3 weeks ago   

Every year or so I hit up his myspace thinking I'll see something about a new project he's releasing to no avail. Dude is like Hip Hop's Bobby Fischer... B.E.N.E.F.I.T. is the embodiment of what indie Hip Hop was in the late 90's. So dope that people today hear it for the first time and instantly become curious to why it's still his only release. Far as I know, he's never stated why, dispite the overwhelming interest. It's the only such case I can think of, which is what makes it so interesting.

3 weeks ago     

yeah, there was some awesome stuff on that album

3 weeks ago     

Benifit is the shit, i used to listen to him in middleschool, Super Mario (song is dope) .&. i still bump Proceed with Caution

3 weeks ago     

somebody wanna hook me up with some songs?

3 weeks ago     

not really, no.

3 weeks ago     

u seem to be quite the fan----so excuse me if i rant off useless already known knowledge. i thought the reason was because he got enveloped in producing. something he continues to do today. he has a record label "indelibility". 

to be quite real though- benefit is still an underground emcee. as far as his hiphop resume' is concerned- his accomplishments although great from a goldmic perspective dont add up to much on an actual monitary standpoint. he won an internet site rap battle context in 00 for 5 grand. which wouldnt buy u shit really. and his album was produced and distributed online which means--- people downloaded that shit for free.  this amazing artist is probably hemmed up in the basement of his moms in canada making beats with a home pc smoking pot- and signing back up for business classes at college........wondering how he could have written produced and distributed a hit record-and not made a fucking dime off of it!

thats a true fucking shame

3 weeks ago     

I knew about the producing thing and the battle he won... doesn't explain him never following up his album with another. I mean, yea, you could say "maybe he..." for an hour. I figured he lost his edge, or just cares about the money in producing and has no real desire to record more, just based off his album and subject matter, you'd think he would, which is why I sometimes lean towards thinking he just fell off

3 weeks ago     

Hey ... THAT'S WHAT I DO!!!

3 weeks ago     

thank you.

3 weeks ago     

yea D, i feel what your saying. in my personal experience with hiphop.........true skills generally dont regress. they remain the same in an environment constantly "upgrading"- but that album could have been rehashed 8 times and still be hotter than half the shit i hear on a day to day basis in the hiphop industry. 

...well i was going to go off on some long tangent about hiphop- but im not really sure u wanna get that involved in convo with me-so ill rephrain.

it isnt always easy- to be great at something and recieve faceless appreciation for that talent. id imagine finding fame and success on the internet with work so personal...........is the same for most. thrilling and fast at first- then disappointing and cold.  it used to b a stage- a mic-and the crowd............now its a keyboard and a screen. the net invited a new social element to ug hiphop- but it also stole the very basis for its existance.

true....this is all speculation.............but ive been following hiphop for 20 years now. im 32..........the emotional state of underground hiphop is more of an epidemic than a movement these days. i love hiphop.....but even im waiting for the cure.

3 weeks ago     

I've ceased looking at underground Hip Hop as a movement that can save a fledgingly genre and started seeing each artist as an individual. Eyedea's gone on this hiatus from "Hip Hop", but continues to make music he enjoys and wants to make. Who is anyone to say he's wrong for doing his own thing. The "movement" was about saving Hip Hop from the evil commercial music that was currupted by money. I think it having that label in turn lead to its let down. The independent part is still there, but it's hidden under the stale shell of what was the face of underground Hip Hop. It got caught up in being anti-something and stopped being its own thing to a degree. The Hip Hop we all loved so much in the late 90's is still around, there just isn't a thriving social network to promote it anymore.

Mac Lethal's my favorite

3 weeks ago     

I agree with both Blotched and Dalice, the only thing i don't 100% agree with on Blotched's arguement is the whole net thing, i dont understand why so many people want to make 'net rapping/promotion' into something so lame and corny, sure....hip hop is all about the mic, crowd, emcee, etc....BUT what is wrong with elevating your music/lyrics on rap sites and promoting your music through them? its just that much more exposure/feedback, not to mention how much more emcees can and do grow while battling each other or just dropping writtens/tracks to get feed from a larger base of people all over the world, in a way the net has held back hip hop in the fact a lot of people strictly do the net stuff and keeps them from hitting a more personal fan base and really getting out there, but if you use the net for the right reasons, it can be a great tool....far as benefit goes, i dont see him falling off so much he couldnt make some more material, but who knows...i think the "making money producing" might be a better reason for this, but yeah, who knows....

3 weeks ago     

Thing about Hip Hop is I can make an album that no one hears and it's my own. So a group of people can create a niche and it's their own brand of Hip Hop. Hip Hop's the only music genre where people look at it as a whole. There's so many subgenre's of Hip Hop now that what goes on commercially shouldn't effect perception on any other, but it does as far as public perception goes. We mirror the thoughts of public perception because majority rules, even if we know otherwise. When it comes down to it though, Hip Hop is as good as its best emcee and as bad as its worst. One doesn't effect the other, or shouldn't.

3 weeks ago     

Mos Def - Fear Not of Man

"People talk about Hip Hop like it's some giant living in the hills" lol

Love that intro, the whole album was classic

lol @ mos falling off

lol @ me going so off subject

3 weeks ago     

As I always say, if ppl are concerned about the "state" of hip hop, the best thing to do is to contribute to it in some way which is greater than anything you currently partake in ... talking is good, but it's only effective when ppl actually take action.  That, obviously, goes for myself included (should I complain about the state of hip hop).  Spend time and money to: buy an album, make an album, learn to make beats, etc., or else don't bitch.

3 weeks ago     

What's an artist without an audience though. No question mark, it's rhetorical. I'm playing devil's advocate here.

3 weeks ago     

The internet has helped the underground get exposure.. ppl who would have previously only received a lil local support have now been able to reach a global audience.. that audience rarely pays tho.. downside to the internet.. for them atleast.. dope for us :)

One of my fav underground acts tho..

http://www.myspace.com/optimusrhymelive

3 weeks ago     

keep preaching fellas, shits all true lol.... hip hop definitely has different genres, far as between the mainstream and underground, both serve a purpose, mainstream is something you can kind of vibe with, enjoy in the clubs, shit like that, underground is more for just the hardcore hip hop fans that appreciate and enjoy more lyrical pieces, i like both but obviously enjoy underground more, even though i havent kept up with it much as i used to, n far as making money off it, even mainstream has taken a big hit with all the filesharing programs, i think they need to come up with a new way to make revenue... maybe give your music away for only 5 bucks a cd/mixtape on a offical website and have advertisements on it for the extra income, that way more people will buy it, not as expensive and people will pay the lousy 5 bucks to help support their artists, and the artists/labels could then in turn save on the costs of the produciton of making cds, putting them in stores and having them charge even more on it, making it more expensive and pushing away more customers, sure some stores will take a hit from it, but im sure they are felling it already just as much as the artists/lables themselves, idk...something has to be done sooner or later because music will die out just from that alone, it will become more n more of just a hobby if people cant make a good enough living off of it.....

3 weeks ago     

i love the nets addition to hiphop. i used to have to travel and go to a lot of shows to get even a small chance of hearing new artists or meeting like minded people. i dont have the time or energy to support hiphop like i did when i was 16-25. the net allows me to support something i love with little to no effort.

in reality though- its just so damn impersonal. i guess im going on what it was like before the whole net uprising..........ive gotten the chance to sit and talk with common- guru- talib kweli-the roots- reakwon- krs-1...........i could go on forever. hiphop heads used to gather and enjoy each other on such a more personable level. i just miss that.

3 weeks ago     

Not to mention cd quality Vs. MP3 quality is worth the $5 imo. I miss being excited about a cd release, going to the store, buying it, spending 5 minutes opening it in my car then driving around listening to it. I'd spend a week, or if it was good a month listening to one cd, there are cd's that remind me of time periods because I listened to them so much, that isn't the case anymore, I mean, that's my fault partly, but spending the money forces you to listen to it, I'll download an album now and just skim through it kind of, I have probably over 50 cd's I've never given a proper listen to

I have no idea what that's like blothed, I'm from Louisiana, underground down here is Lil' Boosie

3 weeks ago     

Float has been in my car since it dropped.

3 weeks ago     

MP3 quality? Damn it Dallas... am I the only one downloading flac's?

3 weeks ago     

No.. you aint Derek.. but most sites don't offer em as the majority of ppl don't wanna dl flac copies cos of the size.. they will still gladly bitch about the shitty audio quality of mp3 at the same time tho.. right, phive?

3 weeks ago     

thats it.. from now on im spelling your name Marc

3 weeks ago     

lol F you. I had no idea what a flac was. I'm all for bigger size/better quality files. I get all my files off slsk though and don't recall seeing many, if any flac files. I hate knowing this, now I feel like I need to replace all my music. You asshole.

3 weeks ago     

torrents. use them. love them. I mostly download 320kbps mp3s, you can't even tell the difference between that and flac unless you got uber-speakers...plus my portable mp3 thingy won't play flac...so...yeah

3 weeks ago     

yeah i totally feel you on that metaphive, i have some cds that pretty much claimed a certain time period of my life lol, and i enjoy getting cds more as well, but lets face it...not too many people buy cds anymore like they used to, and i agree again with the downloading a bunch of cds and not really giving them the time of day, i buy as many cds as possible but i wont lie....i'll d/l cds as well and your right on about not giving them the proper time/listen, but something has to be done/changed for musicians to keep making money so they can do what they do for a living, as time goes on and more n more people get computers, records sales will continue to drop as a whole.....

3 weeks ago     

That is the only thing that sucks about the higher quality formats, they arent uploaded as much. Conventional music ripping software is pretty geared towards mp3, and some wont even allow the better sampling rates.

3 weeks ago     

...those reasons.. plus... black ppl are still around... and Marc too.. I basically group him in with them.

1 week ago     

I wish i owned a midget....

1 week ago     

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJorr8Pivu0

this is pretty dope.. proof of another project tho?

1 week ago     

Lol @ everybody quotes this song.

1 week ago     

That songs been out a good long while @ Silva

1 week ago     

Maybe so.. but where's it from? cos it aint on B.E.N.E.F.I.T. but it's pretty disgustin

1 week ago     

Think it was a rerelease of BENEFIT. Maybe even a rererelease.