Brother J of X-Clan was all of 19 dropping bombs, how far we've fallen

RunawaySlave · Sep 29, 2012

biggboye5000 said:
The one negative thing or complaint about that era is that it seemed like more of a fashion trend than an actual movement. It was all feel good positivity or angry black man rhetoric but there was not much substance to it.

This complaint usually levied by people who don't know wtf they talking about. It was trendy for the trend followers.
The people who set the pace for that era (PE, BDP, X-Clan) have NEVER wavered from what made them who they were back then
(and now) and what they rapped about on their records. The OP proves that.

sirwoodz · Sep 29, 2012

biggboye5000 said:
It was more of a vibe back then. This was before the gangster era kicked in real hard. Chicks were into what they have always been into. That's what LL was doing. He was like the first male sex symbol rapper for the chicks but there were all types of dudes rapping.

Rap stars period were celebs so they would automatically have groupies. Rap was still fun but it had become more conscious while still keepin it fun or at least keepin it funky. PE and them were still angry but angry with a positive message.

It was new, it was fun and it was positive. It was cool and trendy. It was a vibe. That whole pre-gangsta era was heavily conscious. It was beautiful actually.

It was kinda like "A Different World" meets "House Party meets "School Daze". That pretty much sums up and describes the feel back then perfectly. But when the gangstas stepped in it all came crashing down IMO.

Don't get me wrong. The talent, the music, the production and the lyrics were absolutely amazing in the gangsta era but that beautiful vibe was just totally demolished IMO. I was shaking my head back then in my early twenties but the tide was turning and there was no stopping it.

- i remember growing up and coming home to watch KRS-1, chubb rock, LL cool J all of that shit...

i know females were into the early 80's party hip hop like jj fad and fresh prince - but when hip hop started getting more intellectual, lyrical and somewhat political around the 90's - were females really into that shit?

i don't mean your chicks that were already up on it, i'm talking about everyday ordinary sistas man...were they really feeling ghostface? rass kass? MOP? mob deep? redman? :dunno:

biggboye5000 · Sep 29, 2012

There were a few but it was really more of a masculine thing for most of those artists. Chicks were mostly into the mainstream commercial acts or hardcore acts that had a female appeal. For instance Tupac was hardcore with a female appeal plus he blew up commercially.

But then mainstream acts like Heavy D would sneak in slightly conscious or positive material and wear red black and green fashion gear because that was the style. PE although hardcore and militant blew up commercially. Same thing. Masculine feel but chicks diggin and showing up at concerts because the act was one of the top ten most popular acts.

If a group was somewhat underground or under the radar then their appeal would be a little bit more limited. X-Clan was like that. They really weren't that big. They did have a few commercial hits but weren't really that huge. They had a few radio hits so if they did a show chicks would show up because they had a little mainstream celebrity buzz.