Is Hip Hop Dead?
By Michael Newby
Hip-Hop is dead? No. I honestly think it's one of the most absurd things I've ever heard. Hip-Hop was just fine and dandy for everyone until Nas's latest album dropped. Now all of a sudden everybody holds a huge funeral for her.
No disrespect to the god Nas, but his album only extends on how emcees aren't real anymore. The last time I checked Hip-Hop was more than emceeing. It was a culture that consists of the other three elements of dee-jaying, b-boying, and graffiti. Though these elements aren't at the peak of where they could possibly be, they still exist.
As far as the state of emceeing is concerned, there are a large number of rappers that are rapping just because and are heavily saturated in watered down party lyrics and drug tales. But, instead of putting on a black armband for Hip-Hop, as a "real" fan you would question the longevity of the current subject matter in the music.
Hip-Hop is like a real living breathing human being--"it is subject to change". If you observe the art of rhyme, it's clear to see that it moves in cycles. In the genesis, emceeing wasn't too much about lyrical content anyway. It was loud party music just like it is now. If Chuck D never came with the politics, we would probably still be doing the wop or something like that. If Ice Cube never kicked in the door with gangster rap, we would probably still be uptight all the time talking about how corrupt the government is.
Hip-Hop is far from dead. She just got a lot of surgery and doesn't look as cute as she used to be. It's hard for me and many other people to swallow that, but it has to go down or you'll choke. I don't necessarily like where Hip-Hop is right now, but just because I don't like her as much doesn't mean she's dead. I still love her.
By Madia Brown |
March 28, 2007; 2:32 PM ET
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Posted by: A. Knight | March 31, 2007 11:47 AM
Valid point. Hip-Hop can't die because it's invincible...like The Cosby Show.
Posted by: C. Johnson | April 19, 2007 4:33 PM
For you to honestly take the name of an album of one of the most iconic rap figures and put him down is pretty retarted. To tell you the truth, Hip Hop is dead now and this is coming from one who has been in the rap buisiness for a long time. Back in the day it was a struggle to become successful in the music buisiness. Now the rap we hear is about booty shakin' and clubbin'. We don't hear the real stuff, the real truthful struggle that artist like Nas went through to become what he is today. So yes, Hip hop is truely dead. Nowadays anyone can make a rap song; it's not a skill aspect anymore. This not only goes for rap music but all other genres. Like r&b, the true r&b and rap no longer exist. Instead people can sing about buyin' a girl a drink and gettin' her drunk and make millions off it. The whole entertainment industry is a big joke and is just an easy way for fake artists nowadays to make money.
Posted by: Ludacris | June 12, 2007 2:06 PM
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Interesting column. I liked that you referred to Hip Hop as "she."