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Neo Soul Cypher Calendar of Events

The impact of social media on some on Golden era artists cannot be understated. So many of our greats are not well known by the younger generation. And while it’s a shame that iconic artists have ceded to the hyper popularirty of the latest Tik Tok viral sensation, social media’s impact on established artists is their boon.

Black Thought is a perfect example. Long known as the god emcee of the Roots crew, his talent was primarily underappreciated by the masses despite being on their tele’s nightly via the Jimmy Falon Show. It’s not like they were not bearing witness to his freestyle prowess from the show’s segments or general ability to rock a mic from the numerous rhymes he spits. Still, the average Thugga or 21 Savage fans, hell, the average Nikki or Drake fans, remained unfamiliar with him beyond the show.  And then it happened, his freestyle performance on Flex (youtu.be/prmQgSpV3fA) and instantly he was placed in the pantheon of greatest dead or alive.  Three decades worth of skill was recognized in no small part because of IG, Twitter and Facebook reposts of 9 minutes and 48 seconds of brilliance.

After the late great DMX appearance on Verzuz he was brought back to the lab (thankfully) and gave us the parting gift of the appropriately named Exodus.

And now it has struck again.

Unless you’re under a rock (or the influence of Ciroc) you’ve heard about the destruction of Dipset by none other than Jada. A literal one-man wrecking crew who as a solo artist, destroyed Fabolous in a heads-up battle and as a member of the L.O.X. took on the challenge of the entire Dipset. D Block v. Dipset was to be one for the ages. Juelz, Jim Jones and Cam v. Stylez and Jada…yeah not so much.  Before the battle began, it was over.  This is best encapsulated by a fantastic narrative from none other than Joey Crack himself, a man affiliated with both acts https://youtu.be/uL61xHdgfTs .

The recognition was instant.  From the current NBA Goat: https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1423036673286279169?s=20

To the most anticipated drop of the year https://twitter.com/JustCallMe_DT/status/1423484784756494336?s=20

Now two short days after the Verzuz massacre Jadakiss streams are up 200% and at the time of this article he has nine projects on the top 100 on the Apple Music hip hop charts. 

In December of 1997, the song that launched the biggest pre-Ether battle war was released.  4,3,2,1 is most notable for the beef between the 2-decade enduring legend LL and the up-and-coming lava spitter, Canibus.  Making guest appearances were the dynamic duo of rap, Redman and Method Man.  The song had no choice but to be a banger peaking at number 10. Despite the LL, Bis beef, the Method and Red magic, the show-stealer was the gravelly-voiced MC “Stay out the dark, ’cause if I catch you when the sun is down, Run it clown, come up off that, or I’m gon’ gun it down”.  This was my first exposure to the staccato halting, yet rapid mercurial flow that DMX would transform into a catalog of legend.

DMX went on a run that likely never happens again. From 1998 to 2003 X dropped 5 albums, each debuted at Number One on the Billboard 100 and US R&B charts, each went platinum. Album 6 debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 100 and Number 1 on US R&B charts. Classic after Classic

In addition to entrenching himself as an era-defining rap artist, he was integral to the reemergence of black film starring in Romeo Must Die and Belly.

Just this summer DMX blessed us with a versus against his contemporary the legendary Snoop Dog

Gone too soon,

A Prayer

REST IN POWER X