While some hip-hop fans may be unaware, Heavy D is nominated for a Grammy in 2009. Only, this Grammy nod is not for a hip-hop category. Instead, Heavy D’s Vibes is nominated in the “Best Reggae Album” category. Recently, he spoke on his new album, new direction and a couple of today’s emcees.
“I’m Jamaican by birth,” the emcee formerly known as “Waterbed Hev” told L.A. Weekly. “And I’ve always had one foot in Reggae and one foot in Hip Hop. In the past, I’ve done records with all the greats like Super Cat, Coco Tea, Frankie Paul…and the list goes on. I was never really allowed to do it in my major situation because it wasn’t as profitable for them as it would’ve been for me to do a traditional hip-hop album.”
By releasing this one on his own, Heavy D took control of everything, and released what he considers a “wonderful work.” While hip-hop has some of its roots in Reggae, few respect the genre in that regard, according to D.
“For better or worse, I’m the one making all the decisions,” Hev adds. “Not only is [Reggae] forgotten, I don’t think it was ever even thought of. It is the birthplace of Hip Hop. The idea of two turntables and a microphone comes from Jamaica, by way of Kool Herc. But you can’t blame that on the kids, they only know what they know.”
Finally, he spoke on the evolution of rap, and added a few more things on Kanye West and Wayne, in light of their recent non-rap efforts.
“Even the artists are thinking, ‘Shit, I can’t come and do the same thing again,'” said Heavy D. “I’ve been doing this for a long time and I can’t tell whose album is whose because they’re on so many guest appearances. They’re over-saturated…in a quick amount of time. The creative ones know that they have to switch gears…and I love that about Kanye and Lil Wayne. And I guess you can put myself in that category.”
SOURCE: HipHopDX
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