May 2011 marked 25 years of perhaps, the most important emcee/orator of the 21st century: N Wilson, aka Kool G Rap [media] . Although somewhat obscure and definitely not a celebrated feature in the popular mainstream, KGR is as influential in the rap scene, and Hip Hop culture, as Dubois is in the academic scene. If in doubt, I ask you to simply reflect on the long list of artists that have praised the name of “the legendary Kool G”, but before that, I feel that some background is due, in order to make sense of this notion: Kool G Rap debuted in 1986 with the song 'It's a demo', and the b-side to it, 'I'm fly'. Starting out then, he appeared at Hip Hop's emceeing inception like Kane and Rakim however KGR stood out from the crowd owing to his remarkable ‘spitting’ (rapid fire lyricism) fused with clear word play. Combined these make him the beast of verses, dropping dense multi-syllabic flows that tyrannically take over otherwise ambivalent beats. With exceptional flex-ability and a variety of styles, KGR can adapt to different characters to fit different themes, sometimes coming across as aggressive and vicious, other times calm and smooth, which is a feat not easily accomplished. Although to many an underground name, the skills of KGR could hardly be missed by the lyrical heavyweights, with him being given props and recognition from the likes of Pun to Rugged Man to even the rather anonymous Big John, as well as upcoming stars such as Nino Bless. It must be seen as a major disappointment, although somewhat expected, that KGR isn't given more credit for his phenomenal influence in the game i.e. when looking at a list of some of the most talented MC's, at least 60% of them will have been influenced or affected by KGR, in some way. In fact, a testament to the prestige of KGR was paid when, author of “How to Rap” (2009) Paul Edwards explained why he decided to have KGR write the foreword to his book. In an interview with Hip Hop DX, Edwards remarked: “At the beginning of every interview I did, I asked, “How did you learn how to rap?” and a lot of people said they learned from listening to Kool G Rap. His name came up the most, closely followed by Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, KRS, Chuck, and a few others. So I thought it was a great fit because he has essentially taught the art form to so many other emcees through his records already.” At this point, the reader might come to wonder, exactly how important KGR actually is, and not without reason. Emcee Chino XL, however, went a great way in answering this when he rhymed: "argue who’s the best battle rapper; me, Eminem or Canibus, it don't matter cause’ Kool G Rap's better than all three of us." Meanwhile, Eminem mentioned Kool G Rap, alongside many other artists, during the acceptance speech he gave at the 45th Grammy awards. And yet, it doesn’t stop there. In a separate interview with Hip Hop DX, classy underground emcee R.A. the Rugged Man, remarked, “…you have cats like me, Tragedy Khadafi, and Kool G. Rap still lyrically murdering everyone.” Even Big Punisher had to pay homage to the legend, as explained by G Rap in another interview with DX: “…me and Pun first met it was in one of [media] Joe’s clothing stores in the Bronx. And he basically got down on [media] knee and shit and kissed the ring. That was ill that he displayed that much honor and respect.” G Rap, however, is not undeserving of such dues, for, to his credit, he might be thanked for loosely introducing, and discovering, both Nas and Papoose, to the Hip Hop scene. About Nas, G Rap claims “I first met him through Large Professor. But I introduced Nas to Serch, and that’s basically what got him [media] .” As for Papoose, G Rap claims, “I met Papoose through this producer out of Brooklyn I had a relationship with. The dude used to do crazy hot tracks and he used to always be around these young

“pussy whipped: a man who compromises his manhood in order to pacify the woman in the relationship for the purpose of maintaining access to the vagina” “problem-solving: oppressed people who neglect their sensibilities in the pursuit of goals that are not their own, but which they have comfortably identified with” “consumer-seduction: refers to individuals who have been programmed to obey order as they sincerely believe they are rebelling against the establishment” you must have heard it at some point, and if not, you will hear it somewhere down the lines; the claim that "black" (“cough, cough, excuse me: Afrikan, Africa, Blak, Nubian, African Ascendants etc) need to find "the solution" to "the problem". Sadly, this talk is not new and yet, will never be old, because the mentality, which itself guides this thinking, is either problematic, or reflective of a problem manifested. Let's theorise: To begin with, these people who ask for "the solution" are really asking for a confirmation of something they already believe but something which is not true. They want their prejudices confirmed but not correct, so in fact, they deceive people by implying that something can be built upon a shaky, and false, foundation. Next, since the "supremacist mindset" is one of the key components in maintaining the system of oppression and mechanisms of control, in believing themselves to be entitled to "the solution" they are actually extending the mindset, and in that way, extending the very system (of thought) they profess to be against. Next, because their concept of a solution is as limited as their concept of a problem, if ever one were to present itself, or be presented, they would not be able to recognise it and because of that, they would not be able to apply it Also, in line with a sense of entitlement, like "overlords" they desire to have a "messiah" come forward and, in doing all the work/thinking for them, save or rescue them, without enquiring into how they got into their perilous situation to begin with. The problem with this is that, if they do not realise their situation, how they got into it, and why they are in it, the chances are that even if they were relieved of it, they would just as easily wind up back in the same situation without even realising it. Many people who claim to want a "solution" are mislead; they are “donning” a mask and claiming an identity that is not their own. They are hiding behind a concept, a fiction, a disguise. In reality, only progressive people desire to remedy their difficulties, however, these people are far from serious. They still have a primary loyalty to the system, as reflected by the contradictions in their thinking and discrepancies in their speech and behaviour. Indeed, black talk is not black consciousness. It is exclusively "British" and this is why, for the past 50 years+, we the oppressed, ("oppressed people") have remained in the same dire predicament. As it was suggested, any ruling power must first make the thinking of the ruled superficial so that they can never see through the deception of domination. Likewise, it has also been said that the system creates "problem-solvers" but problem-solvers are really mere customers that just consume whatever they are given. In this way, they are programmed themselves; operating off of marketed ideas which they take to be their own, or that they have been trained into. This is the final contradiction I will address. The "problem" of the oppressed, even if it could be "solved" will not benefit anybody but the rulers. So long as the oppressed take the problems of the oppressor to be their own, they will continue to be oppressed. Indeed, the effects of the problems may affect the oppressed, but these are still not their problems. It would make more sense for them to ot take responsibility for symptoms that are not th