Lowkey review: Diggy Simmons' First Flight to the Future of Hip-Hop

My brother told me I gotta check out this kid Diggy Simmons new mix-tape. So I did. Before I give y'all what I think I'll tell you about my first thoughts.

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Is that Run's son?

How old is this kid?

Whats all his buzz from? The TV show?

He prolly getting a leg up from his dad right?

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The fist song I heard from him was "Flow Stoopid" a Freestyle to Nas' Made you look. What did I think? We have a Problem (First Flight Track 8). This kid is pure raw talent. His flow is quick and witty. His references are relevant and He isn't trying to copy cat off anybody in the game. To be truthful, I can't even make a comparison of him to any rapper I can think of. He's unique and he's so solid in his own identity that he doesn't need anyone else to validate him.

This kid Diggy comes off with a type of humility and honesty that no one would ever expect from a rich Kid. Some would ask why he wants to rap? He's not street, he's not hood, or gangsta so why rap? He doesn't have to???

ENTER THE NEW SCHOOL:

We've been seeing this new school of rappers for a while now and Diggy is just continuing on the legacy Of Kanye, Kid Cudi, Lupe Fiasco Wale and others who have proven that rap has no boundaries. They break all the stereotypes of what rap and hip hop has been and are become the future of this game. And we are loving every minute of it.

To me, Diggy proves that Talent can't be bought. If you are talented and youve honed your talents, then you will be recognized as having talent. First Flight (Download link) is a top notch Mixtape that comes out swinging and doesn't stop. A lot of the tracks are Album quality. Some people might say "He's got all the best equipment and his dad has a million dollar studio" I say check the video below. You cannot buy talent. Certainly you can make talent sound better with an expensive microphone, but I ask you, Why is Diggy better than his brother Jo Jo? they got the same contacts.

Diggy Embraces Rap as an Art form which is something you see so precious little of. He's putting his entire age group to shame and I hope he can keep his work ethic up over at Atlantic Records who he just signed a deal with. I'm rooting for the kid.

....TheGift

Diggy - Made you look Freestyle (Flow Stoopid) from Diggy Simmons on Vimeo.

"There are times, when you'll need someone. I will be by your side.There is a light that shines. Special for you, Baby."

That was the song where I first liked Common. I don't know if that chorus was a sample or not,but I know that to a 13 year old boy it just sounded like the truth. And I loved singing it. Me and my guy Common have had our ups and downs since then, I absoluteley despised his flow for years after that.

Then I only started bumping his verses on other peoples songs. He went smoothe on his verse for Erykah Badu's "Love of My life". I remember thinking that maybe bieng in love made him rap better.

Whan Kanye West dropped His first album, He had a verse on track 9 "Get em High" that I still consider to be one of his best.

"How could I ever let your words affect me//they say hip-hop is dead,I'm here to ressrect ME"

I still thought he was wack though. Just hot on other peoples songs. What kind of artist can't be hot on his own? Then I had a Common revelation, "Be" Hit the stands and his hit single "Go" rocked hard. I started ta bumpin Common. Admittadly I was hesitant, and his album was slept on for a reason, cuz It wasn't THE hottest,some of the tracks wasn't that hard. But that song "Testify" was pure poetry. I had to give it up to Common. This man is the truth.

The final straw though? "Finding Forever". Hands down one of my favorite albums. Ever. "The Corner" with the last poets "Misunderstood" all speak to my very soul by a brother who comes from a generation with more integrity than my own.

Anyway, I guess the message here is, Don't sleep on Common. He's the truth. You'll regret it. He has consistantly been on "Team Hip-Hop" saving the artform we know and love from impending doom by snap dance,soulja boy tellin em, and Gucci man's ignorance.

If you ever need that peace of mind that only our generation can appreciate, Kick back, relax and play dat track:

"There are times...."


...TheGift