The Many Flavors of Music:
by Kyle Nauert
It's no secret that there are many forms and genres of music. In my opinion, it's safe to say that one could speculate that their "taste" in music describes the "flavor" of their own personalities. For me, there is no other way to express myself other than through conscious hip-hop. I, like many others, find the repetitiveness of the same old drum and bass beats to be a little redundant and over whelming. So what stands out most to me is an artists' originality, delivery, flow and sense of uniqueness. As a lover of the old school hip hop, i.e. Gang Starr, N.W.A., Poor Righteous Teachers, NAS, and I do find myself growing more and more fond of these newer artists such as Ab-Soul, Kendrick Lamar and the Underachievers. They all seem to be bringing back that old style of pure lyricism with a new twist of modernity.
I have been a hip-hop advocate for many years now. As a young child I can remember jamming old Run DMC tunes with my older brother. Every time I looked in the mirror I saw more than just a reflection of myself. Instead of seeing myself as the youthful pre-teen I once was, I saw myself as a full grown man resembling Mike D from the beastie boys looking back at me. One of my all time goals in life was to one day become a famous MC. Now, it's harder for artists to stand out to the public due to the simple fact that there are SO many artists out there now. So I just stick to what I know, by putting on a pair of my best head sets and jamming some old tracks that renders the feeling of blissful nostalgia.
An MC is a master of ceremonies. Just like the many genres of music, there is a vast variety of rappers, writers, storytellers and MC's. You got your radio rappers such as Lil Wayne, Lil Boosie and Waka Flocka, that seem to spew out something you can tell a producer has contracted them out to say. Then, you have your writers and storytellers like Immortal Technique and NAS. Both are heavy weight...