Sincerely Yours...

To Whom It May Concern:

I just wanted to write this open letter to address some of the rumors that have swirled around the last couple of years. No, I am not dead. I’ve never died, and don’t plan on dying anytime soon. I am however, very pissed off. I’ve been taking a lot of heat and had my name dragged through the mud for some s**t that just isn’t my fault. It’s like everywhere I turn, I hear about how bad I got or how I’m to blame for everything wrong with this world.

So yeah, I’m mad. But I’m not mad at Don Imus or Shawty Lo. I’m not even mad at those suits who run the labels (well, maybe a little). But I’m most upset with all of you who claim to be my fans and supporters. If you love me so much, how could you let these things happen to me? I might not be dead but that doesn’t seem to stop you guys from reloading the clip and then emptying it again.

First of all, the last time I checked music is an art form that should require some skill in order to do it. But its like anyone can be a rapper nowadays and you guys just let it happen. Sure there were always the Vanilla Ice’s of the world, no talent gimmicks that sold a bunch of records. But they always got clowned by the real rappers and never, ever got respect from true Hip-Hop fans. Today its like the complete opposite; rappers who admittedly don’t put 100% effort into writing rhymes but sell records through gimmicks get all the respect and guys who actually bring deep, thought-provoking raps are seen as corny. Fine. So image is everything now. If you got a good story, you don’t need to have skills on the mic to be hot. Fine. But then why the f**k is Rick Ross still hot? The biggest boss that we’ve seen thus far who claims that he knows the real Noriega, and makes $10 million annually from “non-rap” money was found that he made $22,000 a year as, a corrections officer. Where the f**k are your standards? This is why everyone is talking about the lack of quality; you guys are letting no talent hacks dictate the sound of my music.

While we are on the subject of image, why is it that my image has been limited to murderers, drug dealers and hustlers? Yeah the area that I grew up in was tough, I mean really tough. But I was created to give kids in the hood a way to express themselves, something that they can relate to. I’m supposed to be a positive outlet that will help you out of the hood so you don’t have to hit the block. When Melly Mel spit “The Message” and NWA got on the mic, it wasn’t about glorifying negative lifestyles as much as it was about giving a voice to the voiceless and forcing the rest of the country to pay attention to us. So what do we do now that we’ve got everyone’s attention? Compete to see who can be the next Tony Montana. Y’all n***as aren’t even trying to elevate yourselves and you s**t on anyone who attempts to do so. Why is selling weed more “real” than busting your ass to go to college? Why is Ice Cube looked at as a sell-out because he decided to use his power to make positive movies for young black kids? I’m sorry but I just don’t get it. You guys literally support drug dealing and violence above all else and you wonder why I’m getting attacked everywhere from Fox News to the Oprah Winfrey show.

But all of those things aside, that’s not what’s really killing my name. You want to know when it all went to hell? The day you motherf**kers decided that you didn’t need to pay for music anymore. It was cool when you downloaded that old classic from a few years back but when you started getting entire albums before they were released in the store, it was a wrap. The record industry always sucked but when they started loosing so much money, they panicked. Before, all kinds of artists could get deals because labels could at least break even if they sold a few thousand records. But now that we’re not paying for our Lupe Fiasco and Little Brother CD’s, labels don’t even want to give deals to anyone that can’t sell a million ringtones. So now you have young talented artists forced to put out horrible formulaic music just to get in the game. How much good music are we missing because we won’t give $10 to rappers that deserve it? You sick of hearing Plies and Shawty Lo dominate, get off you’re a** and go buy that Kids In The Hall album that you opted to download instead. I’m tellin’ y’all if you thought it’s bad now, wait to see what happens a few years from now.

I love you all because you are the ones that made me. You made me national and then brought me to every country on the planet. But I can’t take it anymore. I’ve heard a lot in my day but this is ridiculous. I feel like you guys don’t care what happens to me anymore. It can’t just be about the money. Hell, we ate the best before y’all started trippin’. I’m not asking you to hit the streets and start marching, I’m just asking you guys to give a s**t. Bring back those standards that made us the most creative and fastest-growing culture on earth. Try to remember why you fell in love with me in the first place and then require that everyone lives up to that. I’m tired of this s**t. I’m tired of dealing with all of this because of you guys. I’ve dodged a lot of bullets but I can only do my Matrix thing for so long. Eventually one of those are going to land and I’m not gonna be here anymore.

Peace,

Hip-Hop


P.S. And stop saying that I hate the South. I love the South. I’ve been riding w/ Face and ‘Kast since day one. Plus I hate Mims just as much as I hate Mike Jones.