(AllHipHop News) One of the biggest ongoing Hip Hop stories in 2013 was sparked when Atlanta rapper Trinidad James expressed his belief that “the South runs New York.” Those comments led to numerous responses from rappers from the Big Apple and Southern cities including leaked audio of NYC’s Maino confronted Trinidad over the phone.
[ALSO READ: Maino Confronts Trinidad James Over The Phone (Audio)]
As some in Hip Hop focused on the divisions in the culture, two veterans from two different regions joined together to make one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year. Brooklyn’s El-P and Atlanta’s Killer Mike released their self-titled joint LP Run The Jewels in June, and according to El-P the project played a role in uniting the South and the East Coast.
“No question, I do see it that way. But I see it that way in the most natural, organic, real way. I see it as just simply being the truth,” El-P tells thevine.com when asked whether Run The Jewels helped bridge the gap between New York and the South. “It’s funny for me and Mike to sit here and watch people just squabbling back and forth about ‘New York’ and ‘Atlanta’ and whoever has the top-est s**t at the moment, and me and Mike are like, ‘Well we just made a completely boundary-less record’.”
[ALSO READ: Killer Mike & El-P Announce “Run The Jewels 2” Is On The Way]
El Producto also discussed Hip Hop media and fans’ obsession with “the state of rap.” The Company Flow founding member says “rap is not a person” and the fate of the entire culture should not be defined by any particular song, project, or artist.
“People always talk about rap like it’s some guy they know who’s going through a problem: ‘Damn, man, how’s rap doin’?!’ ‘I dunno, man. Last time I saw rap he was pretty depressed!'” said El-P. “Rap is a form of music, like rock’n’roll. It’s endless. And it is only good or bad or whatever as a moment in time, as a moment of inspiration, as an artistic expression.”
He adds, “One thing for sure is that there’s nothing that’s gonna take down a genre as powerful and creative as rap music. It’s just about whether we’re inspired by the things that are happening at the moment.”
[ALSO CHECK OUT: Bun B Speaks on New York and Southern Hip-Hop Relations, State of Hip-Hop w/ DJ Whoo kid]