Nicki Minaj: From Myspace to Femme Phenom

At LaGuardia High School in New York, Onika Maraj was as silly as silly puddy. You can tell from the daffy-duck faces she makes even now. But when did the femme fatale known as Nicki Minaj emerge on the hip-hop scene?
In 2002, a group of eUuniverse employees created Myspace. In two short years, the site graduated to a music reservoir for up-and-coming and unsigned acts to show their work. In 2004, hundreds of artists had built pages with free music for the masses. Like the teenage rap sensation Soulja Boy before her, Nicki Minaj is originally a Myspace rapper.
Some of her early songs pull from the grit and grind of her upbringing in New York City.
She was discovered by Dirty Money CEO Fendi. Lil Wayne personally contacted her, and the rest, as they say is Barbie history.
Flash forward to 2010: The little girl from a troubled home is one of the top rappers in hip-hop and poised to be the queen. And there's still no album, and no tentative title or release date. Yet, she's appeared in more than 14 songs for other people.
Her album promises to be one of the most anticipated rap events of the year. And that's a long way from the humble beginnings of LaGuardia.

Should Hip-Hop Have an Age Limit?

No other music genre -- not rock n' roll, not pop, not classical, not jazz -- appeals to such a wide variety of age groups as does hip-hop. Since its humble beginnings in the 1970s, hip-hop was endeared itself to legions of fans due to the music, the dress, the lifestyle, etc.
But should it last forever?
It has become routine to see grown men -- some way past their primes -- wearing baseball caps forward, backward, tilted and more as there pants -- not unlike their jawlines -- increasingly sag to the Earth.
Has Russell Simmons made it acceptable for the perennially bald Baby Boomer to wear, dress and talk "hip-hop'? Or should those who were party-age in 1978 (when the first hip-hop hit "Rapper's Delight" took to the airwaves) turn in their long-held B-boy stances?
Alot of it depends on if you subscribe to the so-called "culture" associate with music: Remember, it used to be about graffiti-tagging, breakdancing and handing with the 'crew."
Is there a stopping point, when you say, reach 40? How long can you be a B-boy?
If you're middle-aged and you have a son or daughter and y'all are listening to the same music, for the same reasons, is that okay?
Or should the parent abandon their longheld love for something more "mature"?
Is hip-hop for youngens?

Hip-Hop: Original Style vs. Now

The first thing you notice are the boots: Huge, shiny joints.
The better to boot-stomp emcees with a quickness, they say.
Hip-hop style has changed greatly since the music has been around since the late 1970s.
Back in the day the rappers --excuse me, emcees -- use to dress.
The hair was always funky; pants were unique in more than 10 ways; the shirt or coat was in itself a work of art.
About the only thing similar to the styles of today are the huge shades, which have changed little after enjoying a resurgence a few years ago.

The fad of today is to let your drawers show. It can 't be any old way either; your drawers must hang down no lower than 10.5 inches (see Soulja Boy Tell em). The female rappers actually have stepped their game up, the few that even bother to wear clothes these days.
About the most exciting thing happening now is the shaved-head-look circulating among female stars (of course you have to line it up properly.
The male rappers back in the day dressed dynamic, spectacular. They had their clothes made instead of simply wearing the latest collection from the hot designer of the day.
That's when hip-hop was real.
That's when hip-hop was fresh.