Directed by Tyler Simmonds.

First introduction to Halifax’s Debo & Juelz via their “Comin Up Stayin’ Down” joint featuring Tru.

Personally I’ve reached a point in my hip-hop tastes where the minute I hear crutch lines that throw women under the bus for random shi*ts and giggles, or for the sake of filling up bars in a verse, I’m immediately turned off (and that includes singers, dancehall/reggae/soca artists and pretty much any rapper – past, present and future – I might’ve considered dope) – but I also know if I used that measuring stick to reject submissions, there’d be none… or at least not enough to sustain any type of consistent homegrown blog. So all that said, I’d definitely like to see a hip-hop scene that cut that sh*t out. Like, if the majority of our ‘great’ artists can’t write a ‘hot’ song w/o making completely unnecessary, disrespectful slights to women (and the LGBT community), then the reality is, the majority of our ‘great’ artists need to step their sh*t up.

And I ain’t trying to throw these dudes, or any one artist, or JUST artists under the bus either – artists, media, consumers, etc – all factor into the current state of the music and culture.