In 2006, hip-hop legend Nas released a single entitled “Hip-Hop is Dead.” The song gained much attention throughout the hip-hop world and really encouraged many artists to step up to the plate and bring originality, skill, and dedication back to a genre that was lacking all three.

In 2006, hip-hop legend Nas released a single entitled “Hip-Hop is Dead.” The song gained much attention throughout the hip-hop world and really encouraged many artists to step up to the plate and bring originality, skill, and dedication back to a genre that was lacking all three.

Five years later, J. Cole released “Cole World: A Sideline Story” and in 2012 Big K.R.I.T released his mixtape entitled 4eva N a Day. Both artists and albums are living proof that hip-hop, especially southern hip-hop, is anything but dead.

On April 21, 2012, both Cole and K.R.I.T will grace the Greensboro community with a concert that will show the world that hip-hop is anything but deceased. Yet for those of you who have never had the pleasure of witnessing a Big K.R.I.T or J. Cole experience, here’s what you can expect from both artist.

I’ve been following Big K.R.I.T for quite a few years now. And to not much surprise, the Mississippi native continues to wow his fans and critics by showing them that many of the legends of the south may be dead or gone, but he is surely the rebirth of something special.

His unique southern drawl has made him a target by some critics; meanwhile his energy, undeniable talent, dedication, and catchy hooks have made him undoubtedly one of the best new rappers the game has seen in a very long time. The quality and range of topics in his music makes him easily one of the best kept secrets of the rap world and has put him in a great position to release a highly anticipated debut album dropping sometime this year.

Last year for Aggie Fest, K.R.I.T had Corbett Sports Center on its feet jumping up and down in excitement when he was rapping about that Country S**t. This year, although I amsure an artist of his consistency has not stepped too far away from his southern roots, there is no telling what K.R.I.T has in store.

With the new mixtape “4eva N a Day” just being released, I encourage fans to become familiar with tracks such as Country Rap Tunes, Boobie Miles, King 2, 1986, Yesterday, and the rest of the mixtape because I would hate for anyone to be left out when the Big K.R.I.T experience hits the Coliseum.

And although I am sure K.R.I.T fans will show their favorite artist plenty of love, let’s not fail to mention that this is a homecoming for the N.C. native, J. Cole.

While K.R.I.T has been taking over the underground world, J. Cole has risen to the top of the game and shown everyone that Petey Pablo may have been the first to come out of N.C. and make it to the big lights, but Cole wants to put N.C. on his back and represent the Tar Heel state perhaps better than Petey did.

In just a few short years, J. Cole has rose from the unknown Fayetteville rapper that everyone should know, to now being one of the biggest names in the industry.

From his connections to Jay-Z, down to his undying dedication to stay true to the craft that has made him famous, J. Cole has proven he is more than hype; he’s the truth. J. Cole may have opened up for Drake in 2010 for GHOE, however this year it’s his homecoming and the N.C. native will not disappoint.

Although his time on stage was far too short last time he was in Aggie Land, since then he has released an album, received more radio spins with songs such as “Nobody’s Perfect,” “Can’t Get Enough”, and “Workout,” and is finally headlining for the Greensboro community. Nobody’s perfect, but I can almost guarantee that when the show is all said and done, J. Cole will deliver the exclamation point on a night that will surely be nothing less than epic.

This concert promises to bring a unique blend of hip-hop’s best underground rapper with hip-hop’s best new rapper. Even if you are not a hip-hop fan, there will be other local and regional artists of other music genres.

At this point, maybe it is too early to compare these two to a heavyweight duo such as Jay-Z and Kanye West. However, from what I have seen of these two artists in the past, I can guarantee they will surely leave the crowd satisfied and glad we spent our money on a two of the biggest stars coming out of the south today.

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• Trumaine McCaskill, Opinion Editor