May 2009 Archives

The Cypher: Are your favorite rappers from 5-10 years ago still relevant?

Cypher1.png

Reggie and Ramon are the kind of friends who fight all the time. They met in a fight, and when they're not blogging, they can usually be found typing an assortment of tirades in a kind of modern warfare waged via text messaging and Facebook. Here, ATG presents a virtually unedited back and forth on a pressing issue of the day.

Reggie: I got into an argument with a friend recently who claimed that because Jada, Busta, Meth and Red, Cam'ron, Jay-Z, Eminem, and 50 Cent were all planning on dropping albums this year, younger artists like Drake and The Cool Kids were going to have to "take a back seat."

That can't be right though, can it? Granted, those guys are established figures in terms of claiming shelf space at Wal-Mart, but is that really where hip-hop's at these days? I mean I'm infinitely more excited to hear Wale's Attention Deficit (which probably won't sell much) than I am to listen to a bunch of dudes pushing 40 trying to relive their glory days.
__________________________________________

ATG Presents: The First Quarter Awards

1st Q Awards.png

It's a well known fact among rap fans that the first quarter of the year is a traditionally miserable time for the genre. Hip-hop heavy-weights almost never burrow out of hibernation until fall or winter, holding off until the end of Grammy eligibility or the start of the holiday shopping season. "Every fourth quarter, I like to Mike Jordan 'em," goes the Jay lyric, a declaration of the influential MC's favorite time to drop. But times have changed, and with the whole industry at a cross-roads, the most enterprising rappers are saving sleep for death, opting instead to push fresh product all year 'round.

In 2009, even casual listeners would have to have been under some serious igneous to miss the slew of sizzling singles, remixes, mixtapes and (occasional) albums. From the indefatigable roster of next generation talent, including Drake and Kid Cudi, to the game-can't-wait resurgence of veterans like Raekwon, DOOM and Kanye West, these days the hard part isn't finding signs of life in hip-hop, but keeping track of them all. 

With that in mind, we present The 1st Annual First Quarter Awards - A critical look back at the very best hip-hop released through the end of April, the early bird's season of choice.

First Quarter Face-Off The Mixtape coming Thursday. Awards over yonder -->>
__________________________________________

About this Archive

This page is an archive of entries from May 2009 listed from newest to oldest.

April 2009 is the previous archive.

June 2009 is the next archive.

Pages.

Personnel.

Co-founder/Executive Editor: Ramon Ramirez
Co-founder/Executive Editor: Reggie Ugwu

Senior Writers
Cass Luskin
Jerod Couch
Evan Daniels
Natalia Ciolko

Web Design
Jeremy Hurd