Scrolling through Netflix's "Recommended For You" category is a lot like life, and in that sense, it can anger me a little bit. I come across an old war hero documentary, then the next title is an old action movie with B list actors, then the next thing actually happens to be a pretty big animated movie that just got out of theaters; but I didn't go and see it for a reason. Dammit Netflix, YOU THINK YOU KNOW ME?!?! The time I spend wandering aimlessly through Netflix's endless list of fuckery is time I could spend being more productive elsewhere, but who wants to do that? Well this time, Netflix is actually inspiring me to be productive (cue flying pigs). The Art Of Organized Noize is the latest must watch documentary that I absolutely must discuss.
So in case you haven't heard of them, Organized Noize are a production group based out of southwest Atlanta, and they have worked with mega stars like Outkast, Future, Ludacris, Goodie Mob (Big Gipp, Cee-Lo Green, etc.), TLC, and more, and the documentary actually includes interviews from some of these artists discussing their come up and the influence that Organized Noize had on them.
(*I do not own this video, or the rights to it*)
Many claim that Organized Noize had such an impact on hip hop today that they're responsible for the sound and how it has evolved today, especially in Atlanta. Their use of live instruments in their music transcended the average hip hop sound and how it was perceived, and ultimately has pushed other artists to keep that true aspect of instrumentation in their music, even today.
So if you know your Southern hip hop or you want to get to brush up on your Southern hip hop history, The Art Of Organized Noize is for you. The come up of one of the greatest production groups of all time (arguably) is discussed, and they even get a little bit into the come up of who many people hail as the greatest hip hop duo of all time in Outkast. There are plenty of all star appearances and interviews to entertain you (including an interview with Diddy), and the archived footage shown would put even the biggest Outkast, Goodie Mob, or Organized Noize fans in awe. So if you're a southern hip hop rap nerd, you need to watch The Art Of Organized Noize,out on Netflix right now!
Sometimes you hate to see your favorite emcees do anything BUT rap, but it can be a cool thing to see them appear in your favorite TV show, play in the celebrity game at NBA All Star weekend, or even make business deals (focus on your music though guys, *cough cough Dr. Dre, Jay Z, Diddy, etc.). Rappers rap for a living (hence the term "rapper") but this is a new day and age. I put together a small list of some rappers who could probably do other things with their careers and be pretty good at them.
Dizzy Wright - basketball player
Sorry for the crappy picture quality, unfortunately this is how all pictures shown in this post will appear (#TechnologyStruggles). Anyways, Dizzy Wright was quite the baller in his high school days, and he could have even played at UNLV but bad grades prevented him from doing so.
2 Chainz - basketball player
Twooooo Chaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiinzz! This dude is just funny period. The last thing you think of when you think of 2 Chainz is smart, intelligent mind building rap (or smart, intelligent, mind building anything), but Chainz was actually a college basketball player, and even graduated as a 4.0 GPA student in only 3 years at a 4 year school (attended Alabama State University on an athletic scholarship, believe it, it's true).
Common - Actor
Common is an easy choice as one of the stand outs because he is very hot right now, especially after coming off winning a Grammy for best original song ("Glory" ft. John Legend). When you think of conscious, thought provoking rappers, Common is the epitome (where do you think the name "Common" originated from? Common Sense of course! [His original rap name]). Common is always in the conversation when it comes to rappers who use their voice effectively, and his role in AMC's original series Hell On Wheels only adds to his already impressive resume of talent.
Childish Gambino - Actor/Comedian
Childish Gambino is the most interesting character on this list (literally a "character"). Gambino has made quite a career as a rapper with his mix tape releases and his debut album Because The Internet, but the "Gambino" I personally got to know wasn't Gambino at all. Donald Glover (his government name) started out as a comedian who even got a couple of stand up specials to air on Comedy Central, and his hilarious takes on race and everyday observation sold me more than any music of his could. Not only does Gambino rap AND do stand up (or did do stand up, no rumors on if he still does or if he will return) but he also has a great resume of acting, and even has appeared on the television show 30 Rock multiple times, and wrote for the show for 3 years (from 2006 to 2009).
Seeing any type of celebrity tackle as many careers/topics/activities as they do could make any person's head spin. When I think about what I'm doing and then compare it with what Jay Z's day might consist of, I start to feel pretty bad about myself (but then I remember I'm just a hip hop writer). But anyways, you should never limit anyone by the way they appear to you. Talent is never fully measured by ones interests, ones career, or even ones demeanor. Sometimes you can tell how great someone is destined to be just by the way they talk to you. If this list isn't even a slight example of what it means to make the sky the limit (or the galaxy [Hip Hop Unlimited], this is what we do now, come on) then maybe you should re-evaluate what you make your limit. The people on this list did, and look at them now.
If there is one person in all of hip hop that embodies the gangster aspect of hip hop entirely (and maybe a bit excessively/unhealthily), it's Marion "Suge" Knight. Death Row CEO, co-founder, and arguably the most intimidating man in hip hop, Suge built a name and an empire through money, power, fear, and (believe it or not) respect in one of the most controversial and power packed periods of rap. The ups are some of the best and most well documented in hip hop history, which include 10 plus platinum albums, including 2 diamond, and the launching of legendary careers like Tupac, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Tha Dogg Pound, and countless others. But perhaps just as talked about (if not more) are the downs of Suge's career, which far outweigh the ups. Though I'm not wanting to break down every single one of them one by one, I am interested in how these things turn a powerful man into someone not so powerful (not physically of course, it seems Suge will always be that). I wouldn't call this the rise and fall, but more so the studying of Suge's roller coaster career. Is Suge Knight really what the public eye makes him out to be? Is Suge's reputation real? And is Suge's reputation partly what made Death Row so successful? I hope to find answers to these questions just as much as anybody else out there, and that's why we're addressing Suge right now (Suge, if you see this, please don't kill me).
To start this off, I had to immediately include the fact that "Suge Knight dead" is one of the first search results that pops up in Google. Does this mean anything? Maybe so. Do people expect it? Probably. If I didn't know who he was, this would tell me that Suge's reputation is probably not great. And if you are just learning about Suge, you would be right in that assumption. Suge has had endless legal troubles that include assault charges, drug charges, traffic violations, he's been shot at multiple times (and being hit 6 times the most recent shooting at a Chris Brown party), and the most recent occurrence being theft (for taking a paparazzi camera along with Katt Williams, though Katt isn't seen in the video. I couldn't find it to post, instead I included a video of Katt talking to TMZ about Suge's shooting).
There's just something about Katt Williams and Suge Knight being together that brings the bad out of people (no shade Katt, you're a great comedian). Obviously there have been multiple occurrences including Katt and Suge, including a fight outside of a night club in January of 2013 (which there is also a TMZ video of floating around online), but to prove that Katt is not the common denominator in the bad press, here is a video of Suge throwing some sneak disses at (what you'd think as "former", apparently there still might be some bad blood even today) rival Bad Boy label head Diddy.
So discussing this video (besides the conspiracy theories surrounding it and Suge fueling the 'Tupac is alive" debate), the first thing that comes to mind is Suge's very unhesitant diss of Diddy. Which leads to the question: why diss Diddy after all these years? Seriously though: how does dissing Diddy right now help your career out? Back in 94-96 this certainly would have made for great press, but right now can anyone honestly say they feel this holds any sort of significance? Piling this on top of the "Tupac is alive right now smoking a Cuban cigar" comment makes it seem more of a cry for attention than trying to make a valid point on an issue. Not to mention that Diddy is currently worth $500 million and is in the top 3 on the Forbes list of wealthiest hip hop artists. Who out of these two would you say is winning? Success is the best revenge.
A very big conspiracy I have to address is Suge's supposed role in Tupac and Biggie's deaths. There are definitely more than enough theories in both rappers' deaths to detail in one post (or several posts for that matter, especially Tupac), whether people believe the shootings were gang-related, that one or both of the rappers are still alive, or that Suge actually orchestrated the hit on one or both of the rappers, the speculation is endless. These arguments are certainly all just rumors, but nonetheless could sway the way somebody would view Suge and what his true intentions are. Why kill off one of your own rappers? Some might say more money for Suge, others would say that Suge was jealous of the attention Pac was getting that Suge felt he himself deserved, and some might even say that Suge woke up on the wrong side of the bed. While the last one might not be as reasonable (though it could be plausible from what we know about Suge), it seems that people wouldn't know enough about Suge personally to form an honest opinion.
When we get into talking about Suge's most recent burst back into the spotlight, this might be evidence that Suge is indeed human after all. Suge recently had a court hearing for his alleged robbery charge of a paparazzi camera and was taken into custody with bail set at $500 thousand. If Suge were to be convicted, he would be facing 30 years to life in prison (with past charges being mostly because of an assault with a deadly weapon). While all of the charges Suge has faced have been no joke, it seems that it all finally begins to pile up on him in a TMZ video that shows Suge visibly upset with the ruling, and his face wet from crying. You'd have to be a past victim of Suge's to not feel a little bit of sympathy towards him in this video.
(*I do not own any of the videos in this post, or the rights to them*)
So while the evidence shows that Suge may not deserve to have any sympathy thrown his way, I'd most certainly love to hear what the audience has to say! Do you believe that deep down Suge might be a good man whose made mistakes? Or do you think there's no excuse for so much error and he needs to pay for his wrongdoings? The sensible person in me believes that Suge is an egotistical, power driven maniac who doesn't care about anything but money, but then the good in me thinks that if anything were to make Suge Knight cry, it's probably pretty harsh. I tried my best to include 2 sides to Suge, but his history of violence and crime charges make it barely believable that there is good in Suge. Let me know your thoughts on Suge and if he's just made a lot of mistakes in his life and you think he can correct them, or if you think that there is no changing a man who has done so much wrong (Vanilla Ice might go with the latter, though that is also just speculation as well). All I really have left to say is that Suge Knight might really be gangster until death row, whether that be his desire or not.
