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We live in an era of Hip-Hop that has lost sight of its beginnings. The "Have fun" "be yourself," laughter in certain parts of our music and culture is nearly non-existent, and has been replaced by mean mugging, gun-toting, super serious "I'm gonna kill someone every verse" type of personalities.

Having grown up in the inner-city, I understand more than most that  there ain't a whole lot to smile about sometimes, but does that mean that we are for some reason outlawed from having a sense of humor?

Old school legends like Biz Markie, Slick Rick and Digital Undergrounds' Humpty Hump grew up in places that would make your hood look like the Hamptons, but they grew to be two of, if not the greatest comedy rappers of all time.

Later generations of MC's like Redman, Methodman, and others solidified that it was possible for an Emcee to have street credibility and be amusing at the same time, something that most of these current rappers avoid like the plague for fear of being perceived as "soft."

This kind of dilemma is the fault of both Artists and  Fans alike. The artist, for portraying these unsmiling, hardbody, superthug personas, and our fault as fans for endorsing this unneeded change, and condoning the loss of comedy in our culture.

New rappers such as Ludacris, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, and even Lil Wayne seem to be making an effort to not take themselves too seriously, and revive the lost art of being funny in your rhymes, but will it be enough, or is Hip-Hop destined to become the "No Fun Zone? "