What's happenin to hip-hop music as we speak?

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I gotta say that hip-hop is shifting into a sad state right now. You got lame cats in the game right now like Nelly, Ja Rule, Fabolous, Lil Flip, P Diddy, No Limit, etc. that aren't true hip-hop. There is some good talent out there sure, but most of it goes without notice. I mean, you won't find your average white kid in the suburbia bumpin Jurassic 5 in his stereo system, or getting down to KRS One. What has happened? We've come to a corporate state where sell-outs rule the hip-hop charts and real stuff is found underground. Even BET is getting to be as whack as MTV these days. I see a lot of crap on 106&park too, and most of it sounds the same. Not only that, but one of the best lyricists Nas is going to the world least talented record label, Murda Inc. This is a guy who has always shyed away from the commercial labels and been a great rapper. This will tarnish his career, and tarnish the rap world even more.



So next time you see a copy of Nellyville, make sure to place it in it's appropriate section: Pop Music.
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 37
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    it would be exactly what i brought up in the TuPac/Biggie thread. hip hop is popular. in order to fill the void (demand) the music companies are pumping out tons of music (supply).



    however, there is a limited pool of talent to draw from. so you pull the good first, then are left with crap.



    what to do? throw some gold on top of the crap and sell it to kids.



    when rap becomes less popular, then the quality should go back to what it was about 10 years ago, which IMO was the last time rap was great. it was still good about 7 years ago, but that was the beginning of the dark times.
  • Reply 2 of 37
    The audience wants cartoon characters with guns and hos,and that's what the corporation gives them.Current "dance" music is awful,choppy rythyms,mostly made for people who like to shuffle rather than dance i.e. those who don't know how.I liked DMXs last effort,but it seems to have disappeared.Who We Be is one of the best raps I've head in a while.
  • Reply 3 of 37
    moogsmoogs Posts: 4,296member
    Tiger, you're not recognizing hiphop for what it is: just another kind of fad in different clothing. Just like the masses no longer listen to Blondie, Madonna and Hootie, they soon won't listen to hip-hop either. Blame MTV, if you want, but that's what's gonna happen IMO.



    Good music stands the test of time, everything else is forgotten or ridiculed or both....
  • Reply 4 of 37
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    [quote]Originally posted by TigerWoods99:

    <strong>I mean, you won't find your average white kid in the suburbia bumpin Jurassic 5 in his stereo system, or getting down to KRS One. </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Well at least the "white kids in the suburbia" here all think hip-hop sucks (which sometime I'll agree with them, but most of the time I disagree). Lately punk's more our thing around here.



    [ 10-20-2002: Message edited by: EmAn ]</p>
  • Reply 5 of 37
    That's nice.
  • Reply 6 of 37
    And that's another thing - punk? Which I like-but it's being sold by the music industry as the latest thing - which is ridiculous.How can you rebel against society by listening to music that is 25 years old? I wonder - what's wrong with young people these days?
  • Reply 7 of 37
    Tiger your listening to the piss poor hip-hop that gives Rap and hip-hop it self a bad name. Nas jay-z they all suck their lyrics are weak and they can`t flow. Go find some beatnuts, swollen members, Jurrasic 5 (as you said), last emporer, dilated peoples, and how about some Trobiz? thats good music.
  • Reply 8 of 37
    [quote]Tiger, you're not recognizing hiphop for what it is: just another kind of fad in different clothing. Just like the masses no longer listen to Blondie, Madonna and Hootie, they soon won't listen to hip-hop either. Blame MTV, if you want, but that's what's gonna happen IMO.<hr></blockquote>



    You're confusing pop with the real thing. Hip-hop music is a valid art form, even though most of the stuff produced in its name is junk. I'd say what appears to be its swift decline is a matter of hip-hop being born into a rotten period of exploitation in music.



    If you strip it down, hip-hop is poetry with a strong rhythm, often with an aggressive message, often improvised, for a live audience. It's a ritualised duel. The basic elements of hip-hop have been practiced for centuries in multiple cultures, long before hip-hop itself came along. Those elements have already stood the test of time. What hip-hop puts on top of that foundation is rhyming and the DJ.



    I don't see any problem with the basics. The only thing that really constitutes a fad is the commercialised joke that passes for hip-hop in the mainstream. The problem is slapdash composition and execution. The subject matter is contrived and repetitive, the beats are coming out of drum machines, there is no DJing to speak of... it's looking a lot like real hip-hop was swapped with pop music with gangsta rap to distract us, hence the decline.



    There's still the underground though. I can go to shows here (though I don't like to go out) and be amused by the smarts of a local MC or be impressed by a DJ's technique. The scene here is much different than it would be in a major US city - less violence and poverty; more philosophy - but the musical influences are the same, and it's a much better representation of hip-hop than anything you can find on TV.



    Judging by what I've heard from various places, regardless of the location and subject matter, I think one finds that the underground makes much more valuable material than the record industry.
  • Reply 9 of 37
    Uhhh apparently people dont actually read my post. Didn't I just say that the stuff was piss poor sh*t that you can't even consider hip hop? Everything you mentioned is exactly the stuff I listen to Mount. Nas bad lyrics? I don't think so man.
  • Reply 10 of 37
    There is nothing funnier than watching a white person drive by in a low rider with the bass pumped all the way up jamming out to two pack shacker or one of those other people with weird names...
  • Reply 11 of 37
    [quote]Originally posted by Rick1138:

    <strong>How can you rebel against society by listening to music that is 25 years old?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    cause things havent changed that much???
  • Reply 12 of 37
    Actually they have-all the good stuff is underground-the new punk is just the way that corporate drones want teenagers to rebel-in a way that they are already familiar with.Consider the Strokes-a good band and all-but I liked them better when they were called the Ramones-and I suspect anyone who dresses the way I did when I was in college.
  • Reply 13 of 37
    groveratgroverat Posts: 10,872member
    "What's Golden" just begs to be bumped loudly. I resist, but it's so very tempting. (A Sprite commercial? J5? I forgive them. )



    *hugs Mac The Fork*
  • Reply 14 of 37
    OMG! I bump that ish hard core on my stereo here ALL THE TIME! That is my freakin SONG!
  • Reply 15 of 37
    newnew Posts: 3,244member
    That sad comercial s**t has always been there... Hiphop is still living fresh and strong after 20/30 years (some might argue longer)...
  • Reply 16 of 37
    giaguaragiaguara Posts: 2,724member
    like the graffitis .. the hiphop one day arrived to europe, ages ago... and the white yurruppean "homeboys" thought they were so "cool" and "original.." .. in italy even the graffitis are still "in".

    and of the hiphop, there is nothing worse than hiphop in italian..

    "yo" ..

    well cool. most of those originally shouting "yo" start to have kids who ask "dad what was hiphop/ techno/ grunge/ambient etc" ...



    <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[No]" />
  • Reply 17 of 37
    newnew Posts: 3,244member
    If anything, hiphop in Europe has been more popular amogst immigrants and blacks/hispanics/arabs than with whites. Hiphop being used as a comercial product for the "white" masses is nothing new, neither in the US or Europe...
  • Reply 18 of 37
    giaguaragiaguara Posts: 2,724member
    ...well i used to listen to it.

    ... in the beginning of the 1990s
  • Reply 19 of 37
    artman @_@artman @_@ Posts: 2,546member
    [quote]Originally posted by TigerWoods99:

    <strong>I gotta say that hip-hop is shifting into a sad state right now. You got lame cats in the game right now like Nelly, Ja Rule, Fabolous, Lil Flip, P Diddy, No Limit, etc. that aren't true hip-hop. There is some good talent out there sure, but most of it goes without notice. I mean, you won't find your average white kid in the suburbia bumpin Jurassic 5 in his stereo system, or getting down to KRS One. What has happened? We've come to a corporate state where sell-outs rule the hip-hop charts and real stuff is found underground. Even BET is getting to be as whack as MTV these days. I see a lot of crap on 106&park too, and most of it sounds the same. Not only that, but one of the best lyricists Nas is going to the world least talented record label, Murda Inc. This is a guy who has always shyed away from the commercial labels and been a great rapper. This will tarnish his career, and tarnish the rap world even more.



    So next time you see a copy of Nellyville, make sure to place it in it's appropriate section: Pop Music.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Maybe they ran out of copying and sampling other peoples work. Maybe the public finally got wind that they were being scammed. Maybe rap music since Run DMC has gone down the shit-hole because there hasn't been anything original produced since then. Maybe it's because all the good rappers are dead. Maybe rap is just a trend...maybe I just better shut the **** up.
  • Reply 20 of 37
    [quote]Originally posted by TigerWoods99:

    <strong>There is some good talent out there sure, but most of it goes without notice. I mean, you won't find your average white kid in the suburbia bumpin Jurassic 5 in his stereo system, or getting down to KRS One.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    A nice case in point about stereotyping, given that my rural white roommate and I (a suburban white kid) often listened to J5, I've seen Dilated Peoples in concert, and the last cd I bought was "Blazing Arrow" by Blackalicious. So don't fret Tiger, all is not lost.
Sign In or Register to comment.