listener is groomed to like certain shit sad to say but if you throw on something that is dope it at least gives them opportunity to an alternative.
I liked what everyone said (except for folabi), everyone had great thoughts to share, i wish all these comments were not only of a hating sense, but anyway i agree with everyone has to say on some level, but the real beast controlling music is the radio, not Def Jam. you have your 50s and eminems on other labels, so it can’t just be them…… it’s RADIO! but don’t worry cause us internet folk will eliminate that shortly
DOESN’T KRS-1 HAVE MONEY? IT’S CALLED TEETH WHITENING DUDE, ONLY $300-$500.
For once I somewhat agree with KRS-1. For Def Jam to rise they had to do some shady ish, the type of stuff the “heads” complain about. Def Jam was the real pioneer in commercializing hip-hop and probably paid of DJ’s and radio stations to keep their stuff in rotation, but at the end of the day what people have to realize is that Dej Jam is just a part of the Universal Music Group (UMG) that also own the other giant label Interscope and all its offspring i.e. Aftermath and Shady. Def Jam by itself didnt do it, its bigger than Def Jam. UMG by the way according to Wiki was caught for “Payola” (bribing radio stations to play your artists).
Now a couple people have mentioned that people should stop complaining and make the type of music that does play on the radio. I don’t necessarily disagree with them. Labels have to market to the target audience that all these corps love, which represents the youth. But they don’t stay youth forever so pretty much every 5 years the “generation” switches up along with their tastes. As an artist you have to know the game that you are in and adapt or you are lucky enough to have a fan base that stays with you but to do that you have to grow with them. The moral of the story is that if you are an artist you must realize its too late for the game to change, the stuff that will sell and be marketed will never change unless consumer behavior patterns change and the big media companies like UMG, Viacom and Clear Channel manipulate as much as they can to make the most money. As a fan and consumer, just educate yourself but at the end of the day just enjoy whatever music that moves you. If you aint hearing that on the radio, then find other sources and make sure you support the artists you like by actually buying it. If you don’t buy your it you have absolutely no right to complain.
1. Ummm not sure what to take from that buuttt, it’s a semi-contradicting argument
2. Yea..get a HOT radio single then it’ll get played on (most) radio, but for the most part, Hot 97 plays ALL of them at one time or another.
3. Why is he saying this hype shit @ a Def Jam HONORS event? Save it for later, yea?
Radio is non-relevant! I hope the music industry is burning down, then we all have the music we want to have (with the i-net)
i think that musicians, and celebrities in general, are way overpaid. many of them say that they make music because they want to express themselves, it brings them joy, they want to share their ideas with others etc. why do they have to be millionaires to do that? it (often) completely kills their devotion to the content of their music.
i believe that musicians should not make more than a regular upper middle class citizen, as this would keep out the ones that are in it only for the money. in my opinion it isnt the labels, the artists or the fans that killed hip hop, its money.
Bottom line – there would be no Def Scam if it wasn’t for T La Rock. Who still to this day has never seen one penny from ‘It’s Yours’!!! Fuck Prick Ruben and Slumlord Simmons. Ask T La Rock!!!
Sounded like he was making that theory up as he went along.
The balance of music within hiphop being played on major radio stations at least in the U.S. has been long gone somewhere between the mid- to late 90’s. So he has a point, but can’t put all blame on Def Jam. (conscious to street to instrumentals to party joints to struggle to personal to bragging) that mix of content isn’t present anymore on major radio stations. I’ll stick to Half-Time Show, Squeeze Radio, Live From Headqcourterz, other diverse college radio shows and online sites like 2dopeboyz, freshselects, kevinnottingham to name a few.
I mean, really, who even listens to the radio? In most cases it’s just background noise at work or in the grocery store or whatever. I don’t have a c.d. player in my car & I don’t even check the music stations, it’s sports talk radio all day for me.