1. Fear that the death of hip-hop is neigh is legitimate, but a bit misplaced. MCing is (almost) dead. The beats are fine: progressing, branching out, seeping their way into other genres and even creating their own. MCing, on the other hand, is on life support, and but for the "old reliables" and a handful of new talent, it has become stale, uninteresting, and market driven.

2. You are not my boy, and therefore I will not holla at you.

3. Even if I did holla, what would I say except "holla?" You don't really want to talk to me.

4. Aren't we past ignorant= real? 9/11 was real, Katrina was real, poverty is real. Putting a shark tank in the back of your Hummer is not, nor is putting your child in Kevlar body armor.

5. Why do you think I want to hear you take a drag from your joint before you start rhyming? It adds nothing to your song except letting the listener know you smoke. Unless that's the point, where's the artistry in that? It's not the mid-90's anymore.

6. Please do not blabber on ad nauseam before your verse starts. Only a few can pull that off without being completely annoying or making asses of themselves, i.e. 2Pac, unless that's the point (see No. 5 above).

7. Stop asking producers to make you a "name-of-a-popular-song-that-isn't-yours" beat. That's lame. What if Michael Jackson went to Quincy Jones and asked for a "Purple Rain" beat?

8. Do not announce that you, or your collaborators, are about "to make history." It's presumptuous and a bit too literal. As a recording it's technically preserved, yes, and 99 times out of a 100, that's about it.

9. This is history!

10. I know what you're saying, I feel you, and I heard you, but I do not smell you.

11. You have more money than me. I get it. Find something else to say unless the money has brought something really new to your life (see Jay-Z, "Kingdom Come").

12. Don't buy expensive watches if you can't tell time.

13. "Conscious" used to mean political or message driven. Now it means "not stupid."

14. Do not say anyone or anything's proper name out loud until you have verified a) that you have the name and person/place/thing aligned, and b) the correct pronunciation.

15. Rhyming about making crack in your kitchen, AR-15's, murder and being a baller boss mafia don big-dog and then complaining about computer downloads makes you look silly.

16. Employing the exact same sample another producer has already used, with great success, is cheap and lame. (Unless you're just sampling drums. That's a bit grey.)

17. At least try to sound like your recordings when performing live. Don't yell unless you're M.O.P. Hip-hop is a spoken art form. Any one of your high school fans can yell the lyrics into a bad mic and nightclub P.A. system as well as you can.

18. You don't need 15 guys on stage with you, much less with live mics.

19. Female artists should not mistake sexuality with appeal. Making yourself a video chick is not how you to secure a place for yourself in the music (see pre-comeback Mariah Carey).

20. Have some integrity. Some.