TheMeaningOfDope

10 to 15 years ago, “Swag” wasn’t something that described how much charisma you had, it didn’t determine your style, demeanor or the presence that was felt when you stepped into a room. It stood for something else. It stood for, “Shit We All Get”. And gotdamnit I loved getting some S.W.A.G..

Just in time for TheMeaningOfDope’s first S.W.A.G. post, the good people at NahRight dropped an ad that Lil Wayne has done for J. Prince’s “Strapped Condoms”. We’re sorry Weezy, but nothing comes close to the promotional handouts for Big Pun’s debut, “Capital Punishment” that hit streets nearly 1 decade ago.

Street level marketing in Hip-Hop is nowhere near this hot anymore.

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The other day I was rapping to some kids about this MeaningOfDope shit, and my boy T-rexXx started going off on how a lot of these younger Wu fans weren’t able to take in the impact of 36 Chambers when it dropped. That sound of Bring The Ruckus and Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthin Ta F Wit, was mind boggling and grimey beyond anything we had heard before. He talked about rocking the fronts with the fangs, letting his hair out, and roaming the blocks with bats, and a look of amazement and near confusion seemed to glaze the faces of these younger cats like we were whilin’ just speaking on it.

There’s a definite disconnect when it comes to the Wu era and who the majority of their fanbase is represented by these days, and while we love that the kids are realizing that Wu-Tang is for them, there’s not much we can do to help them re-live the experience of waiting to see Ghost without the mask, Meth dropping Tical, ODB on some solo shit, and the release of the highly anticipated “Purple Tape”, other than continue to share our stories and tell them like it was.

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There’s always a lot of talk concerning older folks bragging about the Golden Era of Hip-Hop. The 93, 94, 95, 96 time period being the equivalent of the Jordan III, IV, V, VI, releases, (this is gonna start some problems). If there has ever been a single piece of evidence that them times were in fact the prime moments for Hip-Hop as a culture, it’s the January 95 Issue of The Source, reviewing what 1994 brought to us as fans and supporters of this shit.

HERE ARE SOME GEMS TO PROVE US OLD FOLKS RIGHT

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