it don't get much better ...

Last night, I DVR’ed the BET Hip Hop Awards strictly for the ciphers. There is a whole list of issues I have with BET but on this one they get it right each time. Do the research.

I skipped through most of the awards show (Gucci Mane & Soulja Boy Tell Em performed like four times each, which is a sign of the times for a dinosaur like me) to get to the prerecorded, black & white cipher. It was a vestige of pure Hip Hop smack in the middle of what the culture has become. I’m not a hater (though some might think so) I’m just old enough to know this is not completely what we had in mind when Hip Hop dreamed of conquering mainstream culture.

The last one of the cipher’s was my favorite by far, just for the roster of high impact lyrical MC’s closing this thing out. Other Cipher’s had stand outs like the teacher, Blastmaster KRS ONE, and my dude Buckshot but it’s really hard to fuck with a lineup that has Mos Def, Black Thought, and Eminem.

If you’re not sure what us old school niggaz are talking about when we lament over what Hip Hop is missing, its real simple two turntables, a mic, and MC’s with skills. With Primo on the one’s & two’s this segment quickly ascends to classic status … again, if you’re not sure who DJ Premier is I dropped a classic Gang Starr video in here.

Watch, enjoy, and soak in what true MC’s bring to the mic.

Hip Hop … One Love

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