What Happened To Hip Hop?
Rap back when I was young was filled with struggling MCs telling the stories of their lives, the hard shit they dealt with growing up and the constant struggle in life with money, family, and women. You turn on the radio or MTV now and all you hear are rappers talking about sex, money, and killing people. You rarely ever hear an MC on MTV that can actually spit, instead you hear rappers using there kindergarden rhymes to gain the respect of millions of brainwashed fans.
It's like Immortal Technique said "If you go platinum, it's got nothing to do with luck. It just means that a million people are stupid as fu*k." I remember hearing verses from rappers that actually had meaning behind them, that actually made you think, verses such as this:
"You see, my aura's positive I don't promote no junk
See, I'm far from a bully and I ain't a punk
Extremity in rhythm, yeah that's what you heard
So just clean out your ears and just check the word"
- ATCQ
Compare a verse like that with one of 50 Cent's, and the difference in talent is laid out right in front of you. Here's a verse from 50 Cent for example:
"I ain't that nigga trying to holla cause I want some head
I'm that nigga trying to holla cause I want some bread
I could care less how she perform when she in the bed
- 50 Cent
I don't know about anyone else but to me modern day hip hop is garbage. I'm not saying that underground hip hop isn't in existence or going strong, because believe me I'm a huge fan of the modern day underground MC's like Jedi Mind, Blackalicious, Gangstarr, Canibus and many more, all I'm saying is why aren't these MC's mainstream, why isn't their talent being exposed? Why does Lil Jon continue to make money yelling Yea and OK in his songs? You tell me.
Published by Mike Visgilio
y name is Mike Visgilio and I've always had an interest in writing and letting my opinions be known. I am very opinionated and tend to make many people mad with the views I have, but to me that's what makes... View profile
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17 Comments
Post a CommentHell yeah hip hop just went underground thats word. Me and my group are trying to let the world know that we can do it. Coming straight outta East Saint LOuis ,Illinois. Our lyrics are complex and so far from what I'm hearing it's the best. Real hip hop is not talking about guns and sex so Bad habits bout to rip it who's the next mc to get checked SO that's what you call ya self. As far AS I'm concerned all these rappaz need damn I wish I could've spitted more game to ya focusing eyes but I gotta run cuz it lives through me HIP HOP is AliveEEEEEEE!
Bad Habit
-Sincerely yours One Love
Dude hip hop is not dead, it just went underground.
I feel sorry for Hip-Hop man. I miss back in da dayz when dudes like Nas, Big L, Mobb Deep, Mos Def, Biggie, Pac, Pun, Scarface, OutKast, Talib, Dead Prez, Cormeg', and AZ. Na mean, real Hip hop. Rakim, Public enemy, ATCQ.
i dont think i know whats wrong yeah its the artists foughts but it's also these record companies and label to blame the most 50cent youngjoc, mims none of these clowns would be heard if it wasnt for thes people signing them on we gotta come together both black and white and take our music back music is a form of meditation lets not meditate on foolishness any more
5037646604 any comments are questions about starting a hip hop magazine real hip hop
It's funny how there are so many "real" lyricst out there. But none of them are mainstream, the few I can name that actually are known pretty well along the nation are, canibus, papoos, immortal technique, krs-one, rakim, 2pac, biggie with his ill punch lines. And that's about it. I believe that mainly it's the south that changed hip -hop now. And I'm speaking because I'm from the south and i listen to this music more than other people in other parts of the nation. Me and a lot of my people rap a lot, and we like to follow in the steps of the legendery emcees, rakim, nas, krs-one, canibus, papoos, things like that. I don't see why people love this "i'ma kill anotha nikka put my finga on the trigga" stuff like that, your a wanksta i'ma kill you murda you...all of that is just playing ignant. I'm from the era when word play was recognized, your ill metaphors that made you think. Not when they talked about there chains and necklases and cars. Like Krs-one said in the classic track, "i got
I thing what happened was everything change when are people were dieing and they did'nt have same pacin any more and the videos were chageing and hip hop did'nt have that fire any more so that's how a feel about hip hop
I thing what happened was everything change when are people were dieing and they did'nt have same pacin any more and the videos were chageing and hip hop did'nt have that fire any more so that's how a feel about hip hop
I agree with you 100% brother. There is rarely any talent nowadays. Hip hop is full of materialistic rhymes and bullshit. Although there are some rappers left that can keep it real, but unfortunate a big chunk of the rap audience were taken by the new "rap". I listen to rappers like Common Kanye Mos Def Talib Kweli and Jay-Z. Something has to be done.
Its sad because I cycle through all of my old music (anything from 82 to 98) since Hip Hop is Just so Terrible now! We have to start calling these rappers out on their "Music" and tell them straight up that we dont want to hear their garbage anymore!
I'm with all of ya. I grew up listening to hip hop, Jungle Brothers, De La, ATQC, Big Daddy Kane, PE, Pete Rock & CL, KRS, Digable Planets, Souls of Mischeif, Brand Nubian, Grand Puba, Nas, Biggie, Alkoholics, Redman, Wu-Tang, to name a few off the top of my head. Was never a big fan of West Coast Hip Hop, but could still appreciate artists like Dre, Cube, Pac, Snoop (early days et.) etc.
I don't even bother with todays so called Hip-Hop. Although there still are a few decent artists such as Common, K-OS etc. the majority are just fake, shiny suite rappers. the following is a brief timeline on what events I feel lead to the demise...feel free to comment.
1. The Rise of Puffy. I feel this was the first blow to Hip-Hop as we knew it. The rise of Puffy through Biggies first album brought hip-hop into a whole new light. Puffy brought us the commercialized rhymes about money and women and was the first to bring back the "Bling" factor. This time around, it was not about thick