The past couple years, people have devoted an incredible amount of ink to the alleged downfall of hip-hop. If you've frequented the blogs in my can't miss list, you'll recall that a little while ago,
DeWitz (...Been Around the World...) and Kellen (1993) talked about rap's current whereabouts. They offered up their $0.04 so I thought I'd chime in with my own little 2 piece because as of late, this is something that's been on my mind a bit. Although different, for my purposes, I use hip-hop and rap interchangeably. Bear with me here, it's the 2nd Act of the music series.
First and foremost, hip-hop has always been the self-titled "voice of the streets," a way of verbalizing what is happening and putting them in verse. The
20/20 of the streets if you will. So when people talk about how the quality of hip-hop has changed for the worse, I think that is a misleading statement. True, the quality of rap's content has changed, but the musicality is still there; strong, if not stronger than ever.
In an abbreviated timeline of hip-hop, Run DMC brought rap to mainstream America and they were entertainers in the truest sense of the word. They rapped about everything current because they were trying to get you jumpin' while listening to their message. N.W.A. rapped about the government and the police, because that's what was affecting them. Nowadays, people complain about rappers only talking about material things, how they glorify alcohol, drugs, and sex. While I don't necessarily condone the message, the blame, if you want to call it that, must be placed on modern culture and hip-hop consumers, all you listeners. Rap talks about what is current and relevant, and the biggest thing nowadays, is rampant hypercommercialism. That includes everything that anybody in a developed country thinks about whether consciously or subconsciously. The, "my neighbor just copped a
Benz." Also, "my watch game isn't quite right, I need that
Patek P in my life." "My Coach and Via Spiga aren't right, time for some Louis V and
Louboutin." It's everyone's "need" to have whatever is hottest out right now. Blame that.
People who complain about a lack of substance in the lyrics do forget, musicians are business people. And yes, while some are in it for the love of music, if your music isn't getting spins and you're not selling units, then you can't expect to put food on the table. I'm sure a lot of you can think of the 'Should've Made It' cats. Who is really trying to hold down a 9 to 5 and sing at the same time?
The days of hip-hop solely as an art form are long gone (other than a select few). Artistic integrity has been long been "compromised." What people must realize is that these artists and groups are business people first, and musicians second. They rap and sing about what sells. You cannot fault them for giving the people what they want and hence, that is the reason we're listening to rapping billboards nowadays.
"Big money in this bitch if you didn't knew.
Big business minus the business suit."
P.S. Congrats to DeWitz and the Sendai squad for locking down
1st place during the regular season. Let's get it during the playoffs.
