Drizzle Sez is currently on vacation. Lucky fuck. But, in his absence, I’ve recruited some of the other Profound Assholes to continue old/spark new conversations. Today, I’m joined by Gingawd, named such because, well, he’s a Ginger and, like a GAWD, he’s one of the few people who can get away with some of the shit he does/says. Surprisingly, today, he keeps his soullessness in check for the most part. We must be growing up. Today’s topic is a continuation of Volume 42. Volume 44 will feature the conclusion of this conversation, and will feature Drizzle Sez (as it was transcribed before he fled the country).

Speed: So, Drizzle’s out for a bit. You feel like doing some PA with me in his absence?

Gingawd: Yeah. I’m down.

Speed: Sweet. So, Drizzle and I were talking about the current generation of hippity-hop and shit. The new rappers. He thinks we’re fucked as rap fans and fans of good music, potentially because of our own fuck-ups in preventing this new age from happening. I’m kinda in the middle. So, do you think these new rappers are going to doom the genre or just, as Twitter fuckboys love to say, do well “for the culture?” By new, we’re mostly talking artists who came out between Drake’s rise to relevance and now since, you know, “Nothing Was The Same” and shit.

Gingawd: I think it’s become painfully obvious who controls the media.

Speed: Old crusty white dudes who have no real fucking clue as to what’s really, in actuality, good music?

Gingawd: Correct. For instance, Childish Gambino should’ve been in Drake’s position and it makes me sad.

But, at least you’ve got Cole and Kendrick proving that the real still has power. The ways we consume media, it makes it harder for good artists to thrive.

Speed: Gambino, for me, is still kind of hit or miss. He’s underrated, sure. But, still hit or miss. Now, I loved Because the Internet. He’s still missing a spot or two as a rapper. Drake, in some ways, was a wunderkind, in that he could cross over easier, to me, because of his Degrassi fan base. And it’s true about the media. I feel most of these sites are getting better about highlighting the mainstream and the “underground.”

Some of them, however, are obviously still operating under new payola. And, for real? I can’t really be that mad at that. Get your money. But, at the same time, I feel that kind of dilutes the messages the sites are putting out there. Especially if they know it’s just for views and shit.

Gingawd: Agreed. But, Gambino is a stronger actor, artist and writer.

Speed: I can’t argue with that. Even as a Drake fan and someone who writes for Boi-1da.com (shameless plug). Gambino does have the leg-up on Drake in those categories for the most part. But, Drake is hella easier to digest if you’re just going to the club to turn up. You can’t really full on 2016 turn up to Gambino–

Gingawd: “Backpackers,” “Freaks and Geeks,” “Heartbeat.” Those are all club bangers. Hell, you could play “Heartbeat” in an EDM club and it’d fit right in.

Speed: Accurate, again. I guess it’s a different kind of “turn up” than most would be able to appreciate. It’s like classic/good Kid Cudi mixed with Drake with a morsel of Em/Tech sensibilities when it comes to what/how he’s saying things. But, if you’re fucked up in the club, you’re probably not going to be able to process that. Drake, as much as I like the guy, he’s a primer for “sad turn up rap.” Some folks, as we see, don’t go past the primer.

But, at least both Drake and Gambino are doing better than these other new age rappers.

You know which ones I’m talking about. These young boys who are mushmouthing the fuck out of the game.

Gingawd: I hate most of the new rappers. They’re trying way too hard and barely even rap. It’s like Hopsin said. They wanna act like some stereotypical gay folks and wear a bunch of feminine shit.

Speed: Now, I really don’t have that much of a problem with the androgyny of some of these new rappers. Like, Young Thug/whatever he’s calling himself today, I don’t mind it.

Do you, be different and shit. I’ve a problem with, like you said, the new rappers trying too hard and all sounding/looking/acting the same. There’s no diversity. Like I said with Drizzle, there’s like a fuckboy rap factory these days. I’m all for diversity and inclusion in hip-hop…when it actually gives us something new.

Gingawd: We’ve new artists like that. But the mainstream don’t pay ’em, at all. Frank Ocean isn’t helping either. A lot of these artists just feel phony, bland, and one-dimensional.

Speed: Oh lawrd. Don’t get me started on the Troll Named Frank. Even with the new album, Blonde, I’m still kind of just like “meh.” It’s cool for what it is. And it delivers. But, something about it keeps me from jumping for joy about it.

Maybe it’s because it’s no NostalgicULTRA or ChannelORANGE, but I’m biased to those for emotional reasons. However, we didn’t need all the fail and flair behind it. I feel like this: if it was ready, drop the shit. If it wasn’t, stop fucking around, shut the fuck up with the “art,” and work until you deliver what you really want/need to.

Don’t keep faking people out. And, like when Kanye–

Gingawd: That crazy bastard–

Speed: Like when he did it, Frank got a similar “ehhhhh” response from some folks. There are only a few artists who can do that and still deliver classic albums. Two of them, Prince and MJ, they’re dead now. So…yeah.

Gingawd: Kanye is an “act” now, not really an artist.

Speed: He’s been that way since, like, MBDTF. People responded amazingly to that and it’s like he just said “fuck it. They like drama. Well, I’m gonna do the same thing thrice over and just make it crazier and even more WTF every time I drop an album.” It’s a goddamn spectacle, not an album, at that point.

Gingawd: It’s insane, since he was putting good rappers on the map years ago.

Speed: True. Losing your mom will do that to you, though. It’ll make you go crazy as fuck. That’s especially if you and your mom were close.

Gingawd: I agree. It hasn’t happened to me yet. But, you better believe that, when it does, I’m going full Archer rampage.

Speed: Oh hell yeah. The only reason why I didn’t burn things down more than I did was because of the team, man. And the fact that the Missus was pregnant. If those things didn’t happen, the world would’ve burned for me.

So, to a degree? I can’t fault Kanye. But, at the same time, as traumatic as it is to lose your mom, his music hasn’t been that great since. Aside from MBDTF, that is. And that album is more related to his relationship with Amber Rose and his VMA stuff than anything. Now, some folks, they’ll turn tragedy to a spark to live and create greatness like there’s no tomorrow. Other folks, they’ll go full Kanye. And you never wanna go full Kanye.

Gingawd: But that’s what I mean. He’s an act now. Now, look at someone like Lupe and what he did on The Cool. That’s a spark. When he’s on, he’s something else.

Speed: True. Look at LASERS. It’s a bad album, even with all the backstories and bullshit behind it. It’s a forced effort from Lupe to comply with his labels’ requests. But, even with that to the side, it wasn’t that great of an album. And I say that with all respect to Lupe and his camp. However, even without that pressure, you got FNL 2. Similar sort of thing for me. He was forcing a sequel to a classic album and it came out as such. You can’t force greatness.

That’s why he dipped out for a bit, recharged, and we got Tetsuo and Youth, an album that ranks as one of my favorites of all-time. Kanye, to me, he never took/never got that chance to leave it all behind really. He never really recharged after MBDTF and losing his mom and Amber Rose and shit. Sure, he’s fine now with his two Kardashian children. But, artistically, he’s spent in some ways because he never got to run the fuck away. He kept robotting along and killing that spark, that spirit.

Gingawd: Yeah, and these mushmouth kids? They try to recreate NEW Kanye because they see it makes money.

Speed: Just like how Drizzle and I were talking about how they try to recreate OLD Jay with a Bling Bling flow. It’s sad. Like, these are the folks they look up to and they are, in turn, gonna be some of the folks that the next next generation will look up to. What will that create? To me, it’s gonna create a cycle of worsening artists who are more concerned with a dollar and a fucking “moment” than actually just making dope-ass music and letting it speak for itself.

Gingawd: These new kids? They’ve no identity and nothing feels fresh.

Speed: So, I’ll ask you this. Like I asked Drizzle, have we failed this new generation?

Gingawd: Nope. They’re grown-ass kids. They could’ve rearranged, adapted, and evolved the genre, the game. Instead they chose to sit there, stagnate even. They grew up with some of the best and brightest artists, radio and otherwise. But, instead of evolving a sound, they copied–

Speed: Pretty poorly, I’ll add–

Gingawd: It’s bland, it’s photocopied, and it’s no love involved anymore. They don’t love the art anymore. It’s just a formula to them. Now, in a magical world–and I’m biased because I’m a Technician–Aesop Rock, Tech N9ne, and MF Doom would be the top three. Bar none.

Speed: Well, I know my biases and admit them openly. If there was magic, K.R.I.T., Kendrick, etc., they’d be right up there at all times. In a magical world, with fireflies and shit, we’d have less people mimicking Future and the “Migos flow” and more cohesive bars, songs, etc. Now, I’m not saying that everything has to be boombap lyrical miracle craziness. Fuck that. But, I just want more diverse music. That too much to ask, guys?

Gingawd: Hell, Timbo spits better bars than most of these kids–

Speed: Hey! He spat classic heat on “Are You That Somebody.” Classic. But, seriously, he was always better as a producer versus a straight-up rapper.

Gingawd: Pharrell, now, then, whenever, would literally send heads back home on these kids. But, honestly, this generation isn’t completely doomed. You’ve got folks like Childish, Kendrick, and Cole still doing hot tracks. That’s even though Cole drops the N-Word too much for me.

Speed: Well, you’re white–

Gingawd:  Let’s be real. I’m a mixblooded guy. My personality reflects as such.

Speed: So, you think he’s overcompensating? I think he’s still figuring out how to “connect to the streets” at times. It still feels authentic, though.

Gingawd: Look, he’s mixed. I’m mixed. Not with black, but still, another “minority.” So, I’ll say he’s probably overcompensating.

Speed: Look, I’m a mutt, based on my family history. So, I’ll agree. But, I don’t think that’s all it is. Besides, you still look white. Cole looks like he’s Black. And, I don’t know. Logic’s mixed and he’s not dropping the N-Word all the time. But, as we know, not all mixed folks have the same story.

Gingawd: But, it’s hard, it seems, to be taken seriously as a lightskinned rapper because of how Drake’s “changed the game.”

Speed: Can’t put it all on Aubrey.

Gingawd: That motherfucker should’ve stayed in his wheelchair.

Speed: LOL Degrassi Flow.

Gingawd: I want Canada to apologize for the fake cripple and the other white boy they imported–

Speed: Two things. One, Drake, even as Wheelchair Jimmy was stealing the spotlight with his bars. Remember that one Degrassi episode–

Gingawd: No.

Speed: Anyways, at least Degrassi gave us Cassie Steele showing her cheekies all over IG. And which “white boy?” It’s Canada, so it’s probably crawling with y’all.

Gingawd: Justin–

Speed: I know where you’re going. I’ll edit that one out. We’ve gotta be accepting of all folks, even those who started out looking like the lost, potentially LGBT son of Ellen Degeneres. Stereotypes are wrong, yes. But, they’re based in some twisted truths. As a side note, I doubt she’s racist. She’s too “Ellen” to be flat-out racist. I have no fucking clue what that means, but…yeah. Doubt she’s racist.

Gingawd: So, when are you gonna post the rest of Drizzle’s conversation on this topic?

Speed: In due time.