Tuesday, October 19, 2010

canyousaveit??



I am hip hop.

I live it and breathe it.

I am a true hip hop head.

So I say this with a passion...hip hop is about to flat line.

The musical genre that I grew up on is on life support. It's almost non-existent. It has been on life support for a while. When hip hop became sick, rap took over. I can't really pinpoint the time when hip hop fell ill. But it is clear that hip hop is gone. The sad part is that it really doesn't seemed to be missed. Turn on the radio. Turn on the tv. They are flooded with horrible rappers and horrible videos that don't have anything to do with the horrible songs. It's all garbage.

Too Many Rappers not Enough MCs

I could run down a list of wack rappers. From Gucci Mane, Waka Flocka, Plies, Jim Jones, etc. I could go on and on but I won't. People have confused what's HOT for being GOOD. That ain't the case. Most of the stuff that you hear and see...is not good. It's not that there are not MCs out there. They don't get the exposure that rappers do. "Rappers...get on the mic talk about cars and clothes/Sounding like hoes."- Common. I'm tired of rappers. I hate what rappers are doing to the game. I can't support the nonsense. In fact, I'm surprised that so many people do.

Instead of broadcasting how we smoke them trees
On the radio we need to hear more local emcees
Where you at?, c'mon where you at?
This is the difference between emceein' and rap
Rappers spit rhymes that are mostly illegal
Emcees spit rhymes to uplift their people
Peace, Love, Unity, havin' fun
These are the lyrics of KRS-One...
- KRS-One


Lyrics? What lyrics?

Sometimes you have to wonder WHERE the lyrical MCs are? You won't find em on the radio. Won't find em on BET. Have you ever stopped to LISTEN to some of these lyrics of these songs? I won't lie. A ton of rap music is filled with misogynistic, degrading, and self destructive lyrics. Think for a second about some of your favorite raps songs. They are prolly some of the most offensive lyrics that you can find but they are rapped over a hot azz beat! LOL. In this aspect, I can't nor will I attempt to defend hip hop or rap. There is good and bad. It just seems now that the bad far outweighs the good. You actually have to LOOK hard to find good music. Back in the day, artists weren't afraid to be different. Nobody wanted to sound like everybody else. Nowadays, you can't tell who is who. It's some modern day shuckin and jivin. Rappers can't say they don't know any better. Their predecessors left them a platform. The platform is now bigger but the product ain't better. These record companies are only interested in making hits. The rap game is now microwaveable. You put a wack rapper in the studio and let him pop out a hit. What happened to record companies that want to cultivate artists and their growth? It's all about money now. And records aren't selling like they used to so I don't know where these rappers are coming from when they brag about their cash. They have no money. Rap is almost like pro wrestling right now. Fake...yet entertaining to some. I don't understand the fakeness.

Flatline?

I skipped watching the BET Hip Hop Awards last week. I wasn't gonna subject myself to the BS and coonery. How can BET do a show on hip hop when they don't know what hip hop is? Lil Wayne is bigger than KRS One right now. Wayne is a great rapper and that's all he'll ever be. He ain't no MC. When people talk about him they say how hot he is. I remind them that Ja Rule was hot 5 yrs ago. Where is he now? You may think I'm a bitter old man who longs for the day when real MCs are recognized for their talent and real hip hop is respected. Maybe i am. Or maybe I'm the dude who is watching hip hip remain on life support and is waiting on rap to die. That day is slowly approaching. Don't look now but the coroner has been called...somebody is gonna need a toe tag.

2 comments:

Charles (Illumistrations) said...

I agree with you 100%...actually 110%. I'm not a fan of rap right now at all. There is nothing but garbage on the radio and everywhere else. All of these 'hot artists' like Nicki Minaj, Wacka Flocka, Gucci Mane...every single one of them killed hip hop for me. Its so bad because they claim hip hop when they actually aren't.
I foresaw this a while ago, and started to diversify my music tastes so that I would have something to listen to. It's a struggle, but there is some definite hot and great music out there...you just have to scrape to find it and it comes out every so often, and its not a constant stream like the wackness is. That Roots album stays with me, as well as Reflection Eternal...I'm loving Foreign Exchange...but music definitely isn't what it used to be.

Don said...

Good read, and I am always down for a discussion on hip hop music, an artform so close to my heart. I fell in love with real hip hop music a long long time ago and I agree with your post that it is on life support.

Whenever hip hop becomes the discussion I expect for new schoolers to give examples of how it is still alive - Lupe, Common, Mos Def, Talib, Black Thought & others.

But, as you stated, the platform has grown while the product has cheapened, and it drowns out the few good emcees that are still dropping vintage raps.

And since mainstream America insists on promoting the "garbage" then the spirit of the music can never recieve the support that is desperately needed.

It will eventually die if this continues @ They are flooded with horrible rappers and horrible videos that don't have anything to do with the horrible songs.