Author Topic: Hip Hop  (Read 360 times)

Don Breezio

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Hip Hop
« on: December 23, 2003, 08:55:30 PM »
ok first off this is going to be long as hell but i feel that its worth the read: i hear people all the time say shit like "i wish hip hop was like it used to be" or "can't we get some new topics in hip hop?"

while i've said these things before i made myself realize some shit. hip hop has to grow. thats why we hear different shit in hip hop than we did 15 years ago. the fact is it hasnt changed that much:

someone says "all the violence in hip hop is horrible, why can't we bring it back and have more rappers like nas & jay-z"...my reply "nas' first albums had 90% violent content, same with jayz. violence has been a part of hip hop for 15 years now...ever since NWA came out. i for one would like to hear violence more than money"

someone says (and i just did too) "all the people talking about money in hip hop...it has become to material"...my reply "do you think hip hop wasnt material? isnt run dmc rapping about their shoes the same as nelly rapping about his? when was there EVER a time when hip hop was not material?"

the only thing about hip hop that has changed is the amount of poppy bullshit that comes out. hip hop used to be pure...you could buy an album and not worry about whether or not half the album was bullshit. now theres so many god damn love songs and poppy beats coming out its rediculous...

my favorite thing people say (and i've said before too) "diss tracks are ruining hip hop"....my reply..."motherfucker diss tracks made hip hop. diss tracks have always been a part of hip hop."

when did hip hop get away from the four elements that made it in the first place? MC'ing, DJ'ing, Breaking, and Graffiti? we still have tons of MC's on the mic, we got incredible dj's on the turntables, we still have artists pulling incredible dance moves (not quite the same as breaking but hey...everything must grow), and Graffiti? i still see it all over the place...graffiti has not only become a part of hip hop but a part of life.

all im saying is...hip hop hasnt changed and i dont expect it to. i like it where its at and im glad its not the same as it was in 1988...it would be boring as fuck now if it were.
 

mrtonguetwista

Re:Hip Hop
« Reply #1 on: December 23, 2003, 09:22:53 PM »
That was beautiful. ::)

 

Jome

Re:Hip Hop
« Reply #2 on: December 23, 2003, 09:27:43 PM »
 

BadAzz4001

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Re:Hip Hop
« Reply #3 on: December 26, 2003, 09:37:33 PM »
Props On That Shyt... 4Real
 

Trauma-san

Re:Hip Hop
« Reply #4 on: December 26, 2003, 09:41:49 PM »
hiphop is generally negative, that's why it's dying a slow painful death.  If hiphop were more positive (like every other music genre that has survived since classical periods on) then it would grow and last.  Even the blues had hope in it, Hiphop generally is insulting, and degrading to all kinds of shit.  It'll never last, 20 years from now, people will look @ hiphop like we look at Disco and alternative music.  Dead.
 

Don Breezio

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Re:Hip Hop
« Reply #5 on: December 26, 2003, 09:54:17 PM »
hiphop is generally negative, that's why it's dying a slow painful death.  If hiphop were more positive (like every other music genre that has survived since classical periods on) then it would grow and last.  Even the blues had hope in it, Hiphop generally is insulting, and degrading to all kinds of shit.  It'll never last, 20 years from now, people will look @ hiphop like we look at Disco and alternative music.  Dead.

thats what they said when hip hop first started out. i dont see it dying i just see it becoming a little more commericalized. and alternative music is not dead.
 

js83

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Re:Hip Hop
« Reply #6 on: December 26, 2003, 09:55:59 PM »
hiphop is generally negative, that's why it's dying a slow painful death.  If hiphop were more positive (like every other music genre that has survived since classical periods on) then it would grow and last.  Even the blues had hope in it, Hiphop generally is insulting, and degrading to all kinds of shit.  It'll never last, 20 years from now, people will look @ hiphop like we look at Disco and alternative music.  Dead.

i doubt that will happen..hiphop is growing bigger every year...
 

Trauma-san

Re:Hip Hop
« Reply #7 on: December 26, 2003, 09:57:15 PM »
I guess... but if it's all shit, who cares how big it is.  The quality of an album today is about half the quality of an album 4 years ago.  Compare your average album today with something that came out in 93.  It isn't even close.  It's dying.  
 

Don Breezio

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Re:Hip Hop
« Reply #8 on: December 26, 2003, 10:03:21 PM »
I guess... but if it's all shit, who cares how big it is.  The quality of an album today is about half the quality of an album 4 years ago.  Compare your average album today with something that came out in 93.  It isn't even close.  It's dying.  

its just growing...hip hop has to change and its hard for all of the people who have been listening to it for years to accept that. i just realized the fact that hip hop really is no different than it was 10 years ago. lyrics are a bit more complex (or atleast some) but thats about it. i do agree however though that back then you could buy an album without listening to it and know its good. now you buy an album and hope for atleast 5 good tracks knowing there will be atleast 5 wack tracks.
 

N-Sane Brain

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Re:Hip Hop
« Reply #9 on: December 27, 2003, 07:49:25 AM »
"Real rap" isn't dyin', you just have to search for it carefully. This year for example had releases like "The Book Of Shabazz", which is definitely that real rap that everyone's askin' for.

The only thing that changed is (as you already said in your first post) that HipHop became more commercial. Back in the days the charts were dominated by Rock or whatever, but now you see people like Eminem, 50 Cent, Ludacris, Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, etc. on the top of the charts. The most-sellin' albums in the industry are rap-albums ("Get Rich Or Die Tryin'", "The Eminem Show", etc.), and so you can see that HipHop is definitely as big as never before.

But you can still find that real rap, that can mess with the rap from back in the days, you just have to look for it in the underground. Probably these underground-artists deserve more hype, but that's a problem that'll never be solved, because rap-fans like us are definitely the minority of the music-listeners, that's why the "commercial shit" will ever be bigger.

But the underground-rap will never die though. I don't think so...
 

Don Breezio

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Re:Hip Hop
« Reply #10 on: December 27, 2003, 11:29:47 AM »
again i didnt make what i was saying clear...by commerical i meant poppy...not how much play they get. because for every jay-z theres a run dmc, for every eminem theres a vanilla ice, for every ludacris theres a dr. dre and for every 50 cent theres a snoop dogg...all that shit topped the charts 10 years ago.

 

Juronimo

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Re:Hip Hop
« Reply #11 on: December 28, 2003, 06:13:52 PM »
I think there's been a steep decline in quality and I think the commercialization of hip hop music is killing the quality. If you go back to the early 90's, there were many albums that came out where you can listen to the album all the way through without hitting fast forward. Whether you were listening to De La Soul's Bahloone Mindstate or Snoop's Doggystyle, those were both albums that you can just put the tape in the deck and let it play without hitting fast forward. There were plenty of other albums that came out during that time period where the focus was on quality and you can hear the love in the music.

Nowadays that seems harder to find. I give Nas mad props for refocusing on lyricism on Stillmatic and to DJ Quik for pushing the envelope musically. There is still innovation musically, just listen to Outkast or even the Neptunes, when they let loose on albums like Nerd or DJ Hitek or the Roots. However, I think the record labels cartel has such a strangehold on hip hop musically that talented artists records never come out while at the same time, the radio monopolies (Clear Channel, Radio One) and video monopoly (Viacom) will only play the bubblegum rap that we are tortured by every time we turn on the radio. Even though there is still talent out there, it is almost impossible to find unlike 10 years ago, when you could hear A Tribe Called Quest on the radio or watch Rap City and see a Black Moon video. It's not like that anymore.

What all this has caused is for artists to focus solely on making money. While this has always been a focus and there's nothing at all wrong with it, when it gets in the way of the art, there's a problem. One of the biggest problems as far as declining record sales is not caused by downloading and bootlegging, but by poor quality product being sold for $21 apiece. When I was in high school, I could buy a tape for $9 but now I have to spend $21 for a cd which may only have 3 good songs on this. Fans know this so they say fuck it and download. Plus, that $9 I spend in high school yielded an album with maybe 3 poor songs and 12 good songs. Now it's the other way around and again, artists, being pressured by the labels, have to make pop music instead of focusing on lyrical and musical creativity.

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Don Breezio

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Re:Hip Hop
« Reply #12 on: December 28, 2003, 07:38:55 PM »
What all this has caused is for artists to focus solely on making money. While this has always been a focus and there's nothing at all wrong with it, when it gets in the way of the art, there's a problem. One of the biggest problems as far as declining record sales is not caused by downloading and bootlegging, but by poor quality product being sold for $21 apiece. When I was in high school, I could buy a tape for $9 but now I have to spend $21 for a cd which may only have 3 good songs on this. Fans know this so they say fuck it and download. Plus, that $9 I spend in high school yielded an album with maybe 3 poor songs and 12 good songs. Now it's the other way around and again, artists, being pressured by the labels, have to make pop music instead of focusing on lyrical and musical creativity.



i agree with that perfectly. thats why i still download shit. i am not going to go pay 20 bucks for a cd and cross my fingers and hope theres 5 good tracks on it. if i download an album, hear it, and feel its good enough to buy i will buy it. there are a few artists who's albums i will pick up without another thought. but not many. nas is one, tq is one, jay-z is one, dmx is one, atmosphere, gangstarr, etc...but if i want this shit on the radio im gonna download the cd first. im not gonna hear one good song and go pay 20 bucks for it. fuck no.