Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim

As-Salaamu ‘Alaikum My Beautiful Black Bebies!

I feel like Queen Mother for real. Nearing fifty and bout to blow up the spot! Yall not hearing me!

This BEACH LIFE IS LIITTTTT!!!! Me and Ibni are on The Fourth Day of our Celebration of Eid! With no End In SIGHT!!!

So crazy because there were like five holidays all on the same day but EID outshines them all!

We’re gonna just keep celebrating until the reason becomes secondary and just dovetails into a General AL HAMDULILLAH!!! Until next year!!!

I mean really. If you have to have a reason to say Al Hamdulillah, something is definitely wrong upstairs…

Anyway, if you are new you probably don’t know this but I am a music lover. I mean, I’m in the

class of music lovers.

So, I have been telling anyone who would listen that NWA ruined any chance of hip-hop redeeming herself from an humiliating foundation of plagiarism.

What, with their egregious use of foul language, glorification of street life, i.e. prostitution and whoremongering; gangbanging and guns; and the proliferation of illegal drugs permeating the Black community) not to mention the blatant disrespect, mockery and degradation of all Black Queens, they singlehandedly ensured whatever redeeming qualities that lay dormant in this burgeoning art form would never rise to the surface.

Enter my #2.

Little did I expect when Eric B is President dropped that my GOAT would be firmly established in the person of RAKIM ALLAH.

Nearly forty plus years later, he has maintained his position unchallenged. So much so that the idea of a Runner-Up never entered my mind until I heard this song via the music video by BOOGIE DOWN PRODUCTIONS, so adeptly fronted by one Mister KRISNA PARKER better known to the world as BLASTMASTER, KRS ONE.

After seeing this, the idea of a Number Two was so obvious.

I mean, you would have had to bear witness to The Golden Era of Hip-Hop to fully grasp why Rakim was in a class by himself also the unnecessarriness of a Runner-Up.

Everyone else was on equal footing. Chuckie, J and yes Kris, were tied when it came to consciousness, skill, flow, wordplay and musical production. At least in my humble opinion.

But time makes all things manifest, and the cream has indeed risen to the top.

Brother Kris may never win the accolades of his peers in the form of a statue representing their acknowledgment, if not respect, for his craft (Grammy) but his longevity and permeability speak for themselves.

I’m from LA and the quality of hip hop out of The West is embarrassing. Pac was the only one saying anything and that was only half of his discography. The other half was almost as bad as his predecessors. Worse, he’s originally from NYC.

I wasn’t feeling Nip, but I think I was alone in my criticism. He had some worthwhile product. I think he resonated with his age group, which is impressive enough.

Quite simply, the quantity of emcees spitting positivity hailing from the other side of this Lake of Fire to be, dwarfs my coast to the extent that you can’t even find them.

Anyway, shout out to My Brother, KRS. If I may, ALLAH HAS THE BEST NAMES. I KRISEN YOU

K A R I M