Thug Life Army

Concerned members of the hip-hop community have taken exception to the popular rapper/producer Kanye West's 10 Grammy nominations in light of recent developments with regard to the dubious nature of his recording processes.

In particular, a question has arisen as to whether or not Kanye West bought the song "Jesus Walks," which was nominated for both Best Rap Song and Song of the Year, from an Indianapolis-based rapper named Rhymefest. While it is true that Rhymefest is credited as a co-writer on the track, it has never been made clear the exact degree to which he was involved, and recent developments suggest that he may have written and produced the track in its entirety and sold it to West, who re-recorded it for his debut album, The College Dropout.

While this process, sometimes referred to as "ghostwriting," is fairly common in other genres of music, it has always been frowned upon in the hip-hop community. Members of the group The Mindset Army (www.byroncrawford.com) feel that it would be disrespectful to hip-hop itself if Kanye West were to win an award, especially in light of his many past statements with regard to his capabilities as an artist. They have drafted a petition (http://www.petitiononline.com/mindset/petition.html) to The Recording Academy (www.grammy.com) demanding that his name be removed from consideration in the 10 categories in which he was nominated for Grammy Awards.

"For him to pay people for rhymes, concepts, etc. is no big deal," says member chiseven (http://mystuntedgrowth.blogspot.com/), "but for him to act like he is the next G.O.A.T. of the rap game, which he does regularly, is inexcusable." Check it out at the addresses above.