Hip Hop Is Dead

Hip-hop is not what is used to be and this is why you hear the controversial phrase ‘Hip Hop is Dead’ popularised by the Hip-Hop great, Nas. The genre has become oversaturated by artists such as Akon, Lil Wayne and T-Pain who do nothing for the genre but further ruin it. In terms of the mainstream, I believe that hip-hop is dead (in the charts), but it still has life in it – you just have to look in the right places to find the real stuff now. I mean, what the hell is the ‘stanky leg’ dance? I don’t give a F about snapping my fingers to this BS, I want real music with the substance to it!

Whatever happened to the days of an emcee rapping over the beat produced by a DJ? Rhyming for fun and enjoyment? Battling against each other just to see who was the best freestyler (freestyling means to rhyme from the top of the head; non-written lyrics) is where it was at.

Many artists have sold out, opting for the big cheques from major record companies and then don’t have the freedom to make the actual music they want to, because they have sold their rights to the label who care about their image and will not let their protégés go all out to express themselves and say anything they like on a record. The A&Rs mould the artists into something they are not and the message they send out is not quite what they had intended – there’s nothing the artists can do about it, because legally they have signed on the dotted line. Hence why many artists are going the independent route for the benefit of freedom. The money? Well, they will earn their money by doing live shows, gigs, self-promotion, releasing mixtapes, demos and album sales etc…

Hip-hop pioneers such as Ice Cube, Common, Grandmaster Flash and Wu-Tang Clan amongst, sent out messages and set the standard for hip hop and others followed. I have to give praise to Mos Def and Talib Kweli, two artists who have kept it real and are not following the trend of killing real hip-hop, they are more original. Now everyone is trying to bring the West back or put New York back on the Map, but the south is dominating the scene right now with wackness (Ludacris, Scarface and Stat Quo are the exceptions).

Countless Hip-Hop legends have died over the years, and coincidently it seems to be the best ones, who made the most meaningful music that have left us:

R.I.P. to Tupac, Aaliyah, Proof, Big Pun, Big L, Notorious BIG, Jam Master Jay, J Dilla, MC Breed, Bugz, Left Eye, Johnny J, Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Eazy-E.

I guess the good die young… and now we’re left with dumb downed lyrics, predominantly sex, money and alcohol related, aimed at kids around 10-16 years old. Is this any better? Do we really want kids to ‘pop bottles’ or ‘superman that ho’ at 12 years old? Music which is intended to have a message behind it should be more positive and educational, not the other way round where it encourages them to behave egotistical, selfish and immoral.

The genre is on a serious decline but I sort of have a feeling it may just have a little bit of life left in it and be resuscitated. But not quite the way it once was, the damage has been done forever…

In the end, there are different kinds of music for different purposes; I like different kinds for instance, party music, g-funk etc… I just don’t want reality rap and hip-hop in its purest form to be ruined.