There Is No Substitute

Okay, I was sitting by myself after rocking the stage & shaking hands with the fans when I was approached by a younger upcoming artist who at the time had no idea of my age- not that I'm old or anything! lol Anyway, as it happens so often, he kindly gave me my props & asked me for any words of wisdom that could help him become successful and I proceeded to say "it's all about your grind" when I was rudely interrupted by his own response- "All I do is grind!" Then he began to tell me about how he makes his own beats, has his own studio and promotes his own music so I was ready to really chop it up with him until the conversation turned into this- (Me)"So what kind of equipment you producing with & how proficient is your engineer with ProTools?" (Him)Well I make all my beats on Fruity Loops you feel me, & I got the mic set up in my closet. I don't need no engineer though, I record right on my computer with Reasons." All I could say was "Keep grinding homey, something will pop off if you just keep doing what you do. When in my head all I could think about is what happened to the love for the music & the passion for the art?
Maybe it's just me, but I remember when I started rapping you had to have a passion for it because everything was so inaccessible passion was the only thing that could drive you to jump through loops to pursue your dream. There was a time when all the artists were good because you had to go through sooooo much to do music people just wouldn't allow you to waste your time if you weren't any good. I laugh at these young cats now who think being able to sit in your room with no real knowledge for producing, engineering or even emceeing is grinding because they did a project. Man, I'm from the era when good producers were far & in between and studios (especially in-house) were so few they were like urban myths! Dudes were willing to spend money because they were serious about their craft & the cats they were paying were experts in their field. Hell, we were passionate because even after we finally found a producer, searched for the studio (that usually ended up being on the other side of town), recorded a song or two and had our cassettes pressed(yeah I said it, cassettes!!!!), we knew that was just the beginning! Artists- I take that back- rappers nowadays lack passion because they don't have to have respect for the game. The days of having to actually get off your ass and promote your music via talent shows, open mics and on the spot recitals to prove to the cat you're trying to sell your product to that you're nice are over.
Now don't get me wrong, I am by no means knocking the new kids hustle or feeling like they don't deserve to get any bread. I just think they're too disrespectful considering they act as if they really believe some of us great artists didn't make it because we weren't good enough. It's kind of like a black person who grew up during the segregation era feels after they've done sit-ins and lost family & friends to the ways of the times just to survive and see a young black person step on the bus & go straight to the back without even wanting to sit in the front. Things are so much easier now that hip hop is no longer an art, it's just a hustle. We looked up to artists back in the day because we knew how much work it would take to be where they were. Now, teenagers can become more famous overnight than a pioneer who put in 15 plus years of blood, sweat & tears.
I guess what I'm really trying to say is don't just reap your benefits without understanding what was sown. The least you can do if you're going to prosper from another man's work is pay homage or take some time to appreciate the hard work that has made your work easy. When you hear pioneers saying hip hop is dead, they don't necessarily mean music wise, they mean movement wise. There was a certain energy that hip hop had that can only come through interaction. Now because of the gift and the curse known as the internet people can collaborate with artists around the world and never leave home let alone meet face to face. Once you take the vibe out of the creative process you end up losing the positive energy and more importantly the comradery of being on the same level which shows in the music. It's no secret, there is a scientific mantra to the art that has been taken away by modern technology. The digital world is like Pillsbury crescent rolls but the old ways are like Big Mamma's homemade biscuits- although it's good, there just isn't any substitute. So before any of you young guys think about conversing with me about the game, be sure you can at least tell me what an ADAT is!!!.....(Old school cats, do you remember when you worked with them cheap studio cats who didn't wanna buy the dats & used to have you bring the Super VHS tapes instead!!! lol Man I quit!)