I'm a huge music geek that basically is separated into two genres. Hip-hop and rock are the only things you will find me listening to. I'll put in some metal at times, but I consider metal basically right there with rock. I'm here to talk about hip-hop though because people seem to non stop talk about hip hop. I'm a fan but it continues to die day by day. You can blame so many things about the decline of it which is I'm here to do except it will actually be broken down and explained. It won't be the usual "man n****s ain't spitting hard no more, things be getting soft man". That could apply to some of it but it will actually be explained in proper grammar and more thought. The interest that I had for hip hop started to decline in the spring of 2010 because nothing was really making sense to me anymore. Other than Fabolous, nothing new was really making me nod my head back and forth. The hip-hop that I was listening to on a daily basis was always good but for some reason I lost the connection. Rock was starting to become my life and for about two years now it has. Some people don't get it while others think it's awesome. I'm not here to debate on what's better because I love both. I'm here to discuss on what is killing hip-hop for me at the moment. If you read my old blog, you probably saw my history with hip-hop and what I like. This is different now and I'm going to get into my major grievances with the genre.
My favorite right now that's active and still working hard.
Hip-Hop Grievances
I'm going to break it down into five parts on why I'm not all into hip-hop anymore. It may seem simple while some of it may be more complex than you thought. Hopefully people see the side to things rather than say I'm just a miserable human being thats living in the past.
1. Hip-Pop?- This will be in order and this is the most common complaint about modern day hip-hop. You will hear people that are veteran artists, radio DJ's, or even people like me that will always complain about this. This basically explains how hip-hop simply has gotten to poppy. Basically that means that songs will get taken over by longer hooks or techno beats or singing. When was the last time you were on the radio when someone had a regular three verse song that had over twenty four bars a verse. It has been a long time even for someone like myself that doesn't listen to the radio. I do hear this from several people though from either twitter or in person that know hip-hop. I'm sure on major artists albums that they have their song that they might have longer rhymes in their verse but why isn't it out on the main stream? Instead you hear these songs with four different artists and twelve bars on a verse. Then you have a hook that is beyond repetitive. All these indications just lead to me thinking that hip-hop is turning into one big pop barrage. It has people worried to the point where even old rappers are calling out people for singing. You have legends like DMX and Ghostface Killah talk about artists have gotten soft and haven't found the true origin of hip-hop which is either telling a story or trying to make a point about how good your lyrics can be. Those components are the true origins of hip-hop yet you have most common day artists losing sight of this. My favorite person on the radio currently that I'll be making several references about is Peter Rosenberg. Along with Chipa Sounds, Peter is like your typical intelligent hip-hop fan that is always speaking his mind and not afraid of getting heat with people. He has even gone on twitter and started calling things #hiphoplite indicating things that aren't real hip-hop. It has started to grow around which is great to see. Some people may not take hip-hop that seriously because they live in different areas, but you have to understand is that I'm from New York. Sure I may white and don't really dress in any "gangster" way but I love the music. I'm not going to accept the fact that some song by Flo Rida is real hip-hop when he's saying twelve lines in two verses about how he's the man with loads of garbage punch lines. People are always politicking about the differences of it but just look into the music and see how you feel. This is always a common battle with fans and I've been battling people for years now. I'm always defending real artists that don't get air play from the likes of Chamillionaire to Cassidy. If you haven't realized by now, I'm not a big fan of radios but some DJ's and radio hosts are very knowledgeable. Before I go to the topic, I want you to listen to this video by Rosenberg breaking down how lame things have gotten. Nicki Minaj is someone I've never been a fan of but she's obviously very popular. She was becoming a huge female rap sensation with her hard hitting lyrics and everyone loved her especially people that like the aggressive style of hip-hop. Rosenberg defines this perfectly on how fame can get to someone's head in an instant and they forget what got them to the glory.
He couldn't have said it better
2. The N word is a favorite- I'm sure that it's not going to end any time soon and this is a war that I'm going to lose but this has gone too far. Do people realize that saying n**** is actually a racial slur? I know it has grown into something that black people use to address people as their friends which is understandable. What I don't get is why artists have to say it literally in every song they do. You would think that they would learn growing up how wrong it was to say that word. If you said that word back in the 80's, it meant you wanted to get violent. I'm not trying to sound like a politician here or trying to stop this, but it has really bothered me to the fact that I'm starting to prefer the clean version of songs. That doesn't even help because you have some artists that have songs that you can barley understand because of the swearing. If you listen to "We Be Steady Mobbin" by Lil Wayne in the clean version, you won't have a clue on what he's saying. Then again, I have zero idea what Lil Wayne is talking about since the day he debuted. I'm not trying to make these completely PG, but why would you want to say n**** all the time. When it was the early 2000's you would rarely hear rappers say that. You would hear it time from time but otherwise you would hear "homie" or "dog" that was so much better. The music was so good that they didn't need and they can still make their song big. Jadakiss, Nas, Gangstaar, and LL Cool J were guys that you would barley hear it from. It just doesn't make sense to me on why saying n**** is so popular now and makes things sound apparently better. In my life, I think I've said the n**** a few times in my life because I pride myself on not speaking like that. The last time I said that I still remember was when my friend Mike Golja and I were lost in the city and we were driving which is hell. For some reason, the N word slipped out because I was all grouchy from the Falcons playoff loss to the Giants. The second I said it, I apologized because it bothers me so much. I'm not going to get all into white people saying n**** because this is about music connecting with social values, not society connecting with social values. I don't hear the recent up coming white rappers saying it so at least that's a positive. Either way you look at it, I'm still baffled how people consider saying n**** is a positive.
3. Promoting The Wrong Things- I'm only arguing things that can be stopped or at least be toned down. The N word can be toned down but this can be stopped. Now you know hip-hop is always going to have all the drinking, smoking, and women dressing half naked in their videos and music. That won't be stopped and I'm not going to rant on it because you know it's wrong. I'm not ranting on things that won't be stopping anytime soon because that's the culture of the music. One thing I can talk about is rappers talking about drunk driving. It seems like every other day you here about someone dying because of a drunk driving accident. It has happened to people including a guy that I loved watching on Jackass in Ryan Dunn. It has happened to innocent children or the elderly because of this. In the video that I posted below, you will hear another great video from Peter Rosenberg on why promoting drunk driving in songs is wrong. Peter suffered a tragic accident in family and feels strongly about this just like anyone would if this happened in their family. Yet you have artists like Kayne West and Wiz Khalifa that think they are lyrical geniuses by talking about how they are driving intoxicated. Its things like this that just irate me because it's not necessary. This is something that can be totally negated doing a track and hopefully this is the last time that I'll have to mention this. The video is here by Peter Rosenberg making his valid points.
4. White Rapper Movement- I've been mostly disappointed with the white rapper movement although it was mostly going strong in spring of 2011. With Eminem being on the most iconic figures in hip-hop history, many white people have been inspired to try to make it. Everyone knows Eminem and knows how amazing his lyrical ability was. He made sure that his lyrical ability was elite so people would notice him. You would think that would rub off on the up and coming white rappers instead you see a bunch of rip offs from the South. I'm a big fan of the South and some of their artists but you have the other side of the South where their lyrics are pure garbage. The rappers that have come up from Mac Miller to Chris Webby are really disappointing considering that Eminem has to be up there as an inspiration to them. Even Sam Adams who I tend to find catchy isn't much better. I'm sure plenty of white rappers out there aren't anything like these guys and are fully focused on their lyrical ability. Hopefully they start to get the love and publicity so we can hear them. People were telling me how hip-hop is going through a new phase and that white rappers are ready to take over. I had my doubts but it interested me because I'm like in my wildest dreams, we have a bunch of poor man Eminem rappers ready to hit main stream. Instead we have a bunch of guys that either have failed punch lines, only really care for hooks, or isn't sober half the time he's awake. It was pretty disappointing to see these white rappers flop and believe me I tried to get into it but it was a complete fail. I do have faith in one white rapper out there and that is my good buddy Nick Zav. I talked about Nick once before months ago, but basically Nick is an inspiring rapper that I'm friends with. He's got his first gig on a show in late May which I wouldn't miss for the world. We might not hang out a lot but just from hanging out with him, he's one of the truest people you will ever met. He's just a humble guy that seems to be a workaholic. I'm hoping for all the best with Nick because he does care about true hip-hop. I haven't really got into full discussion with him about hip-hop but we both share the same common beliefs. He's in for the great punch lines and story telling which is what hip-hop should be. His inspiration is J.Cole who I'm a fan of and is probably one of the few guys I like these days. I'll give you a song from Nick Zav right here below.
5. Identity Crisis- The last major gripe about the state of hip-hop could connect to number one but I still feel that it's different. It seems like artists have started to get lost on what the true meaning of what a rapper is. If you're a guy that likes to sing, then don't think you're a rapper. When I hear singing in a song that is repetitive that is a complete insult. If you're going to sing once during a song and it's something quick, then that is cool. My main gripe is when people like Drake start to sing repeatedly but still want to talk hard and try to sound like a tough guy. You can't sound like a tough guy trying to talk like you run some place when you are singing these cheesy melodies talking about how much you love someone. This is the case for some rappers too even Lil Wayne who seems like he has tried just about every genre these days. How can anyone buy in the fact that you're a straight rapper that can be respected when you're singing constantly or doing these stupid love hooks. That's what makes me think that people are suffering from an identity crisis that should stick to being just an "artist". They can get their radio air play because you know their star power is enormous but their plenty of old school hip-hop guys that see their true colors. Everything that is happening just makes me dread the fact that things were so much simpler and more authentic from years ago. Even though you had your rappers that were more into the party music, it didn't stop the fact that most rappers were gunning to be the top lyrical rapper in the world. That's why so many diss tracks happened because being the best in the world was huge. It applied to money back in the day as well, but now it just seems like it's all about the money which won't be stopped any time soon. What can be stopped is people admitting that they are just artists and not rappers.
Those five things to me is what drives me crazy about hip--hop and the current state of it. It used to be my life growing up and it did leave a negative standpoint for me at times, but that was because of my immature self. You can't totally buy into everything rappers say because some of it can be wrong. I'm a huge Young Jeezy fan but the guy makes drug references time and time again. That's just a prime example that you can't totally put your mind into everything someone says. Hip-hop can lead to many negative things but it can also lead to great story telling and make you think that you can relate to someone. I'd love to see more rappers like J-Cole or Fabolous be more main stream because then I'll be interested. A few days ago I was listening to a Ludacris album and it made me realize how much I miss him. Sure Ludacris can be over the top with his work and can talk about insane things, but the guy knows how to rap on a high level. The argument could go on and on all day but those five things have made me lose my interest in hip-hop. The realness of the genre has been lost and fraud continues to stock up in what was once a proud genre. Sure they didn't dress well but they had so much pride in everything they did with their music but now it seems that both things have switched. I'm not sure what can change because it seems like things that are trendy is going. People that don't give a damn about the old school and don't put interest in their lyrics like Waka Flocka will continue to get major press. It's 2012 where you just have to be trendy to get a big name. If you look at a guy that's on the main stream then digress on his background then you'll realize how he got to the top.
Final Word/ Plugs
This is shorter than usual because I'm keeping it at what is killing me about hip-hop. I'm not trying to make a whole big thing about what I like because I did a few months ago. I'm happy with certain people and I'm happy with current MC's. It's going to be a long process that might never change in terms of making hip-hop what it once was a few years ago. Hopefully people like Peter Rosenberg and Chipa Sounds can continue to preach because they aren't afraid to speak their minds and they are well known. I'll always have a love for hip-hop regardless of how the current state because of how great the past was with great mc's all over the world. That's something that can be denied and something that can be held for the rest of your life. As for the future, well don't hold your breath for too long.
Anyway here are my plugs.
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