“Fuck swag; I’m from Philly.”

Not to sound like a broken record or anything, but I recently interviewed the former Re-Up Gang’s Sandman as part of the plantation’s DXNext segment. I invite all of you to check it out.

READ: DXNext: Sandman

As many of you know, were here like to post a spotlight on artists we feel are bubbling under the radar. One such artist, Theo, has been certified as DXNext, written by yours truly. Feel free to check it out. Also, check out the first edition of his Channel Surfin’ series as well.

READ: DXNext: Theo

DOWNLOAD: Theo – Jurassic Harlem

My DXNext piece with Charles Hamilton is up now at the internment camp, so I invite you all to check it out. Now, much like our inaugural opener with Esso, I got Charles to provide his thoughts on the real detriments to hip-hop, as well as – what else? – his favorite video game character…

1. With all the madness that recently involved Ice-T and Soulja Boy, what is your take on the thoughts that his kind of music is proving to be more detrimental than beneficial to hip-hop?

I’ve said this in my blog, and I’ll say it again: Soulja Boy is the best rapper alive because if you diss him you will automatically lose, just because if Soulja Boy responds, niggas is gonna pay more attention to what he has to say than you. Not only did Ice-T come at him wrong, he came at a kid wrong, and Soulja Boy came back and said exactly what a little kid would say: “You old-ass nigga, I had respect for you because you were a forefather. Now you can kiss my ass.” And as far as detriment to music, people need to look at Shawty Lo and these cats that come out and do exactly what everyone else is doing, but worse. Shawty Lo is a really bad impersonation of Jeezy… I can’t sit still knowing that that hot ass beat (”Dey Know”) went to a cat like that, and it took a remix for me to really pay attention to him. There are rappers out there who are bodying hip-hop, like murdering it. As much as Fat Joe has a legendary career, he’s not doing anything for the progression for it. You were part of Diggin’ In The Crates with Big L; how do you go from that to “I Won’t Tell?”There has to be some kind of balance. And if this comes across as disrespect my fault; it’s just there’s more people besides Soulja Boy that are responsible for what’s happening in hip-hop, and they won’t take responsibility because they call themselves “legends.”

2. Who’s your favorite Sonic character and why? Mine was Knuckles because he was the token Black guy in the series.

Well I am Sonic, so I guess my favorite character would be [his girlfriend] Amy Rose, because my girlfriend’s right next to me.

READ: DXNext: Charles Hamilton

So I’m a little giddy about the fact that I’ve made the front page at the plantation for the first time in some months, and it just so happens to be a piece on my current favorite group out right now. Below is a link to my interview with the brothers from Inglewood, as well as some catch up material for those who never got around to see it.

READ: DXNext – U-N-I
PREVIOUS: U-N-I – Fried Chicken & Watermelon [mixtape]
PREVIOUS: U-N-I – K.R.E.A.M. [video]
PREVIOUS: U-N-I – Beautiful Day [video]