Hip-Hop: From Losing its’ Soul to Losing its’ Mind


“I'm convinced now that more than truth is at stake
Where people create language that pretends to communicate
Euphamisms are misundertood as mistakes
but its a by-product of the ghetto music we make
From an extroverted point of view I think it’s too late
Hip Hop has never been the same since '88
Since it became a lucrative profession it’s been a misconception
that movement in any direction is progression.” – Canibus (Poet Laureate II)

Ponderings of the dismal and decaying state of Hip-Hop have almost become as commonplace as the ignorance that justifies it. However, no comment or rap quotable has ever so accurately articulated this condition as the aforementioned verse by the brutally underrated emcee by the name of Canibus. In fact, his infamy can be largely attributed to that fact that the Hip-Hop industry has come to favor “ignorance” over “intellect” and “sales” over “skills”.

Consider the mid 80’s, when Hip-Hop was at its’ creative apex, dismissed by the masses as a passing trend, yet untainted by the cloning and corruption of corporate “Commercialism”. You had groups/artists like LL Cool J, Run-DMC, Dougie Fresh, Slick Rick, MC Lyte, Afrikka Bambataa, Fat Boys, BDP, Eric B and Rakim, Salt-n-Pepa, Beastie Boys, Big Daddy Kane, Audio Two, and UTFO (to name a very few). All of which were original in their own rite, bearing no resemblance to one another aside from the fact that they collectively represented the versatility and ingenuity of Hip-Hop.

At this juncture, “skills and originality” were mandatory, effectively positioning each of these artists to deliver songs that could be classified as nothing other than “classic”. You don’t believe me? I challenge you to go back through those names and find one that didn’t drop at least one classic hit. **waiting....waiting....still waiting...** Yeah, that’s what I thought!

Now, 20 years later, a time where Hip-Hop has developed into the top selling musical genre in the world, “talent and originality” have become reluctant afterthoughts, sadly succumbing to the commercial strength of “image and marketability”. You now have acts (emphasis on the word “acts”) like Yin Yang Twins, Mike Jones, 50-Cents, Fabolous, Lloyd Banks, Slim Thug, Masta P, Chingy, and virtually any rapper that has “Li’l” in front of their name (with the exception of maybe 1 or 2) who practically are identical as it relates to image, and even more so in their lackluster imitations of talent that struggles to reach the level of novice.

And once you think that it couldn’t get any worse - defending the absence of lyrical talent by focusing on the presence of hot beats – a group called D4L comes with a song called “Laffy Taffy” that offers the simplest of tracks, surpassed only by the profusely inane dribble that has been flatteringly referred to as “lyrics”.

So what happened??? Where did things go wrong??? The answer is “Commercialization”; the proverbial double-edged sword that now has its’ blade plunged deep into the heart and mind of Hip-Hop. Commercialization was good – on one hand – in that it allowed for Hip-Hop to get exposure to the masses, effectively acquiring a larger fan base - which generates revenue – in turn, allowing artist to successfully live off of their hobby. However, the down-side is that commercialization required for the integrity of the art to be compromised; retrofitted and formatted to accommodate the lagging intellect of the average listener.

Rappers like Jay-Z – one of the few artists who manage to stay true to the art form while simultaneously satisfying the mainstream audience – went from dropping jewels of wisdom (i.e. “Reasonable Doubt”) to dropping rhymes about...uh....well....JEWELS!!!! In fact, on a track called “Moment of Clarity”, Jay-Z spews:

“I dumb down for my audience, and double my dollars
They criticize me for it, yet they all yell “Holla”
If skills sold, truth be told, I’d probably be
Lyrically.....Talib Kweili
Truthfully, I wanna rhyme like Common Sense (But I did 5 Mil)
I ain’t been rhymin’ like Common since
When your sense got that much in common, and you been hustlin’ since
your inception, f**k perception, go with what makes sense”

And there it is; an assertion from one of Hip-Hop’s finest, pin-pointing the Industry’s thirst for “cents/sales” over “sense/skills”, while simultaneously acknowledging his own “selling out” in order to “out sell” his contemporaries. Even more interesting is that he tells his audience that he had to get “dumb” in order for them to feel him; in which in all sadness, they’re probably to dumb to realize that they just got dissed.

Emcees like Common, Talib Kweili, Mos Def and the like, often fall through the cracks of commercial success because their lyrics are too innovative and intellectual; requiring some thought on the part of the listener, which loses the focus of fans whose attention spans can only translate “bitches”, “Ho’s”, “niggas”, “bling-bling”, and “24’s”.

Ignorance is profitable. The dumber the fans, the more corporations make. The owners of these major record labels and media outlets aren’t even fans of Hip-Hop music themselves. However, they are acutely aware of the potential in its’ popularity, resulting in them “directing” the Hip-Hop trends towards a consciousness of “materialism”, “pretentiousness”, and “objectivity” - all delivered in a package of voyeuristic machismo – but passed off as the “new style” or “the next big thing”; which explains why these corporations target the impressionable, unquestioning youths. It’s easier to shape clay than it is to chisel stone.

Case in point: BET recently refused to air Little Brother’s video entitled “Lovin’ It”, citing that it’s “too intelligent for the BET audience.” In December of 2004, BET also rebuffed De La Soul’s “Shopping Bags” video claiming that it wasn’t “relevant to the BET audience.” Since BET came under the ownership of Viacom, it appears that the acronym went from Black Entertainment Television, to Black’s Embarrassing Themselves; or more accurately, Buffoonery Every Time.

Nevertheless, in all honesty, complete blame cannot be placed on the shoulders of corporations alone. A pimp can’t pimp unless the whore chooses to be a whore. And the whore can’t be a whore unless there are “Joe’s” willing to pay for her services. Ideally, the “Pimps” are the corporations; the “Whores” are the artists; and the “Joe’s” are the fans. Therefore, there is a level of responsibility and awareness to be played on the parts of all.

The arts - music in particular - have always reflected the collective consciousness of society at large; from Picasso’s “Guernica” to Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On”, to Sage Francis’ “Makeshift Patriot”. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that illustrations of destruction, death, and greed have become the subject of many expressions.

However, as it currently stands, Hip-Hop long lost its’ Soul when it sold out to mainstream, and has since lost its’ Mind by representing concepts and a consciousness that can be called nothing other than “self-destructive”. All that remains of Hip-Hop is the Body; which threatens to be dismembered and destroyed under the weight of ignorance and regressive thought.

It will be convenient for those who support these degenerative aspects of Hip-Hop to dismiss this writing as “Player Hating”, “Hating”, or “Hateration”, however, it is quite the contrary. This is Love; love for a beautiful art form that has infinite constructive possibilities; a reminiscent plea to get back to the creativity acquired at the hands of intelligence and talent that was motivated by the love of the music itself and not for the love of money. Hip-Hop you're the love of my life!!!!

Tungz