The Low End Theory News Report 12.16.11: The Early In The Morning Edition

Posted by Tony Acero on 12.16.2011

Is Jay-Z really part of the Illuminati, and why is the rap game most commonly associated with the secret society? 411's Tony Acero takes a look! Plus news and thoughts on Canibus diss on J. Cole, Drake's #1 fan being more than a little crazy, Waka Flocka Flame slamming Wiz Khalifa and more!



Here we are once again, it's Thursday, and might I say a lovely day starting at 7:00 AM on the West Coast...with no coffee. Pardon me if I seem a little off for the time being. GREAT morning everyone! Happy Theory Thursday! Well I'm back from my mental vacation at Disneyland, and let me tell you, if you haven't gone yet...GO. It's an awesome idea for the holidays. If you have little ones running around, make sure you treat them to something like this at least ONCE in their lifetime. Speaking of the holidays, Christmas is almost here which means any store is going to be packed at it's capacity and angry shoppers will have a more frequent appearance. So make sure you get your list and check it twice, but keep in mind gifts are always better (and possibly cheaper) when they come straight from the heart. Well, enough of me! Let's get this column started!

It's Thursday!! The year of 2011 is dying one of the fastest deaths I've seen in some time! Seriously, where did this year go? I truly blame all of those idiots asking for the nearest Friday for the speed in which this year has passed by. Seriously, enjoy life! It's going by too damned fast! Anyways, by the time you read this I will have already taken my final Final of the semester and most likely dropkicked the shit out of it, ya feel me?! Big things are happening over here and I wanted to share em with y'all. First of all, in coming weeks we will have the first ever Low End Theory Awards show and I've got plenty of surprises for you! For those of you that want to get involved, here are the categories! Just put who you think should win and they will be added in with the crews voting:

Album of the Year
Song of the Year
Artist of the Year
Rookie of the Year
Douche of the Year
Hip Hop Hottie of the Year
Hip Hop Artist of the Year
Throwback Track of the Year
Interview of the Year

Have fun and vote! Also, I'm looking for 2012 to be a big year not just for the column, but for myself as well! I will officially be releasing a book of poetry in January, so if you're into that sorta thing, let me know and you'll get The Low End Discount! Among other things, I'm staying on my grind to give you a consistently great column by getting business cards and expanding my horizons in terms of models and rappers that are just trying to make a name for themselves as myself, Hope and Walter are doing as well! I'm so glad to bring all of you along for the ride. Now then, I had Walter and Crystal assure me that they get their shizznit in early today because in reality, I won't be here to post the column at the time I usually do. It is because of this that you're getting a relatively short and SPECIAL edition today. I'll explain that in a bit. For now, I want to let you guys in on where I'll be going this weekend and what I did last weekend!

I have a close friend of mine, Michael Jenkin, who is well on his way to becoming a big time sports reporter. He recently met up with a great guy, Spencer Lazara, and his website. MMAINTERVIEWS.TV to help cover MMA news and the like. This ain't your momma's MMA site, oh no! Both Michael and Spencer know their shit and get down with the tough questions. I was able to have directorial duties for this interview at the M-1 event this past weekend where a very surprising interruption became the highlight of my - and Mike's - weekend. I can only hope you enjoy this as much as I did:



Yes, that is Quintin "Rampage" Jackson choking up my buddy Mike while interviewing. Well, in a matter of hours, I'll be heading to King of the Cage at Morongo casino to do some more reporting! Stay tuned for more info in the coming weeks on Spencer's site and what I may or may not have to do with it ;). As far as this week's go, I simply don't have the time to talk about everything I want to talk about, so we will have a condensed Stunts, Blunts and Hip Hop section and a special one-time only "Tony's Take." (One time, of course, until I have to provide another column of filler...lol).

Video of the Week
Drum Murder - Crooked I Ft. Horshoe G.A.N.G.
With an I so crooked it's lookin like an S!





- I recently interviewed Mystikal about his Cash Money Deal and he claimed it was in the works for quite some time. During the interview, I nearly tripped over his shoe and he had this to say: WATCHYASELLF!!

-Rapper Future says that his Debut album, "Pluto" will contain "25% rapping." He cites Drake's Take Care as his most recent inspiration.

- Waka Flocka Flame claims that Wiz Khalifa is all hype. I think he's just upset that more people yelled out "Black and Yellow" than they ever did "No hands."




Canibus is Stupid

Ever since the feud with Eminem where he single handedly got his ass handed to him, I have always found this guy to be the owner of a mouth that writes checks way more than it can ever cash. This, of course, is only reinforced with his most recent happenings. Rapper Canibus was very close to being Douche of the Week, this week, and would have been if not for one lady who you shall see below. At any rate, Canibus has recently put out a diss track against...wait for it...J. Cole. Now, from all accounts, Cole is pretty humble so if you're as curious as I am as to why the diss track came out, I'll save you the searching and let you know. It's because Canibus is a bitch. No? Not good enough? Ok, I'll do my job. Canibus put out a track titled "J. Clone" because, in his words, "Cole might say he does this to pay homage, but in reality, by him playing my older material owned by my former label dating back to 1998, subsequently overlooking my current works and contributions which directly benefit me now, he is treating me less like an artist that has, and continues to contribute, influence, and inspire an even younger generation of MC's coming up, and more like an artist that has physically passed on already(i.e. Tupac, B.I.G., Big L, Heavy D, Eyeda [sic]): you get the point I'm trying to make?" No, Canibus, I don't get the point you are trying to make. First of all, nobody owes you ANYTHING. J. Cole didn't even have to mention you at all, in any interviews, ever, for the rest of his life, because he doesn't owe you shit. You're telling me that you cannot respect a man who respects ANY of your work, regardless of when it was done. Did he say you fell off? Did he say you are now a shell of your former self who has his head so far up his own ass that what he ate damned near eight years ago is still coming out of his mouth...oh, and that's Eminem's foot, by the way. Seriously, I ain't doing this to protect J. Cole, he don't need it. And we all know what happened when he stepped up to Eminem. What I'm doing here is pointing out yet another flaw in the game of Hip Hop. There are legends, then there are people who have stayed stagnant for years and call themselves Legends. Canibus, you've been around a long time, but nobody owes you anything.

Recent reports claim that Canibus admits he was wrong in this entire situation, calling it "tacky and unsophisticated." Really?! Kind of like that picture with you and the gun, right? He says, "Hip Hop has spoken up loud and clear, it's a 'cole world' right now, and you're reignin' champ, J." Regardless of who's world it is right now, it will never be and has never been a Canibus world. Grow up.


Drake Fanatic:
-By Walter Reyes

I have an interesting twist to this week's Douche of the Week…it's you!!! Yes YOU but it's only you if you're the type of fan willing to camp out for tickets, the type of fan that is willing to stalk its fanatical prey. The type of fan that buys everything under the sun with their beloved subject adorned on it. I am talking about the psychotic fan that is willing to permanently adorn their own flesh with something that shows the world the level of passion they devote to their beloved artist. Take this Drake fan for example who took a lyric from Drake's song, "Free Spirirt" a little too literally and too much to heart. This girl actually premeditated the act of getting Drake's name tattooed on her body because she couldn't live without Drake knowing that she's the one!!! She's the one he was referring to that will show him that her love is real! At first you might say, "what is wrong with that" and I would say to you, "nothing at all actually" because millions of people have adorned their bodies with faces of artists. Ozzy, Jim Morrison, Madonna, Jerry Garcia, 2Pac, Eazy-E are among a handful of artist who have been the subject of such an act. The part that sets the psycho fanatic aside from the overly passionate fanatic is the type of fan that genuinely considers with an ecstatic fashion their face as the canvas for such artwork!

Who in their "right mind" would think that getting ANYONE'S name tattooed on their face or anything for that matter, would be not a good idea but a great idea? Like if that wasn't bad enough she chose an artist who might not be a rookie in the game but isn't a legend yet. To make matters even more interesting is that this douche bag took this act of incredible lack of foresight to another level. This fan obviously lives life by the motto of "Go Big or Go Home" demonstrated by choosing, out of all places on the real estate that is her body, to adorn herself with Drake's name…her fuckin forehead!!! She wasn't about to make it look like a tear drop, or subtle piece behind the ear but she had to have it go from eyebrow to eyebrow about an inch high across her fuckin forehead!!! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?!?!? This doesn't take balls people it takes a uniquely disturbed brain in desperate need of psychotropic medicine and a huge hug!

Think about the future people…if you're stupid enough to consider tattooing your face then more than likely you're willing fuck without a condom. That act will unfortunately lead to you reproducing which will lead to one day having your son or daughter introduce their boyfriend or girlfriend to you and which moment you "might" feel just a tiny bit embarrassed about the fact that you have some dude's name tattooed across you stupid ass face!!! A name that to them will mean nothing but a sign to walk the fuck away from this family with the urgency of a drug lord about to have his home raided by the feds. But fuck it right…you love DRAKE & DRAKE loves you and that's all that matters!!!

---

This is an essay from this semester in which I was asked to write about a particular argument that I disagreed with. I found that writing about The Illuminati and the conspiracies around it is a much deeper pool than I wanted to dive into. However, once I stuck my foot in to check the temperature, something pulled me in and only made me wonder why the water was so shallow. Yes, that was an extended metaphor for insolence. I am not saying to take my word as gospel, in fact, I encourage any who disagree to reply. This is obviously a bit more dry than you are used to and that's because it's a college paper, created for the eyes of a professor. I thought of editing it, but I didn't think that to be necessary so enjoy, don't enjoy, either way let me know what you think! :D

One growing trend in the world of music is that of conspiracy theories, particularly in hip hop. So much, in fact that London based rock-critic Andrew Mueller said in his report on conspiracies that, "hip-hop has appeared all but determined to corner the market in conspiracy theorizing" (Mueller 4). The common belief that certain hip hop artists are a part of an elite secret society called The Illuminati is creating a stir amongst fans and artists alike. So much, in fact, that videos on YouTube and complete web pages are created to prove the claim. While it may be safe to say that some of the people who believe in this may have reason to, or at least fully believe in their stance, there seems to be something else that is causing this uprising of conspiracies within hip hop. Of all the motivations behind the surge of people looking to The Illuminati as reasoning behind the success of rappers such as Jay-Z, jealousy and envy seem to be the most prolific. This human condition of jealousy is not new by any means, but can create entire worlds of fabrication that, in this case, range from minimal allegations to wild accusations.

According to www.masonicinfo.com, The Illuminati was "a movement founded on May 1, 1776" which "was composed of those who were then espousing the ideals of the Enlightenment: freedom of thought and equality amongst classes of people" and "ideas that were considered by the authorities as being heretical and treacherous" (www.masonicinfo.com). This supposed secret society that has been around for over 200 years has seemingly turned its head towards the entertainment industry. Rapper Sirius has an entire webpage dedicated to this idea called www.thedogstar.com where he says,

I just want to show how the Illuminati, which involves many secret societies, Masonry being one of the biggest and most important ones for the so called Elite, have come to gain control over the masses by infiltrating not only the media but also the music industry, creating a new culture of ‘sheople' which are too busy working, eating and watching TV, to be asking any questions like why are all Hip Hop artists singing about the same topics, indoctrinating our society with a brand new culture, a disposable one, like every product they sell to us nowadays" (www.thedoggstar.com)

What's interesting to note is that there are many people who do ask the question of why are all Hip Hop artists rapping about the same topic. There is any number of people who feel that hip hop has gotten stale and continue to create a movement for better music, rather than accuse others of being "sheople." Sirius continues on later with asking a question of his readers, "what is the price these performers have to pay in exchange for their place in the industry?" This is followed by a paragraph about selling one's soul to the Devil. This claim, above most other claims within the hip hop/illuminati argument, is quite hard to prove or disprove, but it seems to be the most prominent. Considering the success of Sirius is debatable, it's hard to assume his statements as nothing but truth, especially with ones such as, "Eminem is possessed by the spirit called ‘Slim Shady.'" Slim Shady is a fictitious character created by Eminem as said in many interviews, not a spirit that has possessed him. Claims such as this and the aforementioned can only be fueled by one thing, jealousy.

In Mueller's article, he gives examples of hip hop legends referring to the hip hop game as part of the New World Order, "The unified field theory of conspiracies, which posits that the world is controlled by a clique of omnipotent puppet masters who amuse themselves by planting obtuse clues to their doings on American currency" (Mueller 4). In a study about managing envy in the workplace by Kim Dogan and Robert Vecchio, they define envy as "an emotion that results from a loss of self-esteem when another individual obtains outcomes that one personally desires." (Dogan 3) It's possible to see that perhaps people like Sirius are looking to those who have successfully achieved the level of notoriety that he dreamed of for so long and has yet to receive. Sirius is just one example of any plethora of people online that are seemingly finding a way to dissect the lives of others to the point of breaking down three minute videos into nine minute long YouTube videos, breaking down lyrics and looking for signs that point out the "fact" that rappers are a part of this group that is only trying to control the world.



Throughout the fifteen plus years that Jay-Z has been in the rap game, he has been particularly silent in regards to questions about The Illuminati. Not until recently has he saw the appeal of the accusations and turned it back on the accusers ten-fold. In his music video for 2009's "On to the Next One," he decided to go above and beyond what was expected to him by overloading the video with "skulls, blindfolds, blazing basketballs, and Baphomets, among other things." (complex.com) While people who believe in the claims that Jay-Z were a part of this secret society everyone knows about seemed to have chosen this music video as the absolute truth and the best proof in regards to their belief, Jay-Z is laughing away with his money.

The thing about success is that it can truly isolate any one man. Rappers who have come from the bottom of the bottom to the top of the charts have been brought into a world where there is perhaps no moment where they are alone. They are looked up to, idolized, loved, while at the same time hated, envied and disdained. There's a human condition that is somewhat incomprehensible and that is envy. It's a green eyed little monster that attacks even the strongest of people. Often times, this particular beast tears away at the mental capacities as well, allowing thoughts without claim. As with any argument, there needs to be enough basis to back it up before the claim has any merit. Even with the internet helping to boost the appreciation of the sentiment that these successful rappers were part of an elite group, there is little actual proof aside from blind accusations and it's the reason why this particularly interesting claim will only simmer under water as opposed to boiling over and becoming a nationally recognized obvious truth.





Before I left to the Happiest Place on Earth, my friend/photographer/fellow hip hop head James (@jamesstaysthoro) had asked if I checked out that Spiritual State yet. Thinking nothing of it, I let it slip my mind until I came back. Damn, did I utterly fuck up. I had finally realized that this Spiritual State James had advised me of isn't about finding peace..IT IS PEACE. Spiritual State is an album compiled of a Jazz and Hip Hop masterPEACE, all created by one man who goes by the name of NUJABES, A man from Japan with a master plan. I used to try to decipher the meaning of his name and his ideas but by listening to his beats, I finally figured he's a man of little words who let's his music tell you WHO he is, and let's you see into his heart and soul while you discover yours. Unfortunately, this funny thing called life took him away way too early in february of last year..so this album is MAJOR considering it's one of the first albums released since then..and not to the United States. He may be gone, but his music lives on through US, and The Low End Theory. This here, is my TRUE definiton of the happiest place on earth, and in heaven. Rest in Beats Nujabes. Thank you James, & Everyone Enjoy.



-Don't wanna pay for shipment from Japan? Well you're in luck, because you have it here.

Thanks for joining us for the 40th Edition of The Low End Theory!