The 37th Chamber 10.08.08: Top 5 Dead Or Alive - The Pre-Intro

Posted by Patrick Robinson on 10.08.2008

More on the Oasis - Jay-Z war of words and preparation for a 25 week long feature!

Still yet to watch The Godfather and the box is beginning to attract dust.

Annnnd I have nothing else to say except, LOOK A CAT!


I think Yung Berg could have done with some…more on that tomorrow

Reader Feedback
(May be edited for spelling, grammar etc.)

"I also just picked up Heltah Skeltah "D.I.R.T. (Da Incredible Rap Team), which may be my favorite of the year and another I'm really feeling is Killah Priest/Chief Kamachi "Beautiful Minds" - J

Killah Priest's, ‘scuse me, ‘Priest' as he's now going, has been on fire lately, I haven't managed to listen to all of Behind The Stained Glass either, but Beautiful Minds is on my download list as we speak. Heltah Skeltah's album too but I'm not as keen on their group work as I have been with Sean Price's solo work to be honest. Jesus Price Supastar was probably the best album of 2007 that nobody bought, even Little Brother's album had more sales and it got virtually no promotion either.

"Lolz, that Common Listing.

"No Explanation Necessary" " - Javier

Agreed, Erykah Badu actually has a history of messing with rapper's heads. Look at Andre 3000.

In regards to the Oasis situation, we've got two mindsets:

"Well done Gem Archer totally spot on.

As for Glastonbury Jay-Z best song reaction was for one that wasn't even his." - drako

" "Don't you love the generalization and stereotyping of rappers and YET AGAIN hip-hop as a whole?"

hahaha nothing stereotypical about what rappers do!" - dingo

And:

"dingo you're absolutely wrong being a huge listener of hip-hop I could debate this one but I won't get into that just now

Rap City being replaced? As much as I loved Rap City as a kid the show has been another hour for 106 & Park playing pretty much the same songs you'll see on that show. The show has been terrible the last 3 years best it die now." - Colin

"Oasis' total lack of respect for black music and black culture knows no bounds.

Rap City hasn't been anything since " The Mayor" Chris Thomas hosted it in 1989.

Oasis=No Respect for Black Music and Black Culture." - Shone Jones

First off, Kudos to everyone for not pointlessly flaming each other. Secondly, dingo, you can't box all rappers into the one stereotype. You can hardly say that Run-D.M.C. and 50 Cent are the same. Nor could you compare Public Enemy and Yung Joc. To say that all rappers, "Love a ruck, it's what they do. They set out to have a fight and it's there in their lyrics. They love biffo" is a mockery of what many rappers believe in today.

Many of them proclaim a positive message, one that DOESN'T involve a ruck or ‘biffo' (whatever the hell that means, I lived in England for two years and never heard anybody use that word…sounds retarded). In fact, if you've read my column for more than a week, I try and highlight the fact that there are lots of rappers out there that don't fit into that stereotype. The problem is, it's popular to promote a somewhat negative message in your lyrics these days.

Lastly, Shone Jones is right. If you read the original comments that Noel Gallagher made, he was dismissing hip-hop as a lesser musical genre, and even Jay-Z as an artist, not referring him by name etc. It's subtle, but you can tell that they're essentially doing what critics were back in the 80s – dismissing hip-hop as a passing fad. 20 years too late don't you think?

Moving on though, Rap City had its moments in later years. You'd occasionally get a rapper coming on and dropping a dope freestyle (although I only know this from online experiences, given we don't get Rap City here). Then again, you'd get an equal, if not greater amount of rappers coming on and basically reciting their written work from their albums. As if we didn't know it had already been done LLOYD BANKS. Sorry, didn't mean to name names.

"As much as I hate to admit it: Fifty's right. here in Europe Jay-Z sold okay until he got together with B. then he became a superstar here as well." - guy incognito

To an extent I suppose, I mean, even the Nas/Jay beef got some actual recognition here in Australia, and that was mostly before Beyonce. Even now, he's known for the music more than the Beyonce association, but I suppose it HAS helped his career along.

Then again, we have a really erratic taste when it comes to hip-hop. The mainstream public I mean. They're still playing "Crank That" on MTV you know. It's getting to the point where I have murderous thoughts every time I hear the opening bars of "Low" too. There's also the seemingly random release dates of albums. Graduation was released a week AFTER Curtis, which could possibly explain the first week World Wide sales figures 50 is always boasting about. We also got Kardinal Offishall's album two weeks before it's proper release date in Canada. Lil Mama's album was also out a week before it was in the US.

Game's album wasn't out for a week after it's official release date, but Nelly's was out four days early, Paper Trail was actually released the week it came out, not on the 30th, but close enough. Still, it makes buying albums, and I actually do enjoy buying albums these days, hard and makes you wonder WHY you would want to buy them when it's THAT difficult to actually obtain them.

The Rant

"Who's the best emcees?
Ain't no best
Top 5 Dead Or Alive
Ain't no best" - Jin: "Top 5 (Dead Or Alive)"

There's a lot of discussion when you try and name a Top 5 or Top 10 list of rappers, particularly when you extend that list to rappers that have died. Just looking at the list of rappers that have died that could conceivably make a Top 10 or 20 list, you've got Big Pun, Big L, Notorious B.I.G. (what's with all the ‘bigs'), 2Pac, Eazy-E and Ol' Dirty Bastard. To a lesser extent, or in a more regional sense, there's Proof and Bugz of D12, Mac Dre, Soulja Slim and Pimp C.

Judging Top X lists when it comes to overall rapping is also difficult. Would you decide based on their impact upon the genre? If so, names like N.W.A. (as a whole, or individual group members), Public Enemy, KRS-One, Rakim, LL Cool J, Run-D.M.C., Big Daddy Kane and Kool G Rap and the Wu-Tang Clan (again as a whole or individuals) would pop up.

On how many records they've sold? 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Nelly and Eminem are easily Top 10 material. What about how many albums they've released? E-40, LL Cool J and MF Doom are names that come to mind.

I think the line blurs between rappers that have had an impact on the genre, whether it's through sales or lasting change and favoritism. I like to think that certain names would appear on everybody's list at some point, whether or not it's at the top or not doesn't really matter, but Rakim, N.W.A. and Public Enemy are definitely rappers that should deserve that recognition.

It's like a greatest Movies or Wrestlers list, certain names are always going to appear, it's just a matter of guessing where. Sometimes that can be the real enjoyment of reading a lengthy list like that, you wait to see where your favorite rappers come in, or how closely it reflects your own personal list.

Which is why I'm contemplating working on a Top 25 or more list. It wouldn't go up in one week, and won't take the place of the bi-weekly Top 10 I do, but rather I'd feature one rapper each week, counting down from 25.

Hopefully you can chime in with your own thoughts, whether it's on the positioning of a certain artist, or your own list at the end of the 25 weeks (wow). I'm excited at the prospect and I hope you'll join in if I go ahead with it.

Just a couple of rules, if a group makes it in, individual members won't and vice versa, and yes, dead or alive, you can make the list.

YouTube For The Week

Murs – "H-U-S-T-L-E [Remix]"



Believe it or not, this features John Cena and he doesn't do a half-bad job with his verse. Anyway, THIS should be the hustler's anthem and if you haven't heard it before, now's your chance!

Before We Go…

Just a quick one this week folks, I'm trying to get a couple of reviews up today or tomorrow, one of them for the latest Murs album.

Catch you tomorrow!