Why Does Jeezy Get A Pass For Being Wack??

Since when did mediocrity become acceptable for emcees in hip-hop? I realize that the overall quality of music isn’t what it was 15 or even 10 years ago, I’m not here to complain or debate about that. But has the game taken such a dip over the years that our standards have been lowered to the point that mediocrity is excused, accepted and even celebrated? Apparently.
Here is what I’m talking about. Whenever you criticize one of today’s “hot” artists about their abilities you’re met with the same excuse every time. Criticize Game for his redundant droning on about lowriders, point out Young Jeezy is a terrible rapper blessed with great beats, or say that Yung Joc is, well, just flat out wack. The argument will go something like this;
“fu*k that, you’re just a hater. Not everyone is gonna spit lyrics like Nas or Lupe. He just do what he do, he ain’t gonna spit some political or conscious raps. He lived his life and just tells us how it is, its his culture, how you gonna criticize for that. fu*k you hater.”
Now, I’ll admit this argument does have some validity. Anyone who listens to a Young Jeezy album expecting to be enlightened or challenged, and criticizes the album when they aren’t, is being unrealistic and lacking perspective. Now, does that mean Jeezy is off the hook for his lack of lyrical ability? Hell no. Jeezy rhymes about little more than dealing coke, guns, money, and other trappings of his environment. That’s all fine by me, I’m not listening to him expecting to hear his take on politics. What is not okay is that he cannot do what he does well. “Not everyone is as lyrical as Jay-Z.” Yeah, does that mean its ok to be sh*tty at what you do? Clipse and T.I. basically rhyme about the exact same topics as Jeezy, and they do it really fu*king well. So why can’t I say Jeezy only deserves credit for his beat selection? That’s all he does worth a sh*t! Go ahead, call me a hater. Look, I like Jeezy’s album, but I’m not gonna call him a dope emcee or defend him as one because he can make good music. That may make him a good artist, but not a good emcee.
The same goes for Game, these fools got their panties in a bunch because I criticized Game for talking about the same sh*t over and over and over (and over) again on his album. Claiming lowriders, rims, etc are just part of west coast culture. Yes, they are, I know that. Does that mean you need to do little other than reference them for an entire album? No. Does that mean you can do it with no creativity whatsoever and be immune from criticism? No. I love west coast gangsta rap when it’s done well. I grew up on NWA, Dre, Snoop, Cube, Spice 1, Compton’s Most Wanted, DJ Quik etc. Game rarely does it well.
“Blah blah blah Compton, blah blah blah khakis, blah blah blah 100 spokes, blah blah blah chronic smoke, blah blah blah I’ll kill you, blah blah blah lowrider, blah blah blah Dr. Dre, blah blah blah blood, blah blah blah gangbangin”…and so on.
Fill in the blanks and you can create your own verse from The Game. But sometimes he decides to actually use his talent (which he certainly does have), and he makes songs like Ol’ English or Doctor’s Advocate. Funny thing is, he still references his usual topics but he does it with some actual context and meaning rather than just saying sh*t cause its part of his gimmick. Again, go ahead, call me a hater just because I don’t have a homoerotic blind allegiance for him and don’t call everything he does a classic.
Stop making fu*king excuses for mediocrity. “Yo he makes music for the clubs, sh*t doesn’t have to be good.” No! That is no excuse for making sh*tty music. Lyrics in a song made for the clubs can still be good too, look at the sh*t Ludacris makes. Southern Hospitality, Move bi*ch, Stand Up, etc. are dope ass rhymes for a club track. Joc’s rhymes in It’s Goin Down are not. “Oh Joc ain’t lyrical like Luda.” Oh okay, so I’ll just accept that and call him dope because I realize his shortcomings. fu*k that, he’s wack because of those shortcomings, he doesn’t get off the hook because I realize he ain’t no Luda. That is what makes Ludacris a great emcee and Yung Joc a bad one!
“He do what he do,” “he does his thing,” or any other cliché, meaningless statement like that does not excuse someone from criticism. At least I can still enjoy Game or Jeezy’s music even though I know what they don’t do well. I could just be what you all like to call “a hater” and just call everything they do wack because I don’t like something about them. Bottom line is, I give credit and criticism where its due. But I ain’t gonna call someone dope just cause they have good production or sell a lot of records. Shiiit, I’ll flat out call myself a fan of cats who I know aren’t good rappers, but I like the songs they make. Why the fu*k can’t people separate the two?
When the fu*k did selling records automatically makes you a dope rapper? With the exception of a few rappers who’ve had well deserved commercial success, most folks who blow up do so because they are marketable and can make a catchy song, not because they are in fact talented emcees. Like Jay just said “the game’s fu*ked up/ nigga’s beats is banging/nigga ya hooks did it/your lyrics didn’t/your gangsta look did it/so I would write it/if y’all could get it.” And that is fine! I don’t care that there are sh*tty rappers that make empty, catchy pop music to shake your ass to in the clubs. Not everyone has to spit like Big Daddy Kane. So don’t be so fu*king retarded people, if you like someone’s music but they aren’t gonna take down ciphers, you don’t have to pretend like they will and defend them like they’re your child. sh*t, Vanilla Ice remains one of the bestselling rappers of all-time, but today’s standards that makes him one of the best emcees, cause you know, “he’s hot, he make hits” or whatever the fu*k you wanna say.
A lot, or most, of the rappers that are selling records today are mediocre. Stop lowering the fu*king bar by calling these dudes the fu*king messiahs because they sell records and because their sh*t bumps in your car. And this ain’t no mainstream vs. underground battle, cause throw Eminem, Jay-Z, Nas, Andre 3000, Ludacris, Lupe, etc on a street corner against damn near any underground rapper and you’d witness a slaughter. Just start giving credit and criticism where its due, cause I ain’t gonna let my kids read one day that fu*king Chingy was one of the great emcees of the 21st century.