I’m a little tipsey so this may not come out the right way, but whatevers.

I just want to exhale on a few things. I noticed the homie Drake is starting to get some hate on the internet and I knew this was going to happen, but damn I actually predicted he was going to blow this year way back on Dec. 16, 2008, when I gave Drake the #1 pick for taking over 2009 and it pretty much looks like it has come to fruition. Interestingly I gave Asher Roth the #2 slot and Currency #3 spot, so far Asher’s done fairly well and Currency well he’s naming his mixtapes, no one listens to, after old video games. Hopefully he can pick up steam later on.

But this isn’t about how great I am at picking talent, I did tap 50 Cent, Big Pun, Kanye West, DMX, and Jeezy, all before they blew as having next for the record, I want to talk about what it takes to be “the next”. Since I love listening to new unsigned artists, I can pretty much say I’ve heard everything and what always strikes me is how generic rappers sound. If I hear a rapper from New York or any eastcoast city, you can bet he’s a mix between Fabolous, Jay-Z, 50 Cent and Jadakiss. If I hear a rapper from any suburban area he’s going to try to have the same self-deprecating humour as a Kanye West. If you hear any rapper from the South, well you know what those bozos sound like. The thing is, the overwhelmingly majority of rappers sound the same and it is honestly disgusting.

I can’t say how rare it is when I hear an artist that has a completely different look, completely different sound and that actually has skills. I know there are a bunch of artists that are “different” from the mainstream but the problem with all of them is that they have no skill, usually uninteresting rhyme patterns, horrendous timing or just a voice more suited to announcing the subway stops. I really wish “rappers” would stop using the game as a lottery, hoping to have a “hit” and actually focus on making great art that continues in the same vein of all the great artists this genre has produced. But the thing is, for most artists to get really good, it takes time, and that means that even an artist that has potential maybe considered wack now.

Another thing I want to talk about is the death of thug rap. From talking to all kinds of people, I can pretty much say that genre of hip hop is dead. It is going to take a “50 Cent type messiah” to resurrect it, but I don’t think it will happen for another five years. Why five years? Because if you look at the high school kids that gravitate to artists, they even seem to be sick with the whole baggy clothes wearing thug. I even had a thirteen year old kid tell me that wearing “baggy jeans wasn’t mature”. WTF.

I suppose all those anti-drug-gang-baggy-clothes commercials-after-school-specials have paid off. And I’m really not mad at all at that. It’s just hip hop for better or worse seems like it is going through a gay period. Again I’m not mad at that, but I just wish there we’re guys that could actually rap and that didn’t rely on style so much. It’s like the early 2000s when Southern rappers just made those corny hook sounds and sold a bazillion ringtones, except now the Southern rappers are being replaced by Hipster rappers. Again no hate on the style, but I wish there was more guys with skill.

As for who I think got next in 2010. I won’t write that until December of this year. But to hold you over. If you like good music period, I think artists like Drega, Jay Electronica, and Blu have a good shot, but may take till to 2011 to prove it. On the thug rap side, I’m still putting my money on Gillie Da Kid and even Red Cafe, even though I picked him as my third pick in 2007 and he sounds like a generic 50 Cent/Fabolous. In the South, the only rapper worth mentioning is Brisco. Even though he spits that we’ve heard it all before type lyrics, he has a certain intensity about his flow and has some hilarious lines.

Who are yall currently listening that is new?