Mr. Eric Woods [dot] com

As with everything the world changes and everything either dies out or evolves with time. Sort of like that Darwin theory of evolution. Now take a trip with me back to the mid 80’s to late 90’s. When just like now it was always hip to be “THAT DUDE” fresh everything! Cars, clothes, ladies, crib..you know the works!! Now having all of that was of course great but it meant nothing and the total package was not complete unless you had a what? THAT’S RIIIIIGHT!!! A Hype-Man. Now for those who don’t know what a Hype-Man is just think about the most famous Hype-Man of them all,  FLAVA FLAV!

Now that you have a idea about what a Hype-Man is think about what their daily task consisted of. No matter what the hell was going on or when it was going on. That man or womans job is to “Big Up” their counterpart or leader of their group and also whatever moment their counterpart might be involved in. So for Flava Flav he was a Hype-Man to Chuck D. Another example would be Spliff Starr to Busta Rhymes or outside of rap how about Arsenio Hall to Eddie Murphy back in the day, lmfao. 

So way back when it seemed like every top player had a Hype-Man of their own and being an actual Hype-Man wasn’t a problem. Now later on down the line somewhere the whole idea of being a HM was twisted and turned into what some may call “D*ck-Riding” lol. Maybe some lesser known HM that we don’t know about was tired of not gettin enough shine and started a revolution for Hype-Men across the world, lol. Well anyways that died down almost completely, or at least that’s what everyone thought!

For the sake of saving time and skipping the rest of the history lesson on the Hype-Man lets fast forward to present day in 2009. There are still major players, ballers, shot callers or whatever you like to call them. So that part of everything has yet to change and that will always be the same. Now as far as the Hype-Man they are no where to be found….or are they. Remember I said everything evolves? Well so did those Hype-Men. Next time you see one of the “Big Names” or “Players” check out his clique of people he or she is running with. I guarantee you there will be one person there that agrees with EVERYTHING they say no matter what. And there you have it….that is your Hype-Man evolved and adapted to the new form called a CO-SIGNER! 

This is the person that’s usually right by the “Big-Wigs” side agreeing to and Bigging-up EVERYTHING! Their job is to literally co-sign to everything and keep that person thinking that they are on top of the world and the best thing since sliced bread! lol. Pretty sad if you ask me. These Co-Signers come in all degrees, shapes and sizes also. Not just for rich folks. In the hood you might see one guy with a fly ride……and in the passenger seat of that ride is ALWAYS THE SAME GUY!!! Just riding around the hood with him trying to get at females from the passenger seat while driving down the block. Just trying to reap the benefits of being “down”. Its a damn shame lol. 

Me personally I have more respect for the Hype-Man of old than the newly evolved Co-Signers of today. While the Hype-Man was always there and down for the cause they also got some type of respect. Flava flav might not be the best example but he is actually known world wide for being one of the greatest Hype-Men alive and he actually gets respect (as much as you could possibly give Flava Flav ) for what he was a part of which is Public Enemy. Now the Co-Signer in my eyes is just a chump. Always riding the pine and will never elevate above where they currently are.  Just trying to get a free ride and will pretty much suck up as much as they need to in order to stay in that comfort zone. A Co-Signer is like one of those parasites…just in it for the ride and the benefits, not realizing that they can be scrapped off at any moment, lol. All those Co-Signers out there listen to me. Think about your role in your clique and if you can remove yourself and nothing be different guess what? You have been wasting you time away, you are expendable. I guess one could say its better to be a Hype-Man than a Co-Signer for the sake of saving face and having some dignity! 

And now I leave you with this…check it