How come?
It's not like its a vast departure from his previous stuff.

That's the problem. :)
I'm not a very big MF Doom fan.

I can definitely understand people not liking doom. I just don't get people who like his other material and then act like he fell off with the new album.

I thought Born Like This was dreadful. Lackluster production + underwhelming rhymes = wackness.

I see his point, but I don't really agree with it. As a whole, yeah, hip-hop is declining- but I think if you keep your eyes open, you find stuff that's as creative as ever. For example, I'm a big fan of the incorporation of live instrumentals or unique genre-transcending albums (P.O.S. 'Never Better'). Also, a lot of the guys who haven't had fame yet still have some very refreshing things to say. It's far from dead, or dying- in my opinion.

the state of hip hop. that's funny, they refer to the culture but talk about only the music, what about the other elements?

If you think rap now isn't as good as it was 10 or 20 years ago you're just looking in the wrong places. First of all get your head out of the mainstream, then get your head out of america. There is great rappers all over the world from new york to melbourne, adelaide, london, tokyo, paris. People need to stop being so narrow minded, 50cent, kanye west and nas aren't the be all and end all of this genre.

Added to all those


Jay-Z- Blueprint 3
Murs- Murs For President
Busta Rhymes- Back on my B.S.
Wale- Attention Deficit
Clipse- Till my Casket Drops
Rakim- The Seventh Seal
Eminem- Relapse
Witness- .45 Sweetheart
LTC- It's Just a Demo
Didn't Wu Tang's 8 Diagrams come out this year too?



But yeah, the writer of the article tried to stabalize his arguement by stating all the things people would say against his statement. Only he never really explained how they would be wrong. It is over-nostalgia. I can't stand when so many supposed hip-hop fans look at musical proggression with such disdain. The stuff that's being put out (avante-garde style hip-hop) is really great music. It doesn't get any simpler. And who is this guy or anyone who thinks they can declare a genre of music dead?As long as there are still artists putting music out, and fans to gobble it up, who's to say it's dead? Because of the loose definition, every year some pretentious writer is going to declare genre A dead. It's the curse of disco.

8 Diagrams was a few years ago, but I didn't think it was all that great to begin with.

Are you serious? It really doesn't feel a few years old.
And, are you serious? That jaunt was bangin'. Especially that John Lennon cover.