F*ck New York?! What?!

Last night, I interviewed Donny Goines, a budding emcee from Harlem. He made a song that took me for a loop, but I felt his message. The New York bred artist produced a track called F*ck New York, of which, I must admit, was so crazy to hear in the beginning.

My first thought was “Hold up, isn’t that the birthplace of Hip Hop? To say those words are strong and demeaning to those pioneers of rap music.” Actually, I was my words were not that eloquent (oh yeah, I was cursing).

But I listened. And the more I listened to Donny's words, the more I understood him. There are people out there misrepresenting NY, and its a mess. That says a lot because I’m from Cleveland.

There was a gang of New Yorkers in my neighborhood in Cleveland, and I remember them not accepting mediocrity, being prideful of their respective boroughs, and always keeping it 100.

Sad to say, that’s not the case in today’s Hip Hop or pop culture markets. There are emcees (and some homo-thugs) on a paper chase, not reppin’ what Hip Hop culture is about. So they come out with a bunch of catchy hooks and ring tones, but nobody really GRASPS the essence of the music, the lifestyle or the culture any longer. If you want to know what it's REALLY about, pick up ANY article Queen Latifah has written. You can feel the life jump into your soul...it's that DEEP!

At any rate, I can’t wait until New York takes Hip Hop back. Don’t get me wrong, I have love for all Hip Hop, no matter who you are or where you come from (correction: I have love for all Hip Hop that is good). But those “homo-thugs” have got to go, and I KNOW there are New Yorkers out there that agree with me.