I was recently invited to a show. One of my co-workers “manages” a start up record company and has several acts on the label. I went out to the show in an attempt to show some love and to help support some up and coming talent. I am a hip-hop head. I was raised on it and even dabble in it myself from time to time so I like to think that I know what I’m talking about when it comes to Hip-Hop. My observances at the show lead me to the following conclusion. HIP-HOP IS TRULY DEAD!
I say this not speaking in a vacuum. The things I observed at this small show are indicative of Hip-Hop as a whole now-a-days, and are rampant throughout the industry. The thing that I find most disturbing is that when you begin to see many of the problems that plague “main stream” Hip-Hop reflected in the “underground” arena, it then becomes painfully obvious that she(Hip-Hop) is terminally ill.
Hip-Hop is on life support, with breathing tubes, I.V’s, the works. I’ll drive my point home with these notes:
1. Some of us need to be Indians and some of us need to be Chiefs- Just because you have a large entourage does not mean you need to have all of them on stage at the same time! Answer me this: if you have only one person rhyming at a time, why are there five ‘live’ mics on at the same time? I understand the need sometimes for a ‘hype’ man but five?
2. Whatever happened to ‘putting on a show?’ Twenty people on stage at the same time leaning, rocking, and all gyrating at the same time is not my idea of ‘putting on a show.’ In my experience, crowd participation is an essential element in providing your audience with a good performance. Where did all the creativity go?
3. You’re not a ‘gangsta’, you’re not a ‘pimp so stop lying’- Why is it that everyone has to be a thug or something? I know a lot of us grew up in the ‘hood’ and have had various life experiences( some good and some bad) related to growing up in that environment. With that said; most of you out there ARE NOT GANGSTAS! SO STOP LYING ABOUT IT! It’s disgusting. Pimps are not cool, they are not ‘good’ role models, nor should they be emulated in any way. Do you really think being a ‘gangsta’ is cool? Ask yourself this about your favorite ‘gangsta’ rapper: If it’s so cool to be a ‘gangsta’ and sell drugs or whatever, why aren’t they still doing it?
4. Respect yourself- this note concerns female rappers(and really rappers in gerneral). You do not have to be a whore, a gold digger, or any other such unsavory character in order to be taken seriously. If you have some lyrical skill then you should be able to stand on that alone. Being a whore or gold digger does not make you appealing or ‘real’. Now-a-days the female rapper is virtually extinct( at least as far as the ‘industry’ is concerned), I wonder why?
I love Hip-Hop. I hate rappers. I rarely listen to the radio anymore because it’s been hi-jacked by punk ass rappers. I don’t really have any suggestions as to how to rectify this horrible problem. If you are a true fan of Hip Hop you probably do like I do and listen to a lot of old stuff or try and hunt down the latest and hottest the underground has to offer. But maybe that’s just not enough anymore. My head hurts. I’ll holla.
