It’s also cool to start shit because if you start some shit, you’re trying to earn some stripes. If you’re already a soldier in the game, why you gotta start some shit to earn some stripes you’ve already got?

Memphis has a lot of amazing hip-hop talent that just hasn’t ever gotten its props outside this area. It’s not like they haven’t tried, you know, or made quality records. But this is a city where 10-15 years ago, everybody was selling the shit out the trunk of their cars trying to just make a dollar. You know, selling shit on corners and oh, by the way, here’s my new album since you’re a good customer and that kind of shit. Now, thanks to the popularity of what we call Dirty South Rap (or crunk or whatever), there’s a few people that have been in the game a long time starting to make it.

Meanwhile, there’s still this community of sick, magic-mouthed traditional hip-hop artists here who can cipher without calculating the seconds it takes to grab the microphone. They’re still not getting theirs. It’s fucked up. It’s wrong. But instead of embracing the legacy that has been created, there’s all this hatred and biting and negativity going on towards the people who got theirs.

See, if you’re getting anywhere at all in this world doing any fucking thing, no matter what it is, someone is going to be there to try and knock you down because they’re fucking pissed off that it wasn’t them. How the fuck can you go through life like that? What’s the fucking point? This time is too precious to waste it trying to debilitate and hate people who get recognized for creating something new and different. We are supposed to just keep creating no matter what.

But the madness of arguing over what is or isn’t good or real or true or false or whatever does nobody any fucking good because, like it or not, someone’s nerve has been touched by whatever we put out there. Lord T & Eloise aren’t the foes of “true hip-hop” or what’s good in Memphis — they’re just doing their thing, having a good time, and people like it. There’s no point in trying to complicate something that really isn’t all that complicated to begin with. Love yourself, be down for yours, get yours, and don’t shit on the front porch of the next man because they got theirs first. Checkers ain’t chess and chess ain’t checkers, feel me? Unity and positivity are the only forces that can create longevity.

Now, back to the deal: Licensed To Ill, I would argue (correctly I might add), is the same kind of album that Chairmen of the Bored is — it’s an extraordinarily fun party rap album. It’s got fucking anthems out the frame on it. It’s a bunch of friends getting together spitting jams that actually are meant to caricature the very people that they’re written about. It shouldn’t appeal to serious hip-hop fans at all — but it’s got to fuck with you that it DOES.

Now, don’t misunderstand me — I’m certainly not saying that Lord T & Eloise are even CLOSE to The Beastie Boys — it’s too early to make that kind of an assessment. I’m comparing the album styles, and it’s a deserved comparison. You haven’t even listened to the shit, so that was obvious before you even started typing.

I’m not dismissing everything the B-Boys have done since then (including disavowing their Licensed to Ill-era personas). But as for this being a hipster creation and a trend of the summer, that’s a pretty thin argument. I suppose you’re against having a good time, too. That’s cool. Keep debating, perpetrating and anticipating, because hating gets you nada.

Oh and about the costumes — the Beastie Boys went on tour opening for themselves as Triphammer back in the day which (if you know your shit) was the B-Boys pretending to be a metal band. Remember when hip-hop used to be fun? Nah you’d never remember that.

I have been an aristocrunkaholic ever since.

Their Rhymes are amazing, and the show is insane!!!

I can’t wait to see them hit it big time