Since Gangstarr Girl did a post on the new episode of "Leaders Of The New School", I thought it would be cool to revisit last year's list and see if they are still (or were ever) worthy of the recognition. By the way, I do give props to XXL for recognizing my dude Wale recently, he is by far one of the sickest MC's in the game and he has put Washington on the scene now (capital city was face-less for a second).


Young Dro-Not really deserving of making the list in the first place. Haven't really heard much from Dro lately, but he is dropping an album in '09 (supposedly), I could care less though.

Papoose- It never really made sense to me why he made this list in the first place. Not that I'm against Pap, but he made a huge splash in '06, and has been pretty quiet since then. I never really saw him as a leader either, just another face in the NY mixtape scene (albeit a very prominent face).

Crooked I-Crooked is like 30 something years old, so I don't know that he's the leader of the new school. He was around back in the Suge Knight days, so he's more of a vet than an all-star rookie, but he deserves his place here. Most people have heard of him, and he is worthy of the recognition.

Joell Ortiz-29 years old, not the worst candidate, but Joell is more of a throw-back rapper than anything so you can't really call him new-school. Still, I'm not fronting on this choice, Joell Ortiz is still grinding and is always a solid choice.

Gorilla Zoe-I haven't heard much from Zoe since "Welcome To The Zoo". It sold pretty well so he was a pretty easy choice here, young and a big-seller. But Zoe doesn't seem to have much originality or potential to improve. Probably the best choice from the south in my opinion.

Lil’ Boosie-No. Call me a hater but I can't listen to Boosie, I'm still amazed he sold 675,000. Woooooooow (in a Flavor Flav voice).

Lupe Fiasco- He was a pretty obvious choice here. If he's involved in GOAT talks, he should definitely be considered a leader of the new school.

Rich Boy- I'm not a fan of Rich Boy but I can agree with this choice. His first album went Gold in '07 (which got him on the list). And he dropped a popular mixtape in "Bigger Than The Mayor", so he's still grinding.

Plies-Neck-and-neck with Boosie. Can't stand either of those dudes. Plies did have a pretty successful year in '08, so I guess he justified his spot on this list.

Saigon- We're all still waiting for the best album in the last 20 years. Saigon has got a lot of talent and some key endorsers (Q-Tip, Just Blaze). But he made this list because of the hype for "The Greatest Story Never Told", and he still hasn't it released it. Last word of a release date was the end of September, but obviously that didn't happen, and now who knows?


Last Thoughts: They didn't really get the list right in '07, I thought this year's list was more relevant. 30 year old's aren't going to lead the new school. I can't say that any of the people they chose became break-out stars or anything, Plies had a good year, Rich Boy had a pretty good year, Crooked I had a real good year, still none of them made a huge dent in the hearts of mainstream or underground fans. I have to ask where was 40 Cal? Dude had an album and a few mixtapes. Where was Fabolous? He made his triumphant comeback with "From Nothin' To Somethin". Where was Consequence? He finally released his first album "Don't Quit Your Day Job" (he appeared on a Quest song back in '93). Where is Wiz Khalifa, Clipse, Drake, Uncle Murda, The Cool Kids?
Huh XXL?




For a second opinion