I think that hip hop dedicated emcee Nas raised the debate. Now it is up to us to answer yes or no to this interrogation.
However, I think it would be senseless just to debate on whether hip hop is dead or not. Our answers should be full of nuance instead of being blinded with a common artistic blur.
Since its creation in the Bronx, NYC, in the late 6O’s, hip hop has often been in a 911 emergency state. Real, authentic hip hop emerged from the street, mainly from the black commnunity and was aimed prior at street audiences. Although a common misconception that hip hop is about self expression only is widely accepted, this point is often totally misunderstood.
An emcee is supposed to express himself, but a lot of other artists do- without having any hip hop spirit in their way of expression. If hip hop was about expression of self only, then acts like Marilyn Manson and Emo boys would be hip hop too…
You are hip hop, not only by proving your emceeing skills, but by carrying the heritage of hip hop culture with you which means to me, that, regardless of your skin color, you can relate to hip hop culture in one way or another. That’s being hip hop to me.
But I digress…the question is to know whether what we call contemporary hip hop music is dead or not.
Many people who have grown up with masterminds such as Ice T, NWA, Public Enemy, Grandmaster Flash might be really disappointed with the turn hip hop is taking right now.
Even in the early 80’s hip hop wasn’t expected to become the commercial value it is right now. Emcees and DJs did their art much more for their own pleasure and for their wide street audience.
Emcees like Public Enemy and NWA played the role of social commentators and opposed some resistence to the US discriminatory policies against Black Folks. Their words had some weight and were largely supported by people living in the hood.
Nowadays, hip hop is totally different. Not only has it become commercial, but its audience has changed. I sometimes have the feeling that it has lost its original meaning. Many of you, commercial rappers rolling in your benzos with your hoes and jewels have buried hip hop alive. You made the whole world believe that hip hop was only about the grand hustle and making big dollars.
Many of you, weak underground rappers have stabbed the soul of hip hop. How can you, clowns in the game, make people believe that you can bless a mic? Regardless of your color, you HAVE to be skilled and to be convincing to rap!
More strikingly, a great majority of you, suburban youths, have spat on real hip hop like Nas raps while revering so called rappers who are closer to pop artists than anything else!
However, I do believe that hip hop in its essence is still alive. It will live on as long as the spirit of Maurice Malone’s hip hop shop will be carried on. It will survive, as long as real people will talk about real things. It will survive, if only unexperienced but nevertheless skilled emcees will accept to learn from their predecessors.
Real hip hop is the reality of the streets and cannot be summarized with the commercial crap we see on MTV.
Hip Hop will live on if rappers accept to think less about the money and more about their art.
Hip hop has a future, but not without you, emcees, breakdancers, sprayers, DJS, listeners and anybody else involved in the rap game. It is all up to you.
Copyright © 2006 by Isabelle Esling
All Rights Reserved
My name is Isabelle Esling. I am an Eminem biographer and a freelance music journalist. I teach English and German at public schools.
Kanye West Music: What’s the deal behind Late Registration?
by: Dinesh Rajakaruna
Ka-ha-hanye! The latest Kanye West music release, Late Registration, follow-up to the oppositely titled, The College Dropout, has Kanye going in exactly that, an opposite direction in everything, except credibility. That part’s intact.
It’s getting tougher and tougher, as opposed to the 90’s and even decades preceding, to place an artist strictly in a subgenre of a genre. Yes, Kanye West music is obviously in the hip-hop genre. But what type of subgenre does he really fall in? I mean, he does speak for “the people”, in particularly America’s African-American population, making the general population at large become aware of the crises that his brothers and sisters are going through. If not obvious from his music, it is obvious off the stage, regarding his recent opinion of U.S. President George Bush.
So what would that subgenre be? Political rap? “Folk-rap”? “Socioneconomic rap”? Can’t really think of many others…
But here’s some accurate thoughts on the subject. Kanye West music has socioenomical, and political influences. This aspect of his music is quite intact even through his latest release, Late Registration. Of the interesting approaches that he takes with this record is the anomosity that “brothers” may feel when one of their own “graduates” from their clan and “leaves” them.
Background tracks are gallore throughout both West’s releases. The latest turn on Late, however, regarding the overall look and feel music-wise, is more raw and vibrant than its predecessor.
Music patterns of the late 60’s and 70’s; for example, Major7 to “minor”7 shifts, horn orchestra sections; occupy much of the background of Kanye West music on his current release. The first several tracks are vibrant in even another more current way, with more spicing of techno in the bass.
The College Dropout was a big pleaser to both fans and critic alike. Late Registration, which keeps a great distance away from a traditional sophomore slump (interesting how we don’t see many of these anymore), should have no problem in similar pleasing, or even more, on most aspects.
While The college Dropout had several moments in it, for example strong stand-out tracks and singles, or even “what-the-****- was-that?!” moment of lyrics, there are less tracks on Late Registration that appear to stick out like a sore thumb. Don’t get me wrong, it is still an excellent record, although as a whole, not because of just several spiky moments of ingenius Kanye West music.
The whole album is ingenius, made by a genius.
On a final note, due to overwhelming publicity – on and off stage; planned and incidental – there will virtually be no shortage of this release offline or online. It will set you back between $10-15, however, depending on where you buy it. Although the maximum price to download Late will be about $12 note that if you acquire them online, and if their are other releases from Kanye (even other than The College Dropout that you still haven’t checked) you’ll save money downloading ALL music from Kanye West, possibly paying no more than what you would for just Late Registration.
To find out reputable reputable digital music downloads services where you can save money this way, then read further as to where Kanye West music is available.
All-in-all, Kanye West, is definitely moving forward in his carrier with Late Registration, even though it may appear that he is going backward with the album title.
About The Author
Dinesh Rajakaruna
Discover the most up-to-date strategies involved in downloading today’s music. Find out how you can download safely without thinning your wallet at download-latest-online-music.com.
