After hearing a slew of terrible hip-hop albums at the end of 2011, I came to the realization that maybe I'm getting too old for hip-hop. That, or I've turned into the "I remember when hip-hop" old head that I used to roll my eyes at. Either way it goes, I can't ignore the "bitches" and the "hoes" and the killing and threats in music. This is on top of the paranoia that everybody is out to kill you or the homage to haters and golddiggers. Does that pretty much cover almost all of the content coming from recent artists (outside of the ones going against the grain like Drake). After reviewing Royce Da 5'9 and Eminem's duo album and hearing a laundry list of insults to women, I said, "That's it. I'm done. I can't listen to this garbage anymore, and I'm definitely not buying it." I'm still trying to figure out why people turn a blind eye to Eminem's threats to women but Chris Brown is taking punches on every turn. Hell, at least Chris Brown apologized, Rihanna forgave him and was put on probation all while folks are just snapping their fingers to Eminem crooning about choking ladies.

But nevertheless, lately hip-hop is pushing out some good stuff and making me rethink abandoning it.

I have never bought a Young Jeezy CD or album. I've heard his music. Way too proud of selling drugs for me. But when I heard "I Do," I was thinking, "Who did this song again? And who got Andre 3000 to come out of hiding?"

Then, I heard a track from an artist named Maino called "That Could Be Us" this weekend and went, "When did these dudes find the 'right' one?" I'm not mad at this at all.

I went to the health club on Sunday and listened to these two tracks nonstop for 50 minutes worth of exercising. Then I come in on Monday and found out Mos Def came out of hiding, too, to do a remix of a Jay-Z and Kanye West track. Mos Def is one of my favorite artists so anything he does is going to be supported by me. This time around it's "N*ggas in Poorest." Yeah, I could do without the n-word, but Mos Def is actually talking about something that matters. Click here to listen.

And although this is more about love for the community and less about romance, I respect Chuck D for performing on Skid Row. And as much as I think "Glory" is a sweet song, Chuck D hit it on the head when he said (about the alleged poem from Jay-Z):
"Jay-Z says that now that he's got a daughter, he's going to stop using the b-word. We commend you, brother, in your 42nd year of life, on that decision. But you had a mother...."

I hope hip-hop continues in the direction for 2012.