The current state of hip hop, Is it dead? Morphed into a new version, or Is it alive and kicking?. Many say its dead, as well as a well noted Hip Hop Artist, and there are the masses that say it’s not dead but it evolved with the times and it’s catering to what the kids of today want.
A hamburger and meatball are made from the same meat, Beef. Do you say I am having spaghetti and hamburger or spaghetti n meatballs? Or do you got say I want a meatball with cheese on a bun or I want a hamburger with cheese on a bun. My point being, just because it’s made from the same thing and has the some of the same qualities don’t make it the same all the way thru.
I say what we have today is a multitude of many different forms of hip hop. Hip hop is so massive that there can be many forms under one roof. R&B is R&B no matter how you look at it. The tempo of R&B is basically the same. You don’t have fast beat R&B music or the lyrics can’t be song fast or slow. In hip hop, you can have beats of different tempo and speeds. Lyrics can be rapped fast or slow or in-between. In many other genre’s if you change up the speed of the track and how its sung then you will actually change the song to a different genre all together. Not so in hip hop can change it dramatically and it still can be considered hip hop. As much as it’s a sound hip hop is a feel and a vibe as well.
In my opinion it’s time to make subcategories, under the hip hop umbrella. Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with hip pop or any other category that I am going to layout in upcoming paragraphs, if that’s the kind of music that you want to make and its feeding you and your family. It has changed your life for the positive then I am all for it, to each his own. Everybody can’t be lyrical masterminds aka true Mc’s. The hip hop community is so hard on each other and so quick to stereotype and use them to assassinate each other’s character instead of embracing the difference. It’s these differences that make the culture beautiful to me. Just because I don’t like a majority of the new stuff out now a days doesn’t mean I don’t respect the talent it took for it to be made. For everyone that is dissing these young cats saying they are garbage or trash and don’t deserve a deal. Let’s see what you can do and if you can do it well enough to make the money they make. Instead of hating and bringing people down, why not respect their hustle and business acumen for taking what they have and maximizing it to their fullest potential. What would you rather them do? Make an honest living and possibly influence someone to make a change in their life and maximize their potential positively or have them be on the corner and influence a kid to maximize his or her potential in a negative way? Think about it and if you honest with yourself and let go of the hate and negativity I am sure you will see it as I do.
That’s why I say we should have subcategories under the Hip Hop umbrella. For instance:
- Hip Pop- for the dance songs that have a hip hop feel
- Alternative Hip Hop – for the hip hop abstract artists
- Hip hop – for true Mc’s, the artists that are holdovers from the original era
- Rap – whatever cannot be placed into the other categories. Anybody can be a rapper but very few are true mc’s
There would be nothing wrong with being placed into any of those categories at all. I think a lot of the issues come up when we try to lump everyone into the same box. Really how many now a days can be placed into the same box as a Rakim, a KRS, Chuck D and the like? When we try and do that then the hip hop traditionalists have an issue with it as may interpret it as being disrespectful to the Legends of the game. Also the new jacks who are being compared and placed into the same categories as the legends won’t feel the constant need to prove themselves worthy of such comparisons. They will have their own lane and won’t have the animosity towards the “old heads”.
They already do this sort of thing in rock music. You have rock, classic rock, alternative rock, heavy metal rock and so on. How much animosity do you hear coming from them? Everyone knows their lane and you won’t have them all competing for the one “big piece of chicken”.
Separating hip hop to different subcategories will also allow more artists/groups to shine and get the recognition that they deserve. This will strengthen the state of hip hop and its reach to the youth who may not see themselves as being able to make it in the game because they are different and have a unique style. It may promote creativity and not have every rapper wanting to be like the hot thing out now, since they feel that may be the only way to win. It will basically be saying “you don’t have to be like Jay Z, 50 cent, Jadakiss, Lil Wayne to win in this game. You can be you and still make it.” What are you thoughts? Let me know either comment below or email me: theghostbks1@live.com
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