Joell Ortiz "Hip-Hop"

Yo do me a favor, accidently step on your white sun glasses/
We don't wear those over here this is hip hop(that's right)/
This is Carhart jackets, Timberland boots, unlaced/
This is Champion hoodies, chicken wings and french fries/
RIP pieces on the handball court, this is us still fightin' police brutality/
This is hip hop/

Today we have a song by Joell Ortiz who in my opinion is the most talented and relatively new hip hop artist to come to the scene. He and Slaughterhouse, the rap group he is a part of, which is comprised of Joe Budden, Crooked I, and Royce Da 5’9 recently signed a deal with Eminem and Shady Records so it is good to see a group of talented emcees getting a chance to get their music distributed by a major label.

This song specifically is all about hip hop and the current state of the genre and how Joell Ortiz thinks it can be improved. You could say he wants to go back to the golden days of hip hop before money and global fame was the driving factor in artist’s creative process.

Joell Ortiz along with being lyrically talented manages to show to his listeners that he has credibility in terms of his lyrics. He has a good sense of humor in a lot of his songs while at the same time managing to put out tracks that are introspective.

The artists who are able to let the listeners into their lives and creative processes end up developing a more meaningful relationship with their fans. Their fans don’t just look upon them as artists but rather fellow human beings with a knack for being able to help them get through their day. This leads to longer careers and in most cases more money for those artists with extremely loyal fans. Hell, Wu-Tang could still manage to sell out shows because they have loyal fans that feel like they really know the artists.

All I’m saying is that Joell Ortiz is the perfect example of an artist who manages to be genuine and unique while at the same time staying true to his craft.