I won't take all of David's write up...(Shit he worked hard on it so....and I call him David 'cause I follow him on Twitter and....well it is in his Twitter name.) Valid points bought up.
My personal opinion? I don't think Te' gives a fuck.(Comments weren't made recently) For real. I mean the Phonte I know (If you don't follow the blog, long story short, I have spent some time around the man..Put his name in the search box up top or click the label and see.) isn't into handouts and definitely won't be 'BEGGING' Drake for anything. Not that Drake is demanding that either but yeah... I think we ALL know why the collabo isn't happening in some form and I personally feel it is more than one issue. It is a combination of a couple of things. The label, the shine thing, the 'who is he' factor some might conjure up (Although with Te' singing on MAC MILLER'S I"l Be There', the Lil B song, in addition to the shoutouts and his own music being out AND being on Sucker Free Countdown with Monch and Styles P I have to ask how could one say that shit?) and the fact that his talent is what it is....You see where this is going right? So no, I don't think Phonte really 'cares'. Would it be nice or would he appreciate it? Yes. Is he 'expecting it'? No. At least not in my opinion. So it is kinda hard for me to get 'amped or upset' about him not being on Take Care or for me personally to 'wonder why he didn't'. 'Cause I already know what time it is. Pluse I don't see Drake's shoutouts as 'disengenious'. I think he means it when he says he was inspired by Phonte. I think he means well when he says 'Go out and support my brother Phonte's new album "Charity Starts At Home" or gives them props. I also know he has to take advantage of the situation he is in and putting Te' on his album might not be 'possible' due to all the hands in his pot. I mean he is not in Te's situation of basically working with who he wants. So the collabo might have to wait until he is.
Now I am not like most of you. I don't carry a disdain for Drake. I actually like his music. It has its place. I am a PHONTE FAN THOUGH. Hell, you are probably LISTENING TO A PHONTE SONG RIGHT NOW while you are reading this via the blog. lol I say all of this to say that even if he did a song with Drake, it wouldn't 'change my opinion of him'. Either way. That's just me though. I don't think he 'needs' the collab personally. For what?
He likes to make his own way and quite honestly even with the release of Charity Starts At Home, he has OTHR IRONS IN THE FIRE. Grammy inducing irons even..(Authenticity, The Foreign Exchange's latest album, is in the prelims for Grammy consideration, making it two releases in a row for him and Nicolay to have such consideration). Not only that, he is doing the music he loves to NOT be that dude. He doesn't seem to want that. @ the publicity that his fans (self included at times) want for him. I can't blame him. As he said...
'the light at the end of the Tunnel is a train..." Anyway, here is a piece of David's article. Hit the blue link up top to read the rest.*
*I promise you I didn't intend for this to be that long...I only meant to turn ya'll onto the article. @ those who don't frequent the Smoking Section... Guess I had a lot to say. Sue a nigga..
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For years, Little Brother has influenced the state of Hip-Hop while never getting placement on a major album. Yesterday morning, I posed a question as to why this happens and FWMJ and ?uestlove chimed in. ?uest nailed the gist of it all with one tweet:
“I’ve discussed this very thing w/ a member of rap illuminati. (concerning riq never getting asked for cameos) they said ‘its an unfortunate position, but no rapper can afford to get upstaged by a ‘nobody’ riq/lb= nobodies in above radar world.”The fact is, Phonte poses a threat to Drake in the same way that Little Brother posed a threat to Kanye back in 2003. LB had the everyman approach mastered before College Dropout. Listen to “Speed” from The Listening and try to say it doesn’t cover the same ground as “Spaceships.” Putting Phonte and Pooh on a major Kanye release would have taken some wind out of Yeezy’s sail while showing the world that there was a group out there doing some of the same stuff that West was getting so much recognition for pulling off.
For Drake, putting Phonte on a song runs the risk of showing the world that there’s already a rapping, singing everyman that’s able to articulate the depths of human emotion in a way Drake’s been trying to for years. But there’s an even greater risk: what if Phonte murders Drizzy on his own shit?
Like ?uest said, you can’t get out-rapped on a track by a nobody. Heaven forbid a rapper you respect gets a bigger fanbase thanks to your shining a spotlight on him. It’s a shame because “unknown” rappers shining on a 16 out of nowhere has launched some of the greatest careers of our time. Think Busta Rhymes on “Scenario” or Tupac on “Same Song.” These were all verses where relative unknowns wrecked shop, outshining their partners and garnering interest from new fans. Hip-Hop was built on giving the new guy a shot. So, what happened?
I spent most of the day wondering where that cosign died and it hit me. I think Nas – whose career was ironically started by a show-stealing verse on “Live At The Barbecue” – killed it. And he did it with just half a bar.
