Dear Listener,
I know what you've been told by the world about this little thing we call music....I know they've told you that their are sub genres such as crunk, hyphy, dance, contemporary, ect. I know that they've taught you, that whatever region of the map you were born in, should decide what style of music you should embrace. I know these facts because I was taught from the same lesson plan. Well, I've penned this letter to let you know that this lesson plan is not only rooted in ignorance, but was birthed in a pool of complete bullshit.
I was born in Texas, so my influences naturally had to be Lil' Troy or Diamond D according to this bullshit rule, right?.....Wrong!!! I broke the southern cultural mold by embracing Mos Def over Scarface and purchasing a Biggie Smalls album before buying a UGK one. This isn't a testiment to any of these artists music, it's just an example of how some people, regardless of region, can formulate a musical opinion based solely on their love of music, rather than some crazy preprogrammed regional mindset. I loved Scarface, 8 Ball & MJG, Lil Keke, and UGK as much as any other southern bred adolescent, but in all honesty, the East Coast MCs of the 90s left a much bigger impression on my young ears. By 16, I was rocking Timbalands and mimicking Jay Z's flow over Alchemist instrumentals. My point is; that there is no rule or universal law that states that your region should dictate your musical taste. If you truly want to see hip hop for the diverse mofo that it really is, you have to become above these rediculous predisposed labelings. You have to see Goodie Mob as well as Wu Tang, Lil Wayne as well as Mos Def, Nas as well as Pimp C, because each one made incredible ass contributions to the game. Remember you are what you eat, which also applies to your music, cinema, literature, ect....so in hopes of being balanced, you should eat everything from the musical plate at least once. The idea of labeling art into sub and sub-sub genres is a retarded practice that should be vetoed immediately....please choose your music, don't ever let your music choose you. Remember, there are really only two genres of music out there....good music and bad music!!!
Sincerely Yours,
Love NASAgang
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