I have considered myself to be a hip hop enthusiast for
years. I prefer older hip hop songs from the 80's and 90's compared to today's
hip hop. But I have noticed something unfortunate. Very few artists talk about
important issues. In the 90's a lot of rappers did this. I wonder why this is.
I miss it. I think it helps spread the word about things when it is done
through music. Issues have changed and so forth since the 90's, but that does
not mean there is nothing to talk about. A rapper could talk about anything
from gay marriage to legalizing marijuana, to the economy. I do not want to
just knock the newer music and say it is bad or not as good. But I think it is
important for artists to speak out. Dance, party, love, and celebration songs
are good to have. But they are not enough.
A prime example of someone who talked about many issues is
Tupac Shakur. He said things that made sense and were real issues to address. “They got money for wars, but can’t feed the
poor.” When I hear that line I think that is still true and relevant
today. But then I hear the song Rack
City by Tyga I got annoyed. That song has been out for months and I still don’t
know what a “rack city bitch” is. The song at mosts talks about himself and
what is in his life directly. I’m not sure how it is a top selling song. Aside
from that is does not talk about anything important, let alone anything anyone
should care about.
Another example of a good song is C.R.E.A.M. by The Wu-Tang
Clan. The very first line of the first verse “I grew up on the crime side, the
New York Times side, staying alive was no jive.” With so much slang in the
song, it is not quite as easy to understand as Tupac’s song, but once it is understood
it means something. The life of the person who said this line was not an easy
one. It is lyrics like these that matter. That give the audience an
understanding of real issues.
I love this post. I totally agree that the artistic quality in music has been totally degraded in the past decade. Artists like Tupac Shakur, Queen Latifah and The Wu-tang Clan beautifull express the societal problems that were relevant at this time. I think we need to get rid of the Lil Waynes and Nicki Minaj's and get focus on how music should appropriately discuss today's issues.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny you mention Lil Wayne. He has been around since 1999 which people do not know. He is one of those people who has the talent to express good ideas. People say his mixtapes are better than his albums. I have not listened to his mistapes, but I have a feeling he is discussing important issues. I know he did a song about hurricane katrina way back when. He has potential, he just wastes it on skateboarding and this "Young Money" crap that means nothing.
ReplyDeleteIf you're a hip hop enthusiast you should probably just turn the radio off because it's just going to piss you off. It's just mainstream garbage with a great beat and lyrics that make you shake your head. Off the top of my head I can think of a few rappers that talk about issues like Lupe Fiasco has songs like Around My Way, Conflict Diamonds, American Terrorist, Words I Never Said. Slaughterhouse has some of the most articulate rappers in the game with Joe Budden, Royce, Crooked I and Joell Ortiz.
ReplyDeleteI understand what you are saying in this blog, however, you must look at all angles of the situation. People in the Hip Hop industry come from many different places, experiencing different things. And with the age difference between Tupac to Tyga, Tupac was older with a "thug life" experience. You do not once hear Tyga calling himself a thug, when Tupac blatantly had "thug life" tattooed on his stomach. Tupac was obviously around real life experiences to talk on such high levels of society problems. Tyga came from the group Young Money, now by the name do you think they care a whole lot about society today? No. Money is the motive; which was said in a Lil Wayne lyric. They have "No Worries" remember? But does that mean cut mainstream music completely? People need to realize that everything changes and so does music. That said, the way people write music will eventually change even from today. Also, music is made by and for peoples emotions, good or bad, so not all music will be based on society problems like Lupe Fiasco's song "Bitch Bad." Listen to it, ecspecially the ones who call themselves "bad".
ReplyDeleteOld school music is my favorite as well and I wish music would be like that today, but I except the fact that it wont. Which makes me and others like me appreciate music for what it's worth. That is the beauty of it.
Although I agree with your blog, I do not agree with brighteyes comment. Lil Wayne is still my favorite rapper after Biggie Smalls. Music is made to be different.
I agree with a lot of things in this post, but the types of artists you are talking about do exist in present day, its just not as common as it used to be. Artists such as Lupe Fiasco and Immortal Technique both tackle very relevant issues in today's world, including many controversial topics that many people tend to stay away from. However, I still agree that hip hop is nothing like it once was, and it most likely won't ever be the same.
ReplyDeleteThere are still amazing artists out like Kendrick Lamar, Lupe Fiasco, B.o.B, Chiddy Bang, Macklemore and K'Naan. These are the most well-known rappers who are actually good, but unfortunately they still aren't as popular as artists like Lil Wayne. It seems like this generation of teenagers are drawn to those who talk about sex, strippers and money because they don't understand the way life used to be. Just because times have gotten a little better, doesn't mean that there aren't still dozens of problems going on in our world that the new generation of rappers can talk about.
ReplyDeleteMusic is how we creatively remember events in history and we can’t get certain information that we get from music in newspapers. So if artists stop talking about relevant things, listeners will slowly start forgetting about relevant things.
I’m glad that you made this post because it's pretty sad that hip-hop went from people like Tupac and The Roots to Tyga and 2Chainz.