Before I even get into this I just want to state that these are my thoughts on hiphop music and not a debate on what is "real" and not "real". As the great B. Siegal once said "everything is already real". I'm not a purist, backpacker, G, hipster, thug, blood, crypt or buddisht. But I am an mc and these debates that have been poppin' up lately on the artform I've been blessed to be apart of is just callin my name. So I wanted to share my thoughts.So there's been a lot of talk lately about Nas's album title "Hiphop Is Dead". Many people, including Young Jeezy (for those that don't know he and Monie Love had a spat, live on the radio about it, amongst other things) feel its disrespectful to the new breed of rappers, in paticular to the south. It is viewed as a purist statement, a pining for the good ole days of boom baps, backpacks and the like. To say hiphop is dead is to take away from all the current mcs coming up, all the producers and djs givin us beats to move to, all the people who make a living off or contribute this artform right? Yes and no.I say yes he is wrong for saying that because that's such a genreal blanket statement. I remember Sports Illustrated doing a cover story a few years back on how the NBA was dead, Jordan was gone and the "showtime" b-ball we all came to love had been replaced by the most boring shit on earth. A few years later we had Kobe, Lebron, Mello and all of a sudden it was revived. But as the saying goes, the game never changes, just the players. Hiphop itself has always been alive and well, so is it that the players have changed so much and these old heads that either quit the game or on their way out is just salty at the new guard? That could be it. Or it could be that the players before were really passionatie about the sport and really wanted to leave a legacy behind as opposed to cashing in and being famous. With that being said, Nas wasn't wrong for calling his album this. And I'll tell you why.Hiphop is dead man. As far as the idea of what it was supposta be at least. See america has this tendency to take things from the black community, rape it and make it their own and then turn around and say "it was never yours and its racist if you don't agree." Nah fuck that. I'm sick of that game man. This is what it is and yes its changed and people of every race and creed are in here now but this is what the intention was - The idea of hip hop was for the young people of urban america to have a voice. That voice might be one of introspect (Nas), gansta shit (Jeezy, Cube,) dancin' and partyin' (Kid n play, Hammer, don't laugh they are all relavent) education and revolution (Krs, Immortal Technique) and so on. But now what's happening is, there is only one voice that america wants to hear now. And that's the voice of the coon. The charicature of the black man at his worst. The savage, gun totin' nigger who sells drugs and kills other niggers and brags about it. The voice of the "streets" they say. Well let me tell you about the "streets". Its filled with thugs just like its filled with church ladies and good hardworking people. But to them, that's corny. That's not hot. Who wants to hear some nigger tryin to sound smart and say something that might trigger someone to think different. No no no. We want the coon. The ignorant motherfucker, weather he be southern, east coast west coast or whatever. Just as long as he is talkin about ignorant shit and its got a dope beat then that's what's up. But in the same breath will big up a band (Radiohead, Gnarlys Barkely) for being dope ARTISTS. Bands that make terrible mindless music they play on the radio aren't hot. They aren't makin any groundbreaking music. Ok, so why don't they hold the same standard up to hiphop? Is it that this music is so disposable and dumb that we shouldn't expect our mcs to make songs that move our souls and not just our feet? And who are "they" usually? You know the people who determine what's current and "now"? The bloggers and magazine editors and trend jumping scenceters and djs who usually don't live in the hood unless its a gentrified hood and even then be scared to death when someone who looks like one of their favorite rappers is walking down the street late at night. I say that because these kids don't seem to understand that music has never ever been just music. Nah son, that shit is more powerful then any teacher or mentor in the hood. These kids idolize, mock and devote their lives to the ideology of rappers. Pac said it best when he claimed that many of us were raised by rappers. And yeah that's fucked up and where are the parents and rappers shouldn't be made to role models etc etc. That's a lame excuse man. The fact is they DO and if all they have to listen to is kill your own people (yeah, I said "your own people", cuz lets face it the first rapper to make a whole album deticated to killing white people is going DOWN) then motherfucker HIPHOP is DEAD. The idea that we could use this music to uplift urban youth and speak about the problems of the community, the real community which consits of my grandparents and little brother and cousins and friends who don't sell coke and might still die this year want to hear some intelligence and learn about black heroes and laugh about the good times and not be made to feel "corny" because of it, then the whole point of this as an artform is dead. And maybe that's what old head was saying by naming his album that. So please, don't just say Nas is just some bitter old head with no point. And don..'t make Jeezy out to be the reason the hood is so fucked up either. And don..'t make it into some east vs south shit like yall (media whores) made it out to be last time cuz once again black men will get shot and they..'ll be the same people callin us savages. But most importanly, above all don..'t belive that the only voice of the ghetto is one of murder and drugs. When you dismiss the kid who wants to say something diffrent or is talkin about how fucked up things are as a corny puritist who can..'t let go of the 90s, what it says is we don't want to hear no black person try and change their surrondings for the better. I..'m not sayin go buy a bunch of fuckin Tribe Called Quest records and hold hands but damn man stop denying that people have a point when they say the current state of this artform is one sided and stereotypical to what my mother told me was the savage. The ignant nigga as our mascot? I say no. Cuz what yall call the streets just ain't niggers with guns. And until the powers that be recognize that, then my dude, hiphop is dead.- Sharif Lacey aka Reef The Lost Cauze
Young_Phonics
8,039 Posts
Comments
- spidey
Did you even bother to read it? He's not saying hip hop is dead, he's saying the hip hop that we knew (golden era/early 90's etc.) is dead.
He makes some really good points. It's worth reading all the way through.
doesn't emil know this guy?
To crtique Hip Hop through a Pop filter is self-defeating.
Why?
Personally I like the whole spectrum. Clipse to Common.
That was a good read though.
the fucking breakdancer speaketh
lol.
oh yeah, him.
Kanye I believe is from a fairly solid middle class background. I think the article is referring to voices from a more "urban" community.
Well whose fault is that? "America's"?
Not to beat a dead horse, but if you're going to tell me that the majority of these artists are just puppets on a fucking string, then that doesn't speak too well for them, does it?
Did I read it? Hell no. I don't care what he has to say unless he can fit it into a fucking paragraph son.
- spidey
Where was this originally posted at?
Noz I'm suprised you are cosigning the article when he's calling you out like that.
Said outsiders determine what's hot in the hood about as much as meteorologists determine the weather.
I do find it very interesting that there seems to be more and more people claiming that today's hip-hop is nothing but "coon rap." The same critique has been made throughout the years but I don't think it's coincidental that with the rise in Southern slang/style, more and more people and pulling the minstrel card out of the pack and trying to slap it down on hip-hop as a whole.
Whatever. Does anyone under the age of 25 actually have these silly debates over whether hip-hop is dead? Shit, even I know it's not dead (which may actually be proof that it is...uh oh).
How you gonna comment on something if you didn't even read it?
You do realize you're on SoulStrut, right?
Most of the bigger selling albums this year--T.I., Chamillionaire, Ludacris, Jay-z--include a substantial amount of 'conscious' content.
True, but doesn't this bubbling up every few years just revolve arouond what is most poplular at the time of a particular rap trend's peak or inundation throughout the media outlets? Right now it's the minstrel card and "coon rap", but it's been gang activity, drug trade, etc in the past. Whoever is making the most noise at the time these points hit a certain height on the wavelength than that is what's looked at in depth, media wise. Just as the South is staking their claim in hip-hop, it is being met with all of the things that hip-hop has faced in the past. The evolution of the craft in general is going to keep this rant coming back, no?
Can't the same be said for a lot of other forms of music through time?
Apparently, if by "evolution" you mean hip-hop does NOT go back to the days of Africa medallions and kufis which, as many here have noted, was a blip in the overall "evolution" of hip-hop anyways.
This rant just comes down to the inability of people to accept that hip-hop is far more diverse - and yes, even contradictory - a cultural form than people would like it to be.
More importantly, hip-hop will neither lead to the end of days nor will it save us.
I think he's differentiating between how the music is made and how its received. I think there's plenty to be critical of on the reception end, which to me is more of an issue than whether or not we should condescend dudes making snap music
We're in agreement on this!
Come here and give cousin a hug.