Something that really annoys me about most rappers (I am including both rappers and MCs when I say this) is their interviews. It amazes me that these people who create some of the most amazing poetry and art (now speaking strictly about MCs) and are able to articulate themselves so well in the form of music can give such bad interviews. They rarely give details on their own (usually the person conducting the interview has to pry information out of them) and everybody sounds exactly the same. There are more "nah mean," "you know," and the classic "at the end of the day" than there is actual substance in the interview. Everybody tends to sound exactly the same and it is only every now and then that you can actually get into an interview.

I understand that their music may come across a little more concise and articulate because they have time to write down lyrics and really construct a song, but for some of these people to be able to show off their genius in the way they do, you would assume that they could at least give an interview that would help debunk many stereotypes. There is already enough controversy surrounding the music and there are already plenty of preconceived notions about hip hop artists (and by extension in many cases African Americans). We could help put some of these stereotypes to rest just by giving interviews that really show the intelligence, competence, and articulation of our artists. However, because many artists choose to be very vague and rarely give anything but generic answers surrounding almost any topic, hip hop continues to get put into a box of uninformed, uneducated people.

This is not to say that every interview has to be about something social or political either. Many of them should be, but that's not a requirement. Sometimes an interview may just deal with an album coming out. However, when asked what separates the upcoming albums from other artist's albums, the answer shouldn't always be "It's a hot album" or "It's a classic album" (that term classic gets thrown around a lot too which is another topic to be dealt with in another post). We know that you have big name producers and that your album is "hot." Every album is (or at least that is the claim), but really help us to understand why it is different. How does it differ from your past albums? What should people pay attention to throughout the album? This is what fans want to hear and this is how we can help to display ourselves better in they public eye.

Interviewers have a responsibility of bringing this out of the artists as well. Somebody like Angie Martinez or Funkmaster Flex does a great job of helping artists feel comfortable and open up. Many other interviewers need to figure out how they can do this in order to make for better interviews, because right now artists are getting away with just being on camera and giving sub-par responses to questions.

When they have these interviews, these artists represent the culture. Let's challenge them to say something more that "I'm grinding everyday, trying to make this good music." That is too standard and played out. I want artists to really start opening up and letting us into their world. Not so much their personal life, but their thoughts and feelings behind certain subjects and issues. It not only makes the culture better, but the representation of the culture is better and the connection between the fan and the artist is heightened. It's a win-win for everybody.

What do y'all think about the interviews artists give? Are you content with them? Do you want more? Do you have any suggestions? What are some of the most commonly used phrases you can think of? Leave your comments below. As always, feel free to e-mail at straightouttahiphop@gmail.com.