The Increasing Devaluation of The Concept of Next Level Shit

I gotta get something off my chest.

Kanye West is not Next Level Shit. 

I'm sorry, but it's true. Don't get me wrong: he's exactly what the face of hip-hop needs to be right now; My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is bold, ambitious, complex and, most importantly, catchy as fuck (go listen to THIS right now; tell me you don't want that playing every time you enter a room. Go on, I DARE you.). But game-changing? Not really.

Understand: I'm not trying to hate on Kanye West. If this is what stands for contemporary hip-hop these days, then hip-hop is in a good place. It's just that when I hear the phrase 'next level shit' applied to an artist, I expect that what I'm listening to is gonna make me think a little differently about, well, what I'm listening to - and while 'Power', 'Monster' (despite it's yawn-inducing video), and a few other tracks on the album are, as Jeffrey Storey outs it, bangin', it isn't anything I haven't heard before, which really isn't a bad thing, as the nature of successful pop music in general is to reinvent itself so that you imagine you're hearing something new. It's why we like pop, and it's all pop, whether you listen to hip-hop, metal, country, folk, or Indonesian bhangra-punk. We just don't like to admit it.

But like I said, Kanye = good. You should own a copy of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. But you want innovative? Progressive? Next Level Shit? Well, I dunno. I'm a white boy from CANADA, so my opinion on the subject might be less-than-informed than, say, everyone else in the free world.

Still. Here:

1. Shabazz Palaces, 'Belhaven Meridian'.

I've been telling EVERYONE about this for the last week, so some of you might be sick of hearing about 'em, but still. Remember Digable Planets from way back when? Of course you don't, because the average music listener has the memory of a fruit fly, but anyway: Shabazz Palaces is the new project put out by Ishmael Butler aka Butterfly. He/they've only got a couple of online releases, but both are killer.

2. Kid Cudi, 'Wild'n Cuz I'm Young'.

Yes, I know we have Kanye to thank for introducing us all to Scott Mescudi, but I gotta admit, I listen to Kanye and I think, "Hey, this is just like Kid Cudi, only Kid Cudi's doing more interesting things with it."

3. Cubic Zirconia, 'Hoes Come Out At Night'.

Like you didn't just get fucked by this track.

4. Dudley Perkins, 'Testin' Me'.

See, I know this strays from what we'd normally consider hip-hop; Dudley Perkins has this weird neo-soul thing going on, and he's been doing it for a while (although he does rap under the name Declaime, which is also worth checking out, but it's the stuff under his real name that I find to be a bit more progressive), and seeing as he's got Madlib backing him most of the time, you can't rely deny his place in hip-hop.

(As well: a case could be made for the fact that hip-hop encompasses more than just a sound, and is in fact more a culture in and of itself (go watch Style Wars, you'll see what I mean), which Perkins definitely embodies, but again: Me = white = least authentic hip-hop authority on the internet.)

5. Oh, wait, you don't know who Madlib is? Go find a copy of Shades Of Blue right now. In fact, you're not allowed to read any further until you've listened to that entire album.

You're welcome. Let's proceed.

6. Saul Williams, 'African Student Movement'.

I know. I'm sorry. The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust was awful. That's what you get when Trent Reznor gets involved with hip-hop. Listen instead to either Amethyst Rock Star or his self-titled album, and you'll see why people are willing to forgive him for ...Niggy Tardust, and why most of us are actually looking forward to Volcanic Sunlight.

7. Bilal, 'Levels'.

I'm really only including this because this video is IN-FUCKING-SANE.

That is all. For now.

Oh, and: please stop saying 'next level shit'. It's just lazy, and the more you use the phrase, the more you realize that it really doesn't mean anything.

I gotta go buy tomatoes now.