Hip Hop is "brain" Dead
In regards to the beef (if you can call it that) that Young Jeezy has in regards to the title of Nas' latest album, Hip-Hop is Dead, I offer this commentary.
Hip-Hop is alive!!!! It is still a living and breathing art form. No doubt about that.
However, I think that Nas' statement is addressing the fact that Hip Hop is "brain" dead; particularly, the commercialized form of it. Hip-Hop no longer thinks for itself; exhibiting no forms of intelligence and/or creativity, resulting in a consciousness that focuses and expresses the only thing that it now knows – DEATH – while it’s only vital signs are measured in dollars and cents; which ironically reflect a lack of “scholars with sense”.
Every comment that Jeezy used to defend the life of Hip Hop (i.e. “busting guns”, “Nas’ being on the block”, “does Nas have street credibility”, “is any of Nas’ homies in the Feds”, etc.) are merely reflections of “death”; or more appropriately, a “mindset” of death, that is a far cry from the versatility, creativity, intelligence, and life that once flowed through the veins of Hip Hop. The fact that Jeezy had to question Nas’ street credentials/credibility as opposed to Nas’ contributions to Hip Hop as an emcee is a clear indication that skill, talent, and longevity are no longer qualities that define a Rap artist, but rather, the length of their rap sheet.
In 1990, Eric B & Rakim came with a song called “The Ghetto” which chronicled a man using his mind to escape the confines of his surroundings. Unfortunately, 16 years later, we’ve arrived at an era where a rapper can’t see nor think past the ghetto; much less his block or his “hood”. Even with millions filling his pockets, his mind still spews lamentations of limitations. Hip Hop isn’t living……..it is barely surviving.
Thinking that money is the key to his freedom he ignorantly shoves the bills in the locks that bind him; further securing his own slavery.
Of course, it is possible that many of the rappers today have no clue who Nas is or what he has contributed, much less the Hip Hop artist that preceded him. With that considered, you can’t expect these new cats to do much better. You can’t do any better if you don’t know any better.
Look back 20 years (to the mid ‘80’s) and you’ll find artist like Run-DMC, UTFO, The Beastie Boys, Eric B & Rakim, Public Enemy, Ice-T, MC Lyte, NWA, Slick Rick, Dougie Fresh, Fat Boys, LA Dream Team, Afrika Bambaataa, Salt-N-Pepa, and 2 Live Crew (just to name a few), and NONE of these groups/rappers were the same; and all of them provided hits that have influenced the music that we listen to today.
All of them were original and creative in their own rite as it relates to style, appearance, delivery, and content. The only thing that they had in common was Hip Hop. But today, everyone is doing, looking, sounding and saying the same; like corpses after the flesh has decayed to dust, revealing its bare bones that are unidentifiable when placed side by side. The Hip Hop necropolis.
What people like Nas and the fans of the Golden Era of Hip Hop are seeking is BALANCE; an intelligent alternative to the thugging, materialism, buffoonery and misogyny that plague the airwaves today. They seek a balance that exhibits the creativity, versatility, skill, talent, and artistry that once defined the genre. Because of this, new artists like Lupe Fiasco are being welcomed with open arms as they serve as a breath of fresh air with a side of food-for-thought.
Yes, Hip Hop is still a breathing body; however, it is animated at the behest of big business, much like Geppetto’s puppet Pinocchio before the Blue Fairy told him that he could be “real” if he learned “courage”, “kindness”, and “honesty”. Hip Hop could learn a lot from Pinocchio.
Personally, I am an individual who was breast-fed by Hip Hop. Some people love H.E.R. like a wife, I love H.E.R. like a mother. I knew H.E.R. before she got lost in the streets. Not only would I not know where I would be without Hip Hop, I wouldn’t know WHO I would be. So, if anyone has a problem with my views on the state of Hip Hop, to quote Jeezy, you can "tell them to get at me”.
Tungz
1 comment:
the funny thing about this conversation is that nas is not the first to say that hip hop is dead...i recall hearing a song by skillz entitled "hip hop died", which speaks to the same condition of hip hop...i can only imagine that nas got the attention because he is a bigger target...perhaps nas is to jeezy what jay z is to li'l (ign'ant) wayne...just a way to force his name above the abyss of all of these "same game, different name" cats who claim to be advancing hip hop while at the same time embracing one sound, one style, one image...
my personal opinion of the living status of hip hop is this: as long as i am alive, hip hop lives...under my thinking, hip hop cannot die until all of H.E.R. sons and daughters have died...if we let H.E.R. die, then S.H.E. dies...if we fight to carry on (and pass on) what we knew hip hop to be back in the times when there was no local radio station that would play it...back in the times when radio stations were reformatted so that somebody would play it...then hip hop can live forever...if we get together and roll up on these radio station program directors and let them know that we refuse to allow them to continue playing this ignorant, homogeneous crap and labeling it hip hop, then maybe nas and other artists who understand that hip hop is about more than bangin', slangin', and hangin' in the strip clubs might find themselves back on the radio (and i don't mean satellite or HD radio)...perhaps that may be the sentiment that wynton marsalis holds in relation to jazz music...or the sentiment that prince holds in relation to music period...perhaps i am just in denial...after all, i never conceded that funk was dead, although many suggest that it is...disco, however, is dead...but that's another conversation...
you are correct when you say they probably don't know better, and thus cannot do better...but that is because we the first generation sons and daughters of H.E.R. are not teaching the coming generations...same thing happened with the civil rights movement...the leaders are going to pass having never groomed their successors...so you get what you're getting...i remember rakim (i believe on the 18th letter cd) when asked his opinion on the state of hip hop, said "i like how it's going...we do tend to get a little flat where lyrical content is concerned"...i love rakim to death, but i think that maybe he could have been more candid...maybe the new cats of that day would have had something to say, but does any rapper want to be target to the backlash of disrespecting the god...in any event, the battle lines have now been defined...and if it is our intent to restore creativity, sense, and love for the culture to the overall culture of what is being called hip hop, then we the sons and daughters of HIP HOP (the rappers, the beat boxes, the dj's, the breakdancers, the graffiti artists, the ones who remember fat shoe laces, the ones who remember no shoe laces, adidas shoes and jogging suits, ONE huge gold rope chain, live face-to-face rap battles, etc.) need to step up and advance the campaign...but if we are content to surrender to the will of what "hip hop" has become, then tearfully, i submit that...S.H.E. is dead
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