Hip Hop

Bona fide chroniclers of "real" hip-hop warn that hip-hop is getting so "high" in the commercial streets it might soon be pronounced dead. Pop-culture critics and hip-hop intellectuals complain about hip-hop's current bad grades as compared with the old school days, lamenting how it copies other people's homework - a la compulsive sampling and recycling of beats. Not so, if you looked through the eyes of "Daddy" or "Diddy" Combs, CEO of Bad Boy Entertainment. He's part of an elite group of male rappers and producers - or reproducers - who have gained unprecedented parental control over the development of hip-hop.

With all of the thuggery, lackadaisical lyrics, platinum and Cristal, bad hip-hop is fouling up the musical air, and the masses are still waving their hands like they just don't care. Never fear because one of hip-hop's mainstays, Prince Paul, is ready to pull the art out of the proverbial stone with his new album, Politics of the Business. "It's getting to the point now when you're listening to the radio and it's the same thing over and over again," Paul says. "People come up to me all the time, tell me how whack hip-hop is, and I tell them if you want to change it then buy 50 underground records.

The city distributes some brotherly love on itself tonight at the Philadelphia Urban Legend Awards at the Wiliarie's Cultural & Performing Arts Complex in North Philadelphia. In its fifth year - the awards originated in 2000 with Will Smith rewarded as one of the first honorees - the night of adulation continues recognizing area contributors to urban music. "It includes . . . anything that has to do with hip-hop," explained Docta Shock, architect of the event. In an attempt to show respect to those who have paved the way, Shock will pay homage not only to MCs and DJs, but also to graffiti artists and dancers (street dancer Crazy D was one of last year's honorees)

Nate Dogg, 41, a singer whose near monotone crooning anchored some of rap's most seminal songs and helped define the sound of West Coast hip-hop, died Tuesday in Los Angeles of complications from multiple strokes he had suffered in recent years. Nate Dogg wasn't a rapper, but he was an integral figure in the genre: His deep voice wasn't particularly melodic, but its tone - at times menacing, at times playful, yet always charming - provided just the right touch on hits including Warren G's "Regulate," 50 Cent's "21 Questions," Dr. Dre's "The Next Episode," and countless others.

New Sixers ownership has ever-dyspepsic Philly fans hoping for all sorts of changes - including axing Hip-Hop. Even if a league website calls him "the coolest mascot in the NBA. " This morning, WIP (94 FM) host Angelo Cataldi, appearing on CBS3, held up a bowl to illustrate what the big-eared bunny's next role should be: "Rabbit stew!" he bellowed. "Lame and stale, like the mascot version of planking," wrote Comcast SportsNet's John Gonzalez, declaring even no replacement would be an improvement.

You don't want to admit it, but you don't know much about hip-hop. You know that the music bristles with angst. The lyrics paint harsh pictures of inner-city life. You may have noticed that some of hip-hop's brightest stars seem to have a penchant for clunky platinum jewelry. The mission of a new exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum of Art titled "Hip Hop Nation: Roots, Rhymes & Rage" is to survey the innovative, worldwide explosion of culture and commerce called hip-hop. And if you don't know jack about the phenomenon, you will leave thoroughly steeped in its history and evolution, right?

Peter Spirer's Rhyme & Reason is an ambitious music documentary that takes to the 'hood in search of the real story of hip-hop. It's a smart, funny and vibrant oral history of two decades in the life of African American urban youth culture. R&R certainly suffers no shortage of players. Offering insights are contemporary rappers such as the Wu-Tang Clan's Method Man, Cypress Hill's B-Real and the late Tupac Shakur, and such record moguls as Sean "Puffy" Combs (shown doing business with an ever-present bottle of Red Cheek apple juice, as an assistant shaves him with an electric razor)

Emcees and vocalists can unite Tuesday for an evening of underground, hip-hop bliss at Medusa Lounge. "This event is for those who have a true love for wordplay and underground hip-hop beats," said Pedro Diaz, organizer of T.H.O.R. (The House of Repz) at the lounge at 27 S. 21st St. The "Emcee Cypher," also spelled cipher, is a chance for DJs/producers to showcase their skills while simultaneously enticing a group to create a verbal collage. In hip-hop parlance, cipher refers to something like a jam session.

"Rubberband" was the name choreographer Victor Quijada earned coming up as an elastic-bodied hip-hop dancer in Los Angeles. After he studied at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, luck and pluck led to professional work with dance giants Twyla Tharp, Eliot Feld, and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montr?al. This exceptional trajectory informs each spectacular moment in the Montreal-based Rubberbandance Group's touring show. Presented at the Annenberg by Dance Celebration, now celebrating its own 25th anniversary, the show was a delicious birthday treat.

Chris Lighty, 44, an influential manager of hip-hop stars like 50 Cent, LL Cool J, Missy Elliott, and Diddy, was found dead Thursday morning at his home in New York City, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police said that they were investigating the death as a suicide. A representative of his company, Primary Violator, did not immediately respond to requests for information. One of the most powerful figures in the hip-hop business, Mr. Lighty helped establish the genre as a major commercial force - complete with huge record deals and tie-ins with commercial brands - during its peak in the 1990s and early 2000s.