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My Philosophy
Posted by David
When it’s all said and done you guys are the ones to blame. When we look back at hip-hop as we knew it we’re gonna say, “man back in the day I remember…” I remember when songs we’re actually saying something over a good beat. I remember the party cuts, the street cuts, the social commentary, and the adult content cuts. We had a lil bit of everything back in the 80’s and early to mid 90’s. It was balanced and at it’s most creative point back then.
A change started happening during the early 90’s that led us to the explosion in the materialistic side of things. See gangsta replaced conscious, bling replaced street, gimmicks replaced talent, and Diddy was on every beat. We had to outshine, outdo, and outbling each other on a track and it led to a “gold rush” in hip-hop. With Diddy’s populartity and record label rising other labels, instead of trying to find another lane or theme, started signing artist who talked that talk or at least once they signed them influenced them to talk that bling stuff. Yeah there were a few exceptions like Nas, The Fugees, and Wu-Tang to name a few who came out around the mid 90’s who didn’t follow that trend and were very successful but during the late 90’s the second golden age in hip-hop was over (the first golden age coming in ‘88).
What followed was a whirlwind of excessive spending, beef, and stagnant lyrics. Now with any era there were bright spots during that time but they seemed to be few and far between. Money, cash, hoes was the motto and you were dope if you went platinum, not if you spit nice lyrics but if you had at least a million people buying your cd. A media instigated beef caused people to choose sides of a coast while the heads of two lables and the older white men who bankrolled them benefited from it all. Some of the most influential and promising artist of our time died (Pac, Pun, and Big) and we continued to pour the Cristal. The emphasis of lyrics and the art of mc’in was pushed aside if you wanted to blow. We became conditioned to hear that materialistic music and didn’t care that our condition as a culture was deteriorating before our eyes. New York’s crown began to rust and besides Snoop the west had no one else stepping to the plate on a national level to tell their story.
Master P and Cash Money came and took it to the South and supplied the nation with club music and more of that material world that most of us would never experience. We began to see that it was more than just Outkast down there. Of course Geto Boys, UGK, and 8-Ball & MJG were the godfathers but none of those groups captured the ears of the entire country during the late 90’s. Once again we have an explosion of artist on the scene that were southern fried and gave you a different flavor in hip-hop.
In the 2000’s we had so-called kings pop up and vie for the throne in New York and slowly but surely the break-up of two of the South’s most powerful and influential groups (Cash Money & No Limit) began. Our mindset was solidified now, we valued a hook and a good beat over a good beat with meaningful lyrics. Our past was buried and it was all about gettin’ money and screw the world let me get mine first. Certain artist and groups became irrelevant because they didn’t make you dance they made you think.
The south was reinvented in the form of crunk and snap music and once again we had an explosion of hook heavy music that still exist today. It’s like we reinvented the hokey pokey with the music that’s out now. So much has changed about mainstream hip-hop that some artist lament the lack of creativity and lyrics. Andre 3 stacks amongst others stepped away from rap because of this turn for the worst. Rock fans, Country fans, and real R& B fans young and old can quote older songs before and during their time. I can guarantee you most of these young kids out there don’t even know who Common is and can’t quote a Common line let alone a Big Daddy Kane lyric or Fugees lyric. Why is that? Is it because we’re conditioned to listen to simple minded music that consist of a Casio keyboard bassline, and a drum beat a 5 year old could make? See I should make a song of the ABC’s do a dance and add some snaps and then pray and hope that Jay-Z sees. I love to hear good music and I don’t mind dancing in the club but does all the hip-hop we hear have to come with a dance or talk about meaningless stuff everytime? Is hip-hop that shallow that radios can’t find a variety of songs to put out on the airwaves? Why did we let it get to this? Hip-hop aint dead but it feels like it’s in a coma sometimes.
I want to leave you today with this thought: If you take a newborn elephant, tie it to a pole, mistreat it yet give it just enough food to survive, and put up a 6-foot fence all around it it will never leave that yard…that’s hip-hop…matter of fact that’s black people.
Could it be that a dance is associated with every hip hop song is because people are looking for a release when they listen to music rather than being taught a lesson by a person or group far from qualified to tech that lesson?
Many times some of the topics that were covered by rappers in the 80’s and 90’s were given credit for being way more insightful and creative than they really were.
Glad to see you brought up Nas. I think Jay-Z covered Nas on Blueprint 2(not the roasting he gave him on blueprint 1) when he said “its not deep when most people don’t understand it.”
I think too much time is spent discussing the difference in rap lyrics and their social implications when it should be used as entertainment, nothing more, nothing less. The lessons we are trying to learn from rap music should be taught by parents and community leaders.
We also pick and choose the rappers from the 80’s and 90’s that said more positive things, but forget that is when NWA became popular, “Doin tha butt” was a classic and we were all singing Freaky Tales from Too short. We can’t pick and choose the positives of an era and forget anout the negatives.
You failed to recognize that I mentioned a variety of topics covered by rappers from the 80’s and 90’s when I said we had party cuts, street cuts, and adult content cuts to name a few. Even Too Short had a song called “Life Is Too Short”, and N.W.A made “Express Yourself”. I dont know what hiphop songs you remembered back then but there were creative and insightful songs like “Love’s Gonna Getcha” which talked about loving the wrongs things in life (i.e. money) or “Fight The Power” by P.E. Because some of these rappers may not have had an extensive education does that mean they aren’t capable of teaching us something through music? Even a broke clock is right twice a day. You may not get something from a particular artist but there are plenty of folks who are touched by lyrics and do get something from it. You take it to the extreme and try to make it out that I want every song to speak on the social ills and that’s not what I said directly or indirectly in my post. If we can make a song about doin a dance then we can make a song about something worthwhile from time to time like poverty. Kanye’s Jesus Walks got good radio and video play because there was an audience wanting to hear that type of song. Listen to Jay-Z’s Minority Report or Snoop Dogg’s Imagine. You don’t have to get deep on them you just have to present it in a language people understand. It’s about balance and bottom line is we don’t have a balance in the music. A majority of what gets pumped is in my opinion simple music. Nothin is wrong with dancin and I know that we all need a release but we dont need a release on every track do we? Obviously some parents aren’t doing their jobs of teaching and some communities shun the young kids. If rap is influential which it is why not use the power of word and speak life instead of ignorance, sickness, and death. When I speak of lyrics I’m not soley speaking of lyrics that teach me something I’m speaking of lyrics that have you buggin out over what they said, how they put those rhymin words together, and how nice they ride the beat to it. Yes it’s entertainment but does all entertainment have to be about nonsense? No. There’s a variety of stuff to choose from. There are a variety of entertaining movies to watch that aren’t all action or comedy. Why then does rap have to be different and stick to only simple subject matter? Watching an offense that runs the ball all the time isn’t exciting and doesn’t always win games. You’d expect more from that team because their not balanced and it’s the same ol same. Why is it different in rap?
I would agree that rap could have more balance, but there is some balance there. Taste in music is very opinionated and people tend to have particular types of music that they listen too. If ever you talk to a person and they say they listen to all types of music they are lying. The same with rap music. Maybe the radio plays more commercial type music, but it is us as fans who request it. For each Jeezy there is a Common or a Talib, they all have a place. There is something about the “simple” rap music that appeals to a WHOLE LOT of people that it continues to be as popular as it is.
You have outlined what you percieve as the problem in rap music very well. Now tell us the solution!
All I’m askin for is that balance. I dont know how much pull fans have when it comes to requesting the music. It’s like the heads of these lables pick the sound of the culture and we as fans follow. When Kanye dropped Jesus Walks or whenever you get songs like that that are received well its being received by the forgotten group in hiphop who actually appreciate lyrics and messages moreso than the normal everyday 106& Park radio listeners. Possible solutions are for the heavier weight artist to say no more and start making music from the heart again and not solely for the check. Start taking responsibility for their lyrics. I’m not askin for a sermon on every song I’m askin for some of them to acknowledge what they say is powerful and influential and some minds are easily shaped by what they say and start doing somethin about it. They help to add on to the ignorance out here. I see more conscious lyrics from established artist more and more cause they realize people want to hear that from them. Stop making just hits and start back to making albums. It’s time for radio to open up more avenues to local talent and so called underground artist by allowing them spins instead of playing the same eight songs eight times a day. It’s time for record label honchos to seek better talent and not gimmicks cause honestly as much as they play their songs on radio and show their videos these simple songs dont do well when the album drops. T.I., Jay, Jeezy, Nas, and Game all did well sales wise and for the most part delivered lyrically tight albums too. Sure 3 of them went plat and 2 went gold but with todays market those are great numbers. It’s time for lables to embrace the mixtape game like some are now doing and pay these dj’s to put them out and continue to feature some of the lesser known artist. That way the artist and dj’s can get their money without having to throw millions behind a project. Those are just a few I can think of for now but it’s start.