They’re playing these songs that specifically instruct you to dance. You DON’T need instructions to shake your booty. Many of us in our late teens and early twenties recall a time when a great hip hop song was about the rhymthic and lyrical quality – and it was something you could jam to without suffering through ridiculous lyrics and awkward dances.

Does intellectual hip hop – like the stuff Common and Mos Def brought us – even exist anymore? What about the classic MC’s of our time…Nas and Jay-Z? Does their new music reflect the same value?

Hip Hop cultural extraordinaire Ms. Mimi Valdes raises some burning questions in her new blog Listen Up