Good hiphop's good hiphop, regardless of where it comes from, & a lot of what most people classify as US hiphop is weak rnb chart pop at the mo...
There's a lot more fire and originality coming from certain UK acts, just they don't get the exposure or radio play, so hardly anyone / no-one's heard of them...
i.e. Pro Green, Stig, Dr Syntax & Manage, & Chemo's production stands up to any heavyweight US heyday biz, or Steady Diggin Workshop, or Yes Boss for a slightly grimier sound, Sway's very good too, but not especially to my taste.
P Diddy, Busta Rhymes, Snoop & Akon should be blushing
to be classed as hiphop acts from some of the trx they're putting out...
I know Akon's a smurf novelty voice, and P Diddy was always crap & Busta's too busy pimpin the Pussy Cat Dolls to care, but Snoop???
What happened?
People say hiphop's the biggest selling commerical genre, but the music they are making isn't hiphop, it's pop RnB with a rapper doin a verse or two, and I don't see a link from real hiphop to that shite. If you compare 50 Cent's Massacre 2nd Album to his underground mixtape stuff from before the first album, you'd think he's had a lobotomy inbetween,
(or maybe the US 'industry' just turned to gold plated, diamond encrusted shite in those few yrs...Who knows...)
You don't even have to go back that far (Wu & Biggie & Gangstarr & lots of Jay-Z when US hiphop could be commercial & quality & real HIPHOP, even the Fugees 1st record b4 the solo shite, & Spooks, etc) ...
I was listening to the Beastie's best of 'Sounds Of Science' today, and it's class. Who's doing anything to compare to that in the US now? And not just the hits, they had depth, variety and all kindsa styles...
-Edit: If you listen to the 800 tx mix, there was a huge depth of quality & variety in US Hiphop, (much of it commercial), and that's completely missing now and over the past few years in 80% of US...Cos it is all blunts, low riders & bling...
If you listen to a Stig, Syntax or Pro Green mixtape, there's more variety and different styles, from one act than you hear in 2 x 3 hr Westwood shows...
I love MF Doom, but it's sad that him and Diabolic are about the only 2 US acts I'll remember from 'now' in 10 yrs time, maybe Kanye. (& Spank Rock, but they're not really hiphop)...-end edit...
Come back Will Smith! You weren't so bad after all...
(That's a joke btw)
I can't stand Will Smith...