Recently I’ve come across some of my older albums and popped them in, the effect they have on me is amazing. Reminds me of why I love music so much generic crap has filled the airwaves for so long I cant even bare to listen to the radio anymore. Music with substance does still exist you just have to do a crap load of digging to find it but when you find it is worth it. As a person who grew up in the south Bronx in a Dominican Household I learned to love music and grew up with the explosion of hip hop right on my front lawn, to see the stages it went through became painful at one point. What began as the voice of the streets and the struggle of my people has been so commercialized that their is not much of a voice left only an advertisement.
Rap music no longer makes us rise up or open our eyes anymore they make us want to buy expensive cars or hang out at strip clubs. Women are no longer viewed with respect or beautiful, their banging and jiggle with it. For the last 4 years after the bling bling era died down the brief "drop it like its hot era" that then transformed in the Krunk era which converted into the DIRTY DIRTY era replaced story tellers like Nas, and Slick Rick. I remember listening to great stories that made me laugh and cry, now I’m just puzzled after a series of dumb down lyrics that lack the creativity that made Hip Hop what it was in the past.
Unlike many I do not agree that hip hop is dead I take it more as it is on Life Support and Great producers like 9th Wonder,MadLib,PeteRock who refuse to pull the plug keep its heart beating. Hip Hop comes from a culture of Leaders and Trendsetters not followers. Commercialism can dumb down the masses to the point where content is no longer needed open your eyes and listen to what is being said if you cant relate and you gain nothing from it why listen?
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Hell yeah man, couldn't agree more. Now me, being a white boy from Upstate NY country side, was not around Rap or Hip Hop all that much. Just not exposed to it. I do remember picking up my first Rap/Hip Hop tape, I still have packed away, and it was a compilation mix tape. Things like De La Soul, Ton Loc, Slick Rick, N.W.A.. I had a Boogie Down Productions tape, Public Enemy, and a few others I can't quite remember right now. This was like forth, fifth grade. And there wasn't much I remember after that. Until I was older, and one of the first groups I remember hearing and listening to was Onyx. that shit was like nothin' I ever heard, and it was hard. And then I just dipped in more. And in the 90's, there was great Rap and Hip Hop, KRS-One being a big one. And I too miss the story telling. And you couldn't have said it better with the few words that are in these songs these days, are all about buying cars and banging them out with these rims and DVD game station's in them! WTF are you going to do with that? I mean if you have a mini van and kids, that's a different thing.
But anyway, you're dead on, and more people need wake up!! Listen to what you are talking about. sheeeiiit, I'll go get you a soap box, preach brother!!!!
E.S.M.S.
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