Monday, January 23, 2006

Hip Pop

This is a rant I have had stored up in my mind for a long time and now I have the perfect forum to let it out!

I can not stand the direction that rap music has taken over the last decade. Way back when, it was all about who was the better MC, who had the best flow. Now, anybody can get a record deal! I would be suprised if 20% of today's most popular MCs could could even hold their own in a freestyle contest!

There was a period of time when rap music was gaining popularity and going from underground to the top 10 and my reaction was, "Good, it's about time people started paying attention!". Little did I know that mainstreaming this music genre would ultimately destroy it.

Way back, rap lyrics were about social issues, politics, and MC battles; now it's all about platinum this, 24" that, big mansion over there, this kind of car... what doesn't make sense to me is even the first-timers who are new to the game are talking this mess; how did you get so rich if you JUST GOT STARTED? I guess I could wager a guess, but that's beside the point.

You could not survive in the 80's and early 90's by acting just like the next guy and having no talent, you would get eaten alive, no one would respect you or buy your album!

I stick to the rap I know and love: Rakim (best MC ever), KRS One, Kurtis Blow, Whoudini (oh, I will blast "Haunted House of Rap" out of my car window), Big Daddy Kane, Tribe Called Quest... you know, REAL MCs who could write lyrics that make you nod your head.

Alot of genres of music have survived the ages and managed not to look stupid in the process: Rock, Jazz, Country, so why do I have to go BACK to listening to underground rap music to be moved?

5 comments:

Cynthia said...

You are right, rap music has changed for the worst. It did start out pretty good - but what we are hearing now, I don't think it is going to stand the test of time.

nikki said...

rap as it is today is a reflection of what happens when the folks who do it put it in the hands of folk who only want to profit from it. from there, it becomes a matter of putting out what the public wants, i.e. sexual exploits, materialism, masochistic views, etc. instead of putting out what the artists feels and learns, even if it's not what the public wants to hear.

but then, that's just a reflection of the music industry as a whole. creativity has been replaced by consumerism across the board. the music industry has suffered as a result.

Bullfrog said...

Good point Nikki, as soon as music becomes less than an expression of the artist, the end is near.

I guess what comes next is either the genre returns to it's roots or it dies and is replaced by ??, which would be a shame.

James Manning said...

i'm with you on this. i like some of the newer cats but they get downloaded because i know there only a couple of songs they will ever make that is worthy of bumping in my headphones

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