Switch...

Changeling
written by Just K

A decade ago I was 15 years old. I was a sophomore in high school. A gallon of gas was a little over a dollar a gallon (except in NY, where it was probably the same price it is now). Usher had just released his first adult CD (he dropped his last name) and had that slick video where he walked out of his shoes at the end. I used to watch Snick – Saturday Night Nickelodeon – even though I was blown that they dropped Are You Afraid of the Dark and Clarissa Explains it All. TGIF was the bomb, too. I’d like to go ahead and drop a preliminary no homo for this next statement. I started watching Dawson’s Creek. There was this girl that had me stuck in the friendship box at high school like Joey had Dawson. So I figured since Joey and Dawson were destined to be together, me and homegirl…

Broke my heart when I found out Joey ended up with Pacey in the end.

As for music, I was cranking that first Ma$e CD. I was singing “Uptown Baby” with Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz like I wasn’t from DC or something. I’d like to go ahead and drop a preliminary no constipation for this next statement. I was yelling “Make ‘Em Say Ugh!” with Master P and them.

Anyways, I’d like to think that I’ve changed as a person and as a hip-hop fan over the years. So why is it that many of us want MCs to stay in the same place? I mean, I’m sure they watch different shows, listen to different music, read different books, experience different things, and deal with different people than they did when they debuted. So why is there such outrage when an MC changes? I don’t mind when an MC changes; change is good.

On second thought, let me retract that statement. I hate when an MC changes. I can’t stand when an MC changes. Hell, I didn’t change. I evolved. Yeah, that’s it. Evolved. I appreciate the evolution of an MC. But when an MC changes, that’s some bull$#!*.

I couldn’t expect Jay-Z to be a hardcore dope boy forever. Eventually he had to put away the throwback jerseys, doo rags, pots and pans. I couldn’t expect Nas to be the teenager telling stories from his apartment window forever. I couldn’t expect Eminem to be the same dude from “My Name Is” and never have anything of substance to speak on. These MCs didn’t change. They evolved. In essence they were pretty much the same MCs we loved and grew up with; they just took different paths to get to the same wonderful music that we love.

Now that bamma Ja Rule, he ditched me. His first CD was damn near classic in my book. He established himself as a raw, street MC with a big voice. Sweet. Then, before you know it, homeboy became an RnB diva. His first CD featured Jay-Z, DMX, Erick Sermon, Memph Bleek, Ronald Isley, Case, and three rappers from his label. By the third CD, the features were Missy, Tweet, J.Lo, Ashanti, and anyone that could bring more estrogen to his album. I’m not against estrogen at all (see the no homo from paragraph 1), but don’t sell me on the gutter MC from the hood and then practically provide a hip-hop soundtrack for the gals on Wisteria Lane. Once he pulled out the glee club sweater for the “Mesmerize” video, it was curtains for his fan base.

So what’s the moral of the story here? We all evolve at some point. Expect the same from MCs. They’re people too. Our favorite MCs don’t change – they evolve. As for the MCs that actually change, see below for the result.