13 year-old kids dictate the direction of hip-hop culture now

[TraceOneInfinite Flat Earther 96']

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/features/id.406


Would you say that is a major problem with the hip-hop industry today? That they dictate the direction now, rather than listen?

“One of many problems, I’m afraid. The industry is all about the hard sell and they make no secret of it. This youth market – the largest ever – will be the name of the game for the foreseeable future and with hip-hop already established as the world’s most effective delivery system, young consumers are about to be taken for a ride the likes of which we have never seen. But it’s not their fault, because until you are old enough to develop some semblance of critical reasoning, you will fall prey to every bright, shiny object that comes along. The industry is in the middle of the perfect storm and they plan to stay awhile. They are no longer compelled to listen to our wishes, and as consumers we don’t do nearly enough to voice our displeasure at the way things are going. So we get what we get.

How did this sad state of affairs come to pass? One word: laziness. Instead of going out in the wilderness and finding interesting things to expose, most industry shot callers and gatekeepers just sat back and let things come to them. Now, they still have to sift through a lot of garbage in order to find whatever gems might be lurking about, but what tends to happen is that people all over the country are sifting through the exact same piles of junk and simply selecting and serving up the best of the worst. And if the consumer has no objection – which very few 13-year-olds will — and older heads who might raise the alarm have been long pushed to the sidelines, then junk becomes the standard and the industry makes sure that its junk is attractively packaged and ready for replication and distribution.

This is why so many of the magazines are the same. If the same publicist sends out the same press package to everyone under the sun, and if five people bite, then you’ve got five magazines running the exact same story. If a radio format works in Seattle and Atlanta, then it will probably work in Chicago, Miami and New York. And if these institutions are profitable, then there won’t be any pressure or need for them to reinvent themselves. And this is the rut in which we find ourselves today. Back in the day, when the industry – or “machine” as brother Zino calls it – was still ramping up to speed, it had no choice but to follow the culture — which is why hip-hop always seemed able to reinvent itself every eight months or so, and stay ten steps ahead of stagnation. The culture had an elasticity that we all took for granted and assumed would last forever. But the industry – and remember: the industry employs thousands of people whose only goal in life is to refine a successful approach until it becomes an irresistible force – is like the Borg from Star Trek: it will consume; it will adapt; and ultimately, it will set an agenda that serves only itself. It took about 20 years, but hip-hop is now safely in pocket and it hurts my heart to see it come to this. McDonald’s is already paying rappers to name check hamburgers. Can it get any worse?”

[TraceOneInfinite Flat Earther 96']

^^^^  I had to post up a piece of this article.  It's from the guy who edited The Source back in 91-94.

I agree with him.  One of the big reasons why we keep seeing the same old ideas recycled in hip-hop (more creative ways to say the same old shit) is because there's always a new group of 13 year old coming up for the industry to exploit.  I like what he said about "these kids are getting taken for a ride".  That's the truth.  I feel like these kids are missing out, hip-hop used to be so much more back in day, it was music that enlightened the disenfrachised, hip-hop spoke for the unheard; now rap music represents mass media.

[Elevz]

I can't deny it... Hiphop music isn't about the hiphop culture anymore these days. I can't really say I'm breathing hiphop in real life. If you just saw me in the streets, there would be nothing at all that classifies me as a hiphop fan, even though I hardly listen to any music other than hiphop.

Then again... How much is the story you posted talking about the hiphop culture? It's mostly just about rap music. How much is that affecting the culture itself? Some of it has been commercialised, with white suburban kids breakdancing to music by Public Enemy, for example. They don't truly feel hiphop, they don't live hiphop. They see hiphop and they think hiphop is cool. So they try to be hiphop.

I don't consider myself hiphop, apart from the fact that I listen to rap music all day long. Yeah, I'm still young, I remember joints like Dr. Dre's "Keep their heads ringin" and 2Pac's "California love" as some commercial joints I liked back when I was young and ignorant. Back then, it didn't go much further than that. It was people like Eminem, D12 and Dr. Dre who finally really got me into the music, around the time when 2001 dropped. They're the reason I listen to rap music these days, even though I dislike all of D12's music these days, and I think Eminem hasn't dropped a good album in 5 years. Their commercialised styles got me into it.

I guess I'm just different from the average kid described in the article. I felt a hunger for more serious music, so that's what I was looking for. Not just the random shit talking, trying to be funny, what Eminem and D12 do. Nowadays, my favorite artists are Cypress Hill, Redman, Nas, Wu-Tang, Onyx, BTNH, Ice Cube, Biggie, De La Soul etc. That's quite a change from what I used to listen to. I got deeper into the music.

The majority of the kids you're saying are controlling hiphop music now, are controlling the pop side of hiphop. There's always artists who care more about the art than about the sales. It's a shame they're rare these days. You just can't blame the kids who listen to hip-pop for this, it's the artists who are to blame. They're so hungry they're selling out, not caring about what they're representing. Snoop Dogg, WC and Xzibit shouldn't be cripwalking in their videos. They know it'll be copied by these kids, who don't know the meaning of it. Xzibit should have never c-walked anyway. They just do some moves that have the potential of commercially blowing up. A big sellout. Blame these artists.

[Sikotic™]

We gotta show our brothers/sisters/cousins what real hip hop is too. I cant blame cats for doing what they can to make money.

[Larrabee]

My brother's 14 years old & like me, he bumps about 75% of the old classics and about 25% on the new shit coming out...the other day we were listening to "The Chronic", and I asked him how many of his homies that listen to rap\hip-hop have heard The Chronic...he goes 'this one dude. Everyone else just listens to the recent records'. That's sad as fuck, to think a kid will bump "Drop It Like It's Hot" or something, and think it's the illest Snoop song, when they haven't heard Gin & Juice. 

[Twentytwofifty]

^^^That's not too bad.  They are only 14, if they really like hip-hop and get into it I'm sure they'll eventually go back and catch up on all the older gems.  When I was that age I pretty much only listened to Death Row shit and didn't even know of older stuff like Slick Rick or BDP but then got into eastcoast stuff like Biggie and Wu-Tang, then old school stuff and just kept branching out to cover everything.

[Fuck Your Existence]

We gotta show our brothers/sisters/cousins what real hip hop is too. I cant blame cats for doing what they can to make money.

^^^^exactly. If you dont buy it there wont be a market for it.

[Shawn Nutt]

All I listened to was GRODT, Beg For Mercy, & Marshall Mathers LP. Then I realized that there was someone behind the music; Dr. Dre. If I hadn't seen that Wanksta video almost 3 years ago I wouldn't be listening to this today. I just downloaded a bunch of Run DMC, Snoop, & Dre, and I'm looking for the albums in stores now. I personally don't like Tupac and Biggie, mainly their voices. I don't think they go good with the beats, cuz they mostly talk about the sturggle or being a thug; club-bangers are good though, like Realest Niggaz and California Love. I like the fast beats without drums and alot of sfx.

[Đřšďĺ]

i would say you cant keep living in the past, but a lot of rap is garbage nowadays so i guess its all we got. 

[Shallow]

I hate it when these old timers from back in the day bitch and moan about the "culture". The monks in tibet belong to a culture. Villagers in southern Europe belong to a culture. Japanese people outside the big cities have a distinct culture. Hip Hop is just a second rate peice of shit music that some idiots take too seriously. No one ever called Heavy Metal, or Punk a culture. They were simply a genre, much like hip hop is.

Okay, so the old timers don't like that the guns and bling are ruining this "culture". Big fucking deal. If you don't like it then don't listen. It's not like there isn't any rap out there that these idiots can't listen to. Even if it means re-listening to old records. Ask any Rock fan from the 70s what he did when Disco came out, or how many new bands he listens to these days. He'll probably tell you he listened the the less popular good stuff for the former, and doesn't listen to any for the latter. When Cobain killed himself and the media left alt Rock and decided to overhype 90s RnB, I didn't care that MTV and radio was shoving Boyz II Men's second rate II album down my throat. I just went to the record store and bought Pearl Jam's Vitalogy, with or with out the "machine" behind it.

What really gets me is how stupid all of these old timers are. It's kind of like how high school was at it's peak when you were younger, in grade 9 or 10, because everything was new and you look back and think about how great it was. As the years go by and you get older it's not as fun in grade 12 as grade 9. Then you leave the school you look back and think how much it sucks now that you're not there. It took me little while to realize everyone who ever fucking graduated in any year thinks the same thing. That year when I looked back said it was shit, was an amazing year for some freshman out there, and that year that was so amazing for me was a piece of shit for some visting alumni.

When The Beasties came out and sold a lot of records Biz Markie caled them a mockery of rap (something he later took back). Well I'll bet that the Furious 5 weren't too keen what Biz Markie was doing. Didn't Big Daddy Kane also brag about his clothes and women. I wonder how many 80s rappers thought the Chronic was a big joke, with all it's sexism, violence, and just plain stupidity. Just because Dre ripped of 70s funk with a live studio band rather than rip off 60s soul with a turn table does not make him a musical genius.

Hip Hop is what it is to whoever wants it to be what they want it to be. Listen to what you like and don't listen to what don't like, but for the love of God stop fucking complaining about a change that hasn't really happened.

[Minkaveli]

Great post, Abdul Infinite aka Mullah Nasrudin .  I still breathe hip hop.  I only do it through real artists though.  I will not listen to shit music or as Tip says, shit slop.  I agree with the age and people using hip hop to market products.  However, if hip hop is going universal then people are not going to understand a Nas, Tribe Called Quest, Roots, Redman etc....  I look at it this way too; 50 Cent for example is a piece of shit when it comes to Hip Hop.  However, he makes decent music but not from a hip hop perspective.  He is Hip-Pop.  Look at whats real and hope that the real will shine above the BS and someday, we will reap the benefits.  I hope Common can sell well and prove real hip hop like Common and Kanye keep selling because Kanye West album was an example that real hip hop can still sell.

[St.Bruno]

I hate it when these old timers from back in the day bitch and moan about the "culture".

Remember that hip-hop is more than just music.

[Shallow]

I hate it when these old timers from back in the day bitch and moan about the "culture".

Remember that hip-hop is more than just music.

And ever other sub genre of Rock n Roll isn't? Punk is more than music, so is Metal, folk, funk, disco was. Even before Rock, the Blues, and Jazz were. Only idiot hip hop heads refer to their genre as a culture. Culture is more than entertainment. Culture involves a distinct way of life that includes religion, philosophy, work, eduacation. Is there a religion that indentifies solely with hip hop? How about a type of job, schooling, state of mind? There isn't. Hip hop is not a culture, it's a form of entertainment. Just because that form of entertainment includes spiing, scratching, breaking, grafitti, etc, does not make it any more than a form of entertainment. Hip hop is just a small aspect of American culture, that has made it's way across the globe. It is not a culture all it's own.

[Don Jacob]

hip hop is mostly a club culture thing now

[-Euthanasia-]

RAP is mostly a club culture thing now