chin check
AM I A HATER? by Charlamagne Tha God www.CThaGod.com
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n order to hate, you must love that which you hate. Love and hate are the yin and the yang of life – you can’t have one without the other. Anybody who loves everything is a donkey! A complete and total jackass! You should never listen to those types of people, because their opinion is not real or genuine. People who claim to love everything will tell you what you want to hear instead of what’s real. I’m sharing this logic with those who have asked themselves the same question that I have been asking myself all month: AM I A HATER? People keep telling me that I am, but I don’t agree. Am I a hater because I don’t think Papoose deserved a $1.5 million dollar deal with Jive Records? First of all, according to Webster’s Dictionary, a “papoose” is a popular carrying device for a small child or baby. The “papoose” is also a Native American term for a small infant. What the hell does that have to do with an emcee from Brooklyn? Second, I don’t think Papoose is dope. Does that make me a hater? I like certain concepts he comes with – like the “Law Library” joints – but it’s just something about his flow and delivery that just doesn’t make sense. Remember when Jay-Z said this about Nas: “Just because you don’t understand all the bullshit that he writes, it doesn’t mean that he’s nice”? Same with Papoose. And finally, am I the only person that thinks Papoose looks like the GEICO lizard? I don’t know whether to ask him to kick a freestyle or how much money I can save on my car insurance. Am I happy that a black man who deals with knowledge of self, whose work ethic is crazy enough to produce 15 mixtapes, struck a deal worth $1.5 million? Of course I am, get that money, but I’m also going to be happy when everybody at Jive who had anything to do with the signing of this deal gets fired, because Papoose is not going to translate into record sales. Does that make me a hater because I think that way? AM I A HATER? I’m asking myself that question again because I want to know if it makes me a hater that I think Fat Joe’s first two singles are garbage. Fat Joe is from the Bronx, the birthplace of hip-hop. He used to roll with the Digging In The Crates crew. He used to rap alongside Big L in this legendary rap group. He discovered Big Pun, one of the greatest lyricists ever in hip-hop. So why are his first two singles down South records? Back in the day, we used to clown down South dudes for acting like they were from up North. Now, Fat Joe is an up North dude acting like he’s from down South! That is corny. Double donkey, with a triple scoop of jackass on the side. He just signed to Virgin Records, so I guess he’s trying to impress his new boss Jermaine Dupri. Come on, Fat Joe! How do you go from Leaning Back to Leaning With It And Rocking With It? Pun must be roll20
ing over in his grave. Does that make me a hater because I think that way? Lil Kim looked ridiculous at the MTV Video Music Awards. How do you let Massa’s Television exploit the fact that you were in prison by coming out in handcuffs and an orange jumpsuit led by two guards? Corporate America’s exploitation of the hood will never stop, especially when the artists give them the green light to do corny shit like this. You’re the Queen Bee. You have done things that a lot of female emcees only dream of doing, and you let that one moment overshadow all the work that you’ve put in by glorifying a situation that shouldn’t have been glorified. That’s like Shyne getting out of jail and doing a video where he shoots everybody in the club that’s dancing to his record. Then, when they ripped the orange jumpsuit off, you had the corset working overtime trying to contain those extra pounds you gained in prison, and you had the audacity to say that you’re bringing sexy back! Kim, you looked stank, and you made millions of male viewers feel like Flava Flav felt when Like Dat walked in his room with lingerie on: nothing sexy about that! Get on a treadmill, do some crunches, and then get on national television and say you’re “bringing sexy back.” We can all see by the way you looked that your sexy won’t be back for a minute. Does that make me a hater? AM I A HATER? Am I alone when I say that Jay-Z should’ve never taken the role as president of Def Jam? I agree with LL Cool J when he said that Jay-Z does a good job of promoting himself. Think about it – Jay has been the biggest star on his own label for years, so how is it that he never gave his artists the proper push to really be stars? On Beanie Sigel’s first album, The Truth, why did Jay-Z have a single that Beanie wasn’t even featured on (“I’ll Do Anything”) and he released a video for it? He did the same thing on Memphis Bleek’s last album (Dear Summer) and that was the biggest record on the whole album! How can you ever get your artist out of your shadow by making moves like that? That’s why Jay-Z should not be president of Def Jam. His ego will not allow him to sit back and watch another artist get hot. It won’t allow him to give a Joe Buddens or a Tru Life the proper push they need. Furthermore, how can your boss just get up and go on a world tour? Shouldn’t he be taking care of the fourth quarter release schedule? Shouldn’t he be making sure budgets are in place for artists who will be coming out, making sure their marketing and promotions are in order? Oh I forgot, Jay – you’re dropping an album, so nobody else matters right now. I get it, that’s classic Jay-Z. Does that make me a hater for thinking that way? AM I A HATER? I really don’t know, but I know one thing. If you found yourself agreeing with most of the things you just read, guess what, YOU’RE A HATER TOO! Streetfully Yours, Charlamagne Tha God a.k.a. Hate Is Necessary