K, so I was talking to some guy today about Hip-Hop, and it's just kinda spawned the thought trail leading me here, and to whatever shall fall from my fingers through the keys to be read bellow.
I'm a hip hop fan. That simple, and unashamedly, I love Hip Hop. The ability to rap to a beat, use voice as percussion with melody, and exhibit your views upon the world in that format. It's genius. But I hate rap, and what Hip Hop is becoming.
I heard the phrase "I want the hip hop lifestyle, the guns, bitches and ho's and all that bling" and it disgusted me. To quote Scroobius Pip, "Remember, that guns, bitches and bling were never part of the four elements, and never will be"
So the Hip Hop lifestyle should revolve around turntablism, emceeing, Graffiti and break.I mean, if you think back to the forefathers of modern Hip Hop, yeah there was a certain embellishment, an artistic licence to brag about skills and talents, but it never escalated the level of pomp that Rap currently holds.
I mean sure, Sugarhill Gang laid it down proclaiming TV's, Cars, Money, and the famous like "If your girl starts acting up, then you take her friend" but the song was fun, a quirk of the era.
I hope I'm not being pretentious, but this is just where I draw the line in my mind, and it annoys me when people around me, after being surprised I like Hip Hop, scorn it because they don't understand what Real Hip Hop is. They're used to Eminem, 50 cent, T.I. and everything made possible in the aftermath of Death Row's popularisation of Gansta Rap. But thats it, Gangsta Rap was a new genre to evolve FROM Hip-Hop, but wasn't it anymore, in the same way that Metal is no longer Rock. So today's Rap records should be labelled as Rap, and not just dismissively side-swiped in a related, but completely different genre.
But aswell as frowned upon by my unknowing friends I also get laughed down by my friends who are up on their Rap, as they view it as a childish, pretentious, retro, and slightly dead genre of music. And indeed, to find any sort of recent Hip-Hop (anything not pre-dating Snoop Dogg's first few albums)you do have to tend to go quite underground. Which, as anyone familiar with the underground scenes, does tend to reek pretension in giant wafts.
However, it is out there. Along with the old greats, things like Sugarhill, the Roots, Jurassic 5, Rakim, 2pac, Tribe Called Quest and KRSone, their lurks a new breed of modern-day Hip-Hop greats , just under the horizon, mics posed, and ready to touch with their words, beat and melody.
Listing just a few;
Sage Francis,
Busdriver,
Aesop Rock,
Buba Sparxxx,
Atmosphere,
Non-Prophets,
Immortal Technique,
Ill Bill,
Hilltop Hoods,
Sole,
Dark Cloud,
Soul Position,
Class A.
And this isn't to say I lose hope completely, there are some people in the charts that are dutifully paraded as Hip Hop, instead of maintaining a facade underwhich lies neuvo-rap-infused-RnB-derived-pomp.
Figures are rising to the forefront with weight and udnerstanding. Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Flobots and Scroobius Pip, for four.
So I don't despair in the genre totally, I've know it's there, and I've found the music that I would call Hip Hop. But, I'm just waiting for the rest of the world to realise the difference too.
I'm a hip hop fan. That simple, and unashamedly, I love Hip Hop. The ability to rap to a beat, use voice as percussion with melody, and exhibit your views upon the world in that format. It's genius. But I hate rap, and what Hip Hop is becoming.
I heard the phrase "I want the hip hop lifestyle, the guns, bitches and ho's and all that bling" and it disgusted me. To quote Scroobius Pip, "Remember, that guns, bitches and bling were never part of the four elements, and never will be"
So the Hip Hop lifestyle should revolve around turntablism, emceeing, Graffiti and break.I mean, if you think back to the forefathers of modern Hip Hop, yeah there was a certain embellishment, an artistic licence to brag about skills and talents, but it never escalated the level of pomp that Rap currently holds.
I mean sure, Sugarhill Gang laid it down proclaiming TV's, Cars, Money, and the famous like "If your girl starts acting up, then you take her friend" but the song was fun, a quirk of the era.
I hope I'm not being pretentious, but this is just where I draw the line in my mind, and it annoys me when people around me, after being surprised I like Hip Hop, scorn it because they don't understand what Real Hip Hop is. They're used to Eminem, 50 cent, T.I. and everything made possible in the aftermath of Death Row's popularisation of Gansta Rap. But thats it, Gangsta Rap was a new genre to evolve FROM Hip-Hop, but wasn't it anymore, in the same way that Metal is no longer Rock. So today's Rap records should be labelled as Rap, and not just dismissively side-swiped in a related, but completely different genre.
But aswell as frowned upon by my unknowing friends I also get laughed down by my friends who are up on their Rap, as they view it as a childish, pretentious, retro, and slightly dead genre of music. And indeed, to find any sort of recent Hip-Hop (anything not pre-dating Snoop Dogg's first few albums)you do have to tend to go quite underground. Which, as anyone familiar with the underground scenes, does tend to reek pretension in giant wafts.
However, it is out there. Along with the old greats, things like Sugarhill, the Roots, Jurassic 5, Rakim, 2pac, Tribe Called Quest and KRSone, their lurks a new breed of modern-day Hip-Hop greats , just under the horizon, mics posed, and ready to touch with their words, beat and melody.
Listing just a few;
Sage Francis,
Busdriver,
Aesop Rock,
Buba Sparxxx,
Atmosphere,
Non-Prophets,
Immortal Technique,
Ill Bill,
Hilltop Hoods,
Sole,
Dark Cloud,
Soul Position,
Class A.
And this isn't to say I lose hope completely, there are some people in the charts that are dutifully paraded as Hip Hop, instead of maintaining a facade underwhich lies neuvo-rap-infused-RnB-deri
Figures are rising to the forefront with weight and udnerstanding. Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Flobots and Scroobius Pip, for four.
So I don't despair in the genre totally, I've know it's there, and I've found the music that I would call Hip Hop. But, I'm just waiting for the rest of the world to realise the difference too.
I totally agree
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