Video: Jay-z x Swizz Beatz-on to the next one

Yawwwwwnnnn. No hate, because Jay is one of my 3 favorite MC's ever, but since the "retirement," and comeback, his swag hasn't nearly been on the same tilt. Sure, he married arguably the richest, hottest, most talented young singer out there, and he's a regular in Forbes and all that, but this is where purists (like me) have problems: THE MUSIC JUST ISN'T AS GOOD AS IT USED TO BE. Case in point: The Blueprint 3. It had a few things going for it: Highly anticipated (especially after the first 2), first Jay album in a while, and rumors of great callabos (Drake anyone?). Long story short, it was praised and sold well in this watered down musical climate, but I feel like Jay is getting worse and worse. DONT GET ME WRONG. I like this album (though its a solid 9th place in Jay's catalog) but songs like this turn me OFF. To me, Swizz Beats should NEVER speak. EVER. So a Swizz Beats hook is NOT HOT. EVER. His beats? Usually GREAT, he has a tremendous body of work. This boils down to being a poppy club song with a good beat, catchy sample, horrible hook/bridge, subpar rhymes. Add a weird video, with (to me) only a few cool visuals, overall it's a FAIL. Check it for yourself, and let me know if I'm crazy.

Really? Gucci Mane?!

According to DimeWars Gucci Mane (yes, Gucci Mane) is projected to top the rap charts this Wednesday. Is this how far rap has fallen? I'm definitely not one to "hate", but quality is quality, and this is NOT. To me, Gucci is relevent ONLY for these things: making barely comprehensible rap, having a diamond bart simpson piece (even though he's 30 something), toasting with cars, apparently shooting people for no reason, and, most puzzlingly, BEING ONE OF THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER RAPPERS IN THE COUNTRY?!? Why?!?

While I do agree I have a slight (read heavy sarcasm) "east coast rap" bias, this stuff is horrible. (I have friends that will argue this with me). The songs aren't good, his look is terrible, He's even OUT OF SHAPE! I suppose this is what we're going to be subjected to in this era of "RAP." There are too many AMAZING artists that are not selling records because of the climate (but that's a whole other post). Oh and by the way, Gucci will be coming in second on the overall charts to Chris Brown aka CBreezy aka Beat 'em up Brown (LOL).