Pill shows why skills count in the New York Times.

A star has to to be able to make it through trials and tribulations. They have to endure. Having charisma, good stage presence, marketing, planning and mic skills are only part of the solution set to success as an MC in today's marketplace. In Saturday's New York Times reporter JON CARAMANICA captures who stood out and why in arguably one of the most important Hip Hop bills during the CMJ conference on the stage of B.B. Kings in Times Square.

Does this mark a changing of the guard? Who can tell? I hope so. Atlanta has more to say and can say it much better with rappers like Alleyboy, Young Dro and Pill than they ever will with Gucci & OJ the Juiceman (who was booed off of the stage), I feel.

There are messages, concepts and perceptions reinforced by the dumbed down aesthetic of what's flooding our airwaves and ipods today.

As an Atlanta representer I had to ask myself if I take exception to them booing OJ, do I feel that this was his Outkast "The south got something to say" moment in defiance to the New York establishment? No. That wasn't New York booing him. That was Hip Hop booing him.

The people that go to CMJ are those that are interested in what's next, what's overlooked, and what is great about MUSIC in general. These are fans of music that travel from all over the world to NYC for a few days of music immersion in a way not possible anywhere else like it is in New York City.

Who survived the test? Pill did. Why? Because at the end of the day skills still matter. One can be authentic, true to the "street", black-bottom ATL and still be a wordsmith. Thank God for that.