The other day I was reading an article in the XXL and there was an interesting article about the state of New York hip hop.  I personally found this intriguing because that's my style of hip hop they were talking about.  For those that truly know Moeski know that I'm east coast to the heart and it pains me know that the coast that started it all ain't even makin' no noise right now.  The article was talking about how all these potential emcees like Papoose, Uncle Murder, Maino and Joel Ortiz were supposed to bring that New York sound back and dominate the game.  But with behind the scenes industry mishaps these artist's albums never saw the light of day from their perspective labels which means no one will hear their material to say that they brought that east coast sound back.  The only thing they can do is continue to drop bars on mixtapes and upload their video beefs on youtube to stay relevant.

The other day I was reading an article in the XXL and there was an interesting article about the state of New York hip hop.  I personally found this intriguing because that's my style of hip hop they were talking about.  For those that truly know Moeski know that I'm east coast to the heart and it pains me know that the coast that started it all ain't even makin' no noise right now.  The article was talking about how all these potential emcees like Papoose, Uncle Murder, Maino and Joel Ortiz were supposed to bring that New York sound back and dominate the game.  But with behind the scenes industry mishaps these artist's albums never saw the light of day from their perspective labels which means no one will hear their material to say that they brought that east coast sound back.  The only thing they can do is continue to drop bars on mixtapes and upload their video beefs on youtube to stay relevant.

What happened to New York?  Where did the ball drop from the last generation of emcees to this one?  In the 80's we had EPMD, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Run Dmc and the list goes on.  Although these artist stayed relevant throughout the 90's, it was time for a new generation of east coast emcees to emerge which was Nas, Redman, Wu-Tang, Jay-Z, Biggie, Mobb Deep, The Roots, Lords of the Underground, Naughty By Nature, etc., etc.  Now I would say that after the 1999/2000 era there was no generation that these emcees could pass the torch to.  New York hip hop needs a savior so Christ sent artists like Corey Red and Precise, Mahogany Jones, Dre Marshall, Sev Statik and of course J.A.Z. to revive that New York sound that has been missing for so long.

I want to talk about J.A.Z for a minute.  This dude has been on his grizzly for a minute and I respect the quality work that he's putting out.  I downloaded his Gideon Syndrome album and in my heart the Source, XXL and Vibe need to be hollerin' at dude because he has the potential to bring New York back to the forefront where they once were.  With J.A.Z's skills I would put him up against the Papooses, Uncle Murders and Mainos of hip hop today.  Although my man is living for God he hasn't forgot about the streets and where he came from.  On the track "Err Day" he says,

"I want my people to get my mind stayed situated/So I'm hittin' the block because I ain't incubated.  Don't compromise cause I stay innovative/Yeah basically my pulpit is them staircases, B.  That's where I'm at err day/Somebody get clapped, wig pushed back err day.  Blood stains on the pavement where black girls play/Funeral procession coming back err day/So I'm come back, Okay?"

If it's anybody that the previous generation can pass the torch onto it's definitely J.A.Z.  He'll hold it down until Jesus comes back.  With east coast hip hop on life support my man J.A.Z. can come breathe life into the game.  Then instead of articles asking where is the east coast hip hop like they're on back of a milk carton, they'll be saying that those Christian emcees brought back that sound that the average east coast listener was looking for.  It's artist like this that can make New York relevant again.

Check out J.A.Z. at www.myspace.com/justifiedandzealous

Written by Moeski

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