A dose of New York reality

Cheer up, New York hip-hop fans. I know, the current local music scene has been so awful that a former hype man (Jim Jones) was recently named by commercial media outlets as an artist capable of ‘bringing New York back.’ And the Saigon’s of the world were written a ink-filled reality check by corporate America (aka Warner Music Group), who added insult to injury by telling him to keep the album, which thus far has translated into an “I Quit” video blog. Your past 3 years have been pretty much the New York Knicks experience. Still, it could be worse.

In fact, it was. Back in 1992 you also lost a prominent act with mainstream attention (EPMD, who split due to financial reasons, and eventual legal charges), and Def Jam Records stunk and you still were one year away from getting your franchise players (The Notorious B.I.G., Wu-Tang Clan). Besides, look at it this way. The departure of New York’s relevance leaves you with one fewer album to download.

So we have been here before, have we not? Staring at the new kid on the block — the kid with the rodeo swagger and Sonic the Hedgehog’s mentality of staying one step ahead of the competition — and thinking, “The savior has arrived.”

As a die-hard New York hip-hop fan growing up in the heart of Bedford-Stuyvesant Brooklyn, I heard it repeatedly. When AZ was labeled the heir apparent, everyone felt it should have been Smoothe Da Hustler. When Buckshot of Black Moon was labeled the heir apparent, everyone felt it should have been Jeru the Damaja. When Mase was labeled the heir apparent, everyone felt it should have been Black Rob.

When Joe Budden was labeled the heir apparent, everyone wanted — well, everyone wanted immediate blindness and an appointment with Dr. Kevorkian. But that’s another story.

Point is, this ‘New York’s coming back’ stuff went waaaaaaay too far, waaaaaaay too quickly. While strolling through the urban playing field that is Fordham Road during the winter holidays a few weeks back, I was exposed to the full gale force that was Sonic-mania: Charles Hamilton music, Charles Hamilton-like clothing, Charles Hamilton performance info, Charles Hamilton debates …

OK, I made the performance info thing up. But not the ludicrous hype.

Hamilton is a mighty ‘bring New York back’ hopeful originally born in Cleveland, Ohio. To the internet massives, he is as much hyped as Mos Def, DMX (circa 1998 of course), and the legacy of Method Man combined during their rookie campaigns. Is he a sure thing? That’s still up for debate. But did the industry executives consider him the second coming of the next big thing on the streets? No way.

Thing is, my intent is not to slam this Hamilton kid. Clearly, here lies a good kid with a large batch of potential and excessive pink sweater vests. Not to forget his large groupie following amongst the New York transplants, those of whom find artists like Uncle Murda a little too ‘real’ for their geeky tastes.

No, this is a word of advice for New York City’s overeager ‘real hip-hop’ fans: Let history be your guide.

Remember, if you will, that between the 50 Cent era began and 2008, were a trio of rappers, all destined to become the next big thing. The first was Papoose, a Bed-Stuy native who attacked the mixtape circuit as viciously as anyone probably in the history of hip-hop, but couldn’t buy a good enough record for Jive Records to release his debut album. Saigon stepped in for a battered city and lifted ths spirits of New York for a split second, then a run-in with pint-sized felons Mobb Deep at a Hot 97 sponsored showcase, an eventual release from Atlantic Records, and throwing in the towel on his rap “career” via video blog finished off any buzz. Probably against his better judgment, Jay-Z made Tru Life the heir apparent of Roc-a-fella records just 2 years ago, then watched Roberto barely escape a feud with Harlem collective Dipset, put together a string of “left in the microwave-lukewarm” street records, and became just a part of the “what could’ve been” bin.

For the benefit of keeping Geohvision away from this clean side of the fence, we are excluding Jae Millz from this conversation.

Poof!

So, will Charles Hamilton vanish?

“Impossible!” says the internet community (who downloads albums for free rather than pay via iTunes or Amazon).

“Definitely!” says the street community (who still are unaware to his internet following and continues to mistaken him for a nerd-core sub genre of hip-hop).

“Who’s Charles Hamilton?” says another ‘bring New York back’ rapper candidate currently signed to Warner Music Group.

I say, let’s ask my very special panel. We welcome to this column Mic Geronimo, Papoose, Jae Millz, Saigon, G-Dep, Black Rob, Shellz, Drag-On, Jinx Da Juvy, Joey Buddens, Troy Ave, Grafh, Mysonne, and Hell Rell.

Guys, what do you think of Sonic-mania?

Guys?

Guys?

Ummm … guys?