Interview: Rappers POS, Mac Lethal and Onry Ozzborn on the Current State of Hip-Hop & its Future

Rapper Nas titled his last cd Hip-Hop is Dead and for many fans and foes of the genre truer words have never been spoken. The genre has hit a critical impasse and is in need of a true wake up call. While critics blast the genre for its glorification of violence and materialism (please people, no more gold grills and bling) a smaller yet vibrant wave of hip-hop artists are starting to give the art form the injection of originality it truly needs. The Rhymesayers record label is based in Minnesota and is the brainchild of Sean Daley better known as Slug the mc of the rap group Atmosphere. Atmosphere, at this point in time are the kings of underground indie hip-hop. The group is able to sell 100,000 units annually. This may seem like a drop in the bucket to the fifty-inch rim set but for an artist to sell that many discs with virtually no airplay or video play is an astonishing feet in the world of rap music. Where is hop-hop headed? Can the unique sounds coming out of Minnesota save the genre from itself? These are the questions I posed to three mcs of the Rhymesayers collective. P.O.S, Onry Ozzborn of the rap group Grayskull and Mac Lethal sat down with me to explain their take on the other side of hip-hop. None of these mcs claim to be trying to save hip-hop but all three agree a change needs to happen soon, in order for the genre to thrive and survive. We begin out journey to the "other side of hip-hop" with rapper P.O.S.

Product of Society, Promise of Skill and Pissed off Stef are just a few of the definitions for the moniker P.O.S. P.OS. is actually Stefon Alexander, a rapper hailing from Minnesota with a lot on his mind. His last disc Audition was a hip-hop disc full of anger, intricate word play and a healthy dose of punk rock abandonment. I recently caught up with P.O.S as he just wrapped up a slew of summer dates on the Warped Tour. Here is what the earnest mc had to say about the state of affairs in hip-hop

Associated Content: Your disc Audition was released in 2006. What have you been doing for the past year and a half?