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That’s not necessarily a good thing either.

This weekend I flipped through my illegally obtained collection of music and came across an album and a mixtape I’ve not listened to in some time: Redman’s Muddy Waters and Clipse’s We Got It For Cheap, Vol. 2. Going back to these joints I couldn’t help but remember when these artists were at the top of their respective games: Redman’s intoxicated, frat-boy demeanor and Pusha T and Malice’s intricately complex coke raps were the stuff of rap purists’ wet dreams. Being an East Coast hip-hop loving anomaly living on the West Coast I automatically assumed I was the only hump that didn’t solely listen to the likes of Kausion and motherfucking Mr. Short Khop, and I’d never find like-minded peoples around my neck of the woods.

Unfortunately a good majority of those peoples belong to the so-called hipster crowd, an audience I more or less don’t understand what the deal is. According to its Wiki hipsters are nothing more than elitist schlubs that listen to “alternative” musical genres and front like they’re better than everybody else. Hmm… If I didn’t know any better, you’d think it was describing me… nah. I like Biggie Smalls, sneakers and women too much to ever fall into that category.

Then again, I could also say that I once fell into its predecessor way the fuck back when I was barely passing junior college: the alleged “backpack” crowd back when DMX, Ja Rule and Jay-Z were the original Murder Inc. When Rawkus Records had their magical run between 1997 and 2001, I could clearly recall when there were oodles of funny style tree bark chewers proclaiming that Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Company Flow and Pharoahe Monch were the second coming of the Native Tongues family (which in itself was the forefather to the hipster music). Eventually being a genuine fan of them took a backseat to associating their music with coolness, and every Blue Ribbon-guzzling, Nike Blazer-wearing, meatcutter jeans rocker were on their proverbial nuts.

They actually fooled the TIs as well, even getting MCA to go into a distribution deal with Rawkus, which would have been an ideal set up for both artist and label executive to cake up lovely, but the one thing missing from the equation was the fact that hipsters don’t buy records to begin with, either out of claiming to go “against the grain” and not support the curly-muttonchops aesthetics the Israelis, or just being plain broke from copping all those ugly-ass Nike Blazers in their closets. Long story short Rawkus crashed and burned worse than Cory Lidle, Mos Def has ditched rap for movie guap, Pharoahe Monch sold about 8 copies of his last album (and I actually bought one too!) and Mad Skillz has been limited to long-played out yearly “Rap Up” tunes. Fast-forward to now where the Clipse sold about 8 copies of their last album (and I actually bought one too!) and Redman couldn’t even break wind much less break 200,000 copies of Red Gone Wild. Coincidence? I highly doubt that.

If today’s music weren’t so god(dess)-awful, I’d blame the hipsters for single-handedly destroying rap music as a whole. In my eyes they’re akin to leeches, sucking the financial life out of rappers then unflinchingly moving on to the next act to mooch from. Shit, they’ve already gotten their claws in the likes of Ghostface Killah and Lupe Fiasco.