“Hip Hop is Dead.” So says Nas, and so says many others. I grew up on the 1990s hip hop. My best friends auntie used to slide us her own car mixes with E-40, Eazy E, Dru Down, and a number of other early to mid 90s rappers. The first CD I bought was Operation Stackola. In the beginning it was just west coast and what was on the radio. But other hip hop grew on me, and alongside 2pac and Snoop there was Wu-Tang, Nas, Mad Skillz and Jay’s “Reasonable Doubt.” I loved the music. I backtracked on the game, and checked out the 80s stuff. I appreciated it and the continuity that threads hip hop together with the pimping, gangster, clubbing and regional sounds that would continue to add to its flavor.
But then something happened. Something began to tear at Hip Hops soul. Around 1998 Hip Hop began to look like something else. The expensive jewelry, nice cars and pimping lifestyle were always prevalent, but it seemed like the overall integrity of the music was being over-run with flash, glitz and glamour and an attitude more about the money and less about the music. Coincidentially, this was shortly after the death of 2pac- but his death was not the death of hip hop. His death, however, provided a vaccum for new people to take what 2pac talked about to the extreme, without the social commentary and appreciation for sound that we all loved in 2pacs music. There was Puff Daddy, Master P, LL Cool J who began to set the tone of rap for the day, and it was this period of time in my opinion that was the first critical blow to hip hop music as we know and love it.
Around 2000, Master P and No Limit exposed the Southern scene to the world. The deep beats, screw music and catch phrases of the South dominated mainstream radio and MTV. First it was Cash Money, then the emergence of the Trick Daddy’s and Ludacris’, all the way to Lil Flip, and now Jeezy, Rick Ross, and the next generation of Southern hip hop artists. But the unique sound the south brought became repetitive. All the beats began to sound the same. All the choruses consist of rappers groaning a 5 word catch phrase over and over, followed by “ha” or “yea” or some other basic affirmation to ad clarity that whatever you were listening to was tight. The appreciation for lyrics dipped to an all time low, and the emergence of one hit or two album wonders skyed to an all time high.
Dr. Dre came back, and Eminem was one of the best things to happen to hip hop. As a white guy most people wouldn’t give him the credibility he deserved, but his records murdered even the tightest lyricists around. With lyrics, Dre’s beats and a huge fan base Em dominated hip hop, and became so big he branched off and started his own label, creating Hip Hop’s Mike Tyon: 50 Cent.
It is purely a coincidence that 50 lives in Tysons house, but their careers are headed down the same path of failure all too quickly. In 2003 50 Cent was the champ. Behind Em and Dre, he could do no harm. But its obvious the money has went to his head, and maybe his character is the same, but his music is more iced out and full of shit then its ever been. His second release didn’t do nearly as good as his first, and the raw lyrics and spirit that made classic underground albums and mixtapes like “Power of the Dollar” are no where to be seen. He also signed a bunch of washed up goons to his label, none which have the charisma or rhymes to keep G Unit going more than another 5 years, or 2 50 Cent albums.
Somwhere around this point, someone crowned Jay Z the King of New York. The same person who said that, or, one of his friends, decided Jay Z is also the King of Hip Hop. Jay Z has withstood the test of time; but whoever thought this and actually listened to his music must have been forgetting about a dozen other MCs much deeper than him; but whatever right? It rang like a bell. It sounded cool. Which brings us to the next body blow to hip hop: commercialization. Newspapers, magazines, clothes, commercials, sneakers, deordorant and Orbitz gum, anything for an artist to make a quick buck and get some publicity. Perhaps the worst part is the violent and disrespectful ressurgance of the “battle,” which began as a respectful game of the dozens and focused on skill rather than seriously wanting to blow someone’s head off and take shots at their children. It was going “retro” but it certainly wasn’t what Raps forefathers had in mind.
Around 2004 there was a lull in Hip Hop for most fans. Luckily for myself and those living in California, the ingenuity and creativity of the Northern California rap scene began to surface across the state, to the North, and even into Mexico. Almost everyone knows Mac Dre, or have seen him on a shirt; Keak Da Sneak created hyphy, engergetic music with seemingly endless limits. The underground hip hop scene, always on the radar for backpackers continued to flourish with Hiero, Living Legends, and the Coup taking the lead; and Andre Nickatina, a bay area favorite for over ten years became known around the United States for a song he didn’t even rap in, “Ayo For Yayo.” San Quinn continued to prefect the gangster genre and legitimately holds the title of “King of the Sco” and a number of newer rappers like Mistah FAB and Turf Talk are catching attention thanks to their own creativity and the upbeat southern/west coast/techno beats of Rick Rock and Traxamillion.
But all the sudden, Hyphy hit a brick wall. Sure, the hyphy sound will be around for years to come and probably hasn’t hit its peak yet, but is truly just as guilded and hallow as the 50 Cent/ Southern Rap/ Bling and Glitz phases which preceeded it. Perhaps its biggest mistake has been limiting itself by extending the definition of “yea, its like crunk. It’s crunk’s cousin.” Then, there is the ever growing number of capable (or so it seems) Bay Area rappers releasing their music independently. There’s artists releasing 3 cds in one year to make a quick buck rather than put time into one album and really impress the country. And of course, there is the steady trend of making a song with a new term a rapper made up, adding it to “Dumb, Stupid, Hyphy, Retarded” and certifying it as a hit. Laslty, there is the lack of professionality that goes on at most hip hop performances, but from my experiences is much more obvious in the Bay: shows running late, weak rappers opening up and ruining the mood in the audience, 50 people on the stage and ten doing back up vocals, and a number of artists really not giving a shit how tight they are, because the fans there at the Bay Area show are 90% of their audience, and they will continue to buy their music.
I supposed when this epiphany came to me about the “Hyphy Movement” I realized Hip Hop is dead. When the most creative region in the United States hits terminal velocity, there is no where else to go with it. Sure, there will always be the Nas’, Mac Dre’s, E-40s, Wu-Tangs and Common’s who value the creative aspect and will keep hip hop alive with a candle light, but the majority of what hip hop was about and stood for is a lost cause. Its difficult to really point the finger at anyone. I have heard a few blame the current generation. The problem with this, is it ignores the fact that hip hop started taking a slide well before that generation came of age, and that Hip Hop builds on itself, and today’s generation is a product of the last generation. It also assumes that many rappers including 50 Cent, P Diddy and the likes are from the new generation, even though they are not.
I have heard the blame fall on white people. That new, more diverse crowds of Hip Hop fans don’t have the right taste in music. But that makes no sense at all. From my personal experience, white people have open when it comes to music, and also support different locales and styles.
Some blame the inception of the internet age, the availability of CD burners and .mp3s, but that ignores the quality of an artists music.
Some blame the artists, for forgetting the path hip hop blazed and starting their own for personal gains. Indeed, most rappers are republicans, and also indeed, most don’t vote.
I blame them all. I blame us. I blame the manager at the music store, the executive at MTV, the guy who killed 2pac and Mac Dre, the marketing director who gave Jay Z his shoes. I blame everyone.
Is hip hop lost? Or will there be another spark?
But then something happened. Something began to tear at Hip Hops soul. Around 1998 Hip Hop began to look like something else. The expensive jewelry, nice cars and pimping lifestyle were always prevalent, but it seemed like the overall integrity of the music was being over-run with flash, glitz and glamour and an attitude more about the money and less about the music. Coincidentially, this was shortly after the death of 2pac- but his death was not the death of hip hop. His death, however, provided a vaccum for new people to take what 2pac talked about to the extreme, without the social commentary and appreciation for sound that we all loved in 2pacs music. There was Puff Daddy, Master P, LL Cool J who began to set the tone of rap for the day, and it was this period of time in my opinion that was the first critical blow to hip hop music as we know and love it.
Around 2000, Master P and No Limit exposed the Southern scene to the world. The deep beats, screw music and catch phrases of the South dominated mainstream radio and MTV. First it was Cash Money, then the emergence of the Trick Daddy’s and Ludacris’, all the way to Lil Flip, and now Jeezy, Rick Ross, and the next generation of Southern hip hop artists. But the unique sound the south brought became repetitive. All the beats began to sound the same. All the choruses consist of rappers groaning a 5 word catch phrase over and over, followed by “ha” or “yea” or some other basic affirmation to ad clarity that whatever you were listening to was tight. The appreciation for lyrics dipped to an all time low, and the emergence of one hit or two album wonders skyed to an all time high.
Dr. Dre came back, and Eminem was one of the best things to happen to hip hop. As a white guy most people wouldn’t give him the credibility he deserved, but his records murdered even the tightest lyricists around. With lyrics, Dre’s beats and a huge fan base Em dominated hip hop, and became so big he branched off and started his own label, creating Hip Hop’s Mike Tyon: 50 Cent.
It is purely a coincidence that 50 lives in Tysons house, but their careers are headed down the same path of failure all too quickly. In 2003 50 Cent was the champ. Behind Em and Dre, he could do no harm. But its obvious the money has went to his head, and maybe his character is the same, but his music is more iced out and full of shit then its ever been. His second release didn’t do nearly as good as his first, and the raw lyrics and spirit that made classic underground albums and mixtapes like “Power of the Dollar” are no where to be seen. He also signed a bunch of washed up goons to his label, none which have the charisma or rhymes to keep G Unit going more than another 5 years, or 2 50 Cent albums.
Somwhere around this point, someone crowned Jay Z the King of New York. The same person who said that, or, one of his friends, decided Jay Z is also the King of Hip Hop. Jay Z has withstood the test of time; but whoever thought this and actually listened to his music must have been forgetting about a dozen other MCs much deeper than him; but whatever right? It rang like a bell. It sounded cool. Which brings us to the next body blow to hip hop: commercialization. Newspapers, magazines, clothes, commercials, sneakers, deordorant and Orbitz gum, anything for an artist to make a quick buck and get some publicity. Perhaps the worst part is the violent and disrespectful ressurgance of the “battle,” which began as a respectful game of the dozens and focused on skill rather than seriously wanting to blow someone’s head off and take shots at their children. It was going “retro” but it certainly wasn’t what Raps forefathers had in mind.
Around 2004 there was a lull in Hip Hop for most fans. Luckily for myself and those living in California, the ingenuity and creativity of the Northern California rap scene began to surface across the state, to the North, and even into Mexico. Almost everyone knows Mac Dre, or have seen him on a shirt; Keak Da Sneak created hyphy, engergetic music with seemingly endless limits. The underground hip hop scene, always on the radar for backpackers continued to flourish with Hiero, Living Legends, and the Coup taking the lead; and Andre Nickatina, a bay area favorite for over ten years became known around the United States for a song he didn’t even rap in, “Ayo For Yayo.” San Quinn continued to prefect the gangster genre and legitimately holds the title of “King of the Sco” and a number of newer rappers like Mistah FAB and Turf Talk are catching attention thanks to their own creativity and the upbeat southern/west coast/techno beats of Rick Rock and Traxamillion.
But all the sudden, Hyphy hit a brick wall. Sure, the hyphy sound will be around for years to come and probably hasn’t hit its peak yet, but is truly just as guilded and hallow as the 50 Cent/ Southern Rap/ Bling and Glitz phases which preceeded it. Perhaps its biggest mistake has been limiting itself by extending the definition of “yea, its like crunk. It’s crunk’s cousin.” Then, there is the ever growing number of capable (or so it seems) Bay Area rappers releasing their music independently. There’s artists releasing 3 cds in one year to make a quick buck rather than put time into one album and really impress the country. And of course, there is the steady trend of making a song with a new term a rapper made up, adding it to “Dumb, Stupid, Hyphy, Retarded” and certifying it as a hit. Laslty, there is the lack of professionality that goes on at most hip hop performances, but from my experiences is much more obvious in the Bay: shows running late, weak rappers opening up and ruining the mood in the audience, 50 people on the stage and ten doing back up vocals, and a number of artists really not giving a shit how tight they are, because the fans there at the Bay Area show are 90% of their audience, and they will continue to buy their music.
I supposed when this epiphany came to me about the “Hyphy Movement” I realized Hip Hop is dead. When the most creative region in the United States hits terminal velocity, there is no where else to go with it. Sure, there will always be the Nas’, Mac Dre’s, E-40s, Wu-Tangs and Common’s who value the creative aspect and will keep hip hop alive with a candle light, but the majority of what hip hop was about and stood for is a lost cause. Its difficult to really point the finger at anyone. I have heard a few blame the current generation. The problem with this, is it ignores the fact that hip hop started taking a slide well before that generation came of age, and that Hip Hop builds on itself, and today’s generation is a product of the last generation. It also assumes that many rappers including 50 Cent, P Diddy and the likes are from the new generation, even though they are not.
I have heard the blame fall on white people. That new, more diverse crowds of Hip Hop fans don’t have the right taste in music. But that makes no sense at all. From my personal experience, white people have open when it comes to music, and also support different locales and styles.
Some blame the inception of the internet age, the availability of CD burners and .mp3s, but that ignores the quality of an artists music.
Some blame the artists, for forgetting the path hip hop blazed and starting their own for personal gains. Indeed, most rappers are republicans, and also indeed, most don’t vote.
I blame them all. I blame us. I blame the manager at the music store, the executive at MTV, the guy who killed 2pac and Mac Dre, the marketing director who gave Jay Z his shoes. I blame everyone.
Is hip hop lost? Or will there be another spark?
