A certain level of hip hop snobbery is needed....

It really is sometimes.

So one of the biggest things about hip hop heads is hip hop snobbery. You know the kind; if you don't rate (obscure album) by (underground artist) then fuck you etc etc. Yeah it's fucked up but it's true. For example I know people that this year refuse to listen to Common's "B.E" because it's too mainstream and it can't be better than One.Be.Lo's "S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M". Whether or not it is better or not is down to the dopeness of the music, not the fact that One.Be.Lo doesn't push numbers and roll with Kanye West. I also know people who won't listen to "The Mouse and the Mask" because it's getting too much hype which means that Doom has sold out. So yeah hip hop snobbery can be a bitch, and it seems to mean that people again stay in their comfort level like Carlo was saying.

However, having said that, I say a certain level of snobbery is needed. The reason I say this is because earlier I was having this conversation:

Other Dude: So you're a hip hop head?
Me: Yeah man, I love hip hop.
Other Dude: That new Jeezy album is fucking awesome, what you listening to right now?
Me: Umm, right now I'm listening to "Shut Em Down" the Pete Rock remix, but if you're talking about albums, I've been listening to Little brother's "The Minstrel Show" a lot today, and the first Viktor Vaughn album.
Other Dude: Man, that shit ain't hip hop. That's crap, public enemy isn't relevant to hip hop.
Me: Ok, so you mean they're not relevant in 2005 right?
Other Dude: No in general, it's not like anyone buys their music, they pretty far from being Fifty or Jeezy.

Needless to say I wanted to explode. So in this case, yeah I say a little hip hop snobbery is needed. If someone is claiming to be a head and spouting that shit, then they need to be educated in my opinion. If that makes me a snob then fuck it, I'm a snob. If you hip hop to a serious enough level to read blogs, comment and debate with other heads, then you should be willing to listen and learn. If you're going to be spouting shit and refusing to learn the basic shit you should know then I'm sorry I have a hard time respecting your opinion.

Does that make me a snob? Yeah probably, but at it could be worse; I could be missing out on "B.E" or "The Mouse and The Mask".

Tags: Hip Hop, Hip Hop Snobbery