The_Knowing

Entrepreneur & HU alum

[The_Knowing @DereauWIP]

#TBT The legendary @msdebbieallen and I in "Michael Jordan: An American Hero" back in '98. What an honor

[The_Knowing @DereauWIP]

@gabbyraze1 @Kil889 Because hip hop is like boxing - it's competitive by nature. They're just using words instead of fists. It's a part of the culture to gun for the top spot. Everyone is at their best when that's taking place

[The_Knowing @DereauWIP]

Nas by a thin margin

[Truethingz™️ @Manlike_Solz]

FIRST TWO ALBUMS ONLY:

Nas: • Illmatic
• It Was Written

Jay-Z: • Reasonable Doubt
• In My Lifetime, Vol. 1

No dynasty talk.
No business moves.
No later classics.
No hindsight bias.

Just pure first-run impact.

Who had the stronger start? 👀

And who should we compare next? Drop your matchup.

[The_Knowing @DereauWIP]

@gabbyraze1 @Kil889 Facts. Nas was double plat when BIG and Pac were living and in their primes. He wasn't one that benefited from them not being around anymore

[The_Knowing @DereauWIP]

@LowKeyUHTN Facts. I'll never forget how Bleek held his own on "Who Want What" with prime Beans. From that point on I feel like no one could front on him like he wasn't legit

[The_Knowing @DereauWIP]

@khalilibn7 Facts. I still say Tru Life had the coldest Roc piece ever

[𐌁𐌉Ᏽ 𐌕𐌉𐌌𐌉 @OrevaZSN]

Many people still don’t realize that literacy isn’t just about being able to read. It’s about being able to comprehend, evaluate, and apply the information in front of you. The gap between the two is becoming increasingly alarming.

[Angel ✧ ✧ ✧ @xelgell]

my heart cannot take how unsafe this world is for Black children

[The_Knowing @DereauWIP]

@gmalone @ParisEighty He stayed with Pac stride for stride the whole record. His 2nd verse he went crazy. Breed was a real MC

[The_Knowing @DereauWIP]

@PhilBlackson The dope must've ran out cause he was all the way off the finesse play lmao

[The_Knowing @DereauWIP]

@TonyDaDome @criggs2630 The "So Many Tears" performance at the House of Blues was crazy. Soon as the beat dropped the whole place went up - it's a song about depression mind you smh iconic

[D. @Lush_Beauty1]

It’s humbling when God lets you see what He was protecting you from all along.

[The_Knowing @DereauWIP]

@doubleUp187 @TonyDaDome This is a great point. WHO sold more records than @MCHammer in the 90s? If we don't count @2PAC with the posthumous releases.

And it wasn't like it was just one record (i.e. Vanilla Ice). He was hot for a good chunk of the decade. Hit the nail on the head

[The_Knowing @DereauWIP]

@ah_keel @Kil889 So Nas had received more commercial airplay, attention or record sales after Big & Pac died? No. He didn't. He was as hot/visible as ever in '96. Your take is valid. But the artists I named directly benefited from the void those artists left. Nas had already carved his own lane

[The_Knowing @DereauWIP]

@ParisEighty That's heavy bruh. My In laws from Chicago. This must've been the early 90s. You still making music?

[The_Knowing @DereauWIP]

@DJSylent @Nas @MassAppeal @MassAppealRecs May have been a 3rd classic if he just removes "Big Things." "Dr. Knockboot" and "Kissing." Throwing in "Poppa Was a Player" for good measure seals it

[Sizwe SikaMusi @SizweLo]

bell hooks said that White people will meet a Black person who completely challenges every racial stereotype that they have, but rather than giving up the stereotypes, they create a special category for that person and say, things like “Well, you’re not like other Black people”, instead of saying, “My ideas of Black people were too narrow”.

This is called “subtyping” and it leads to the survival of negative stereotypes because the new category individual who’s supposedly “not like the others” is mentally isolated from the group.

What this shows is that bigotry is all about protecting an existing hierarchy and it doesn’t matter much whether a person is exposed to other people or not. Which is why meeting intelligent, kind, accomplished, or complex Black people does not dismantle prejudice if someone is emotionally invested in keeping the stereotype intact.

Exposure to facts and figures doesn’t change the situation either. Someone can know the statistics on crime, education, poverty, or discrimination and still keep racial stereotypes because the stereotype preserves a sense of superiority and avoids confronting historical responsibility.

This is part of why bell hooks further argued that racism is emotional and ideological more than just purely ignorant, which is then why facts by themselves usually do not overcome a worldview that a person is motivated to preserve.

[The_Knowing @DereauWIP]

@Outlawl1fe @TalkinBoutPod Pac had a flair for the dramatic & definitely got carried away in his emotions a lot (actors sometimes have trouble turning that on & off) but his life was REAL. Real danger. Real pressure. Real trauma, suffering & struggle. He dealt with it all like he was on a stage...but still

[REASON @_Reasonofficial]

Super fandom killed the conversation of hip-hop. Niggas can’t even be objective