When Will Hip Hop Re-Grow Up?

When did the grown men disappear from Hip Hop and R&B? Growing up, I listened to groups like Public Enemy, Ice Cube, Big Daddy Kane, and so forth who discussed issues like police corruption, racism, sexism, self-respect, safe sex, and uplifting the Black community within their music. Now I turn on Hip Hop stations and hear the same formula: gold/platinum chains and teeth, hoes, bitches, guns, killing, and partying. Now while I will proudly challenge you to a Soulja Boy dance-off and know that Afrika Bambataa and Kool Herc were making party music back in the late 70s and early 80s, why did dance music have to become so vulgar? Nowadays, songs with excellent beats make it almost mandatory for women to be called out of their name, regardless of whether they deserved the title or not, and somewhere along the line, there had to be a line about being affiliated with some gang, crew, or shooting someone. Why? When did the Hip Hop community decide that we didn't have anything else to talk about?

We can blame it on record labels, but the fact of the matter is no record label is taking a whip to anybody's backs and making the stereotypes come flying out of these rappers' mouths. Record labels want to make money just like rappers do, and when they see that phenomenal and intelligent albums like Jay-Z's "Kingdom Come" made less money than Jay-Z's "American Gangster" album, that tells them that stereotypes sell. So what do they ask for? More ignorant, stereotypical music. I hear people complain that the majority of negative music is being purchased by white people who already believe that black people are negative. However, when I walk into a predominantly black club, I'm more likely to hear Lil' Wayne rapping about licking lollipops than I am to hear a Lupe Fiasco track debating record labels who want him to "Dumb It Down." So who is really buying the music?

My issue isn't just with Hip Hop but with music in general taking the thought out of the songs. R&B artists like Ray J. are making songs about swinging on a pole, making a vagina talk, and big upping jump-offs (a person you have sex with and jump off instead of spend the night-equal to a sex buddy). Jaheim has one of the most beautiful voices in R&B, but I'm dead tired of him trying to connect to the thug crowd. As with every genre, there has to be an audience that you can connect with, but what sense does it make when Hip Hop artists like Jay-Z make comments like "That's my bitch" when majority of his music fans believe he's in a relationship with Beyonce? Is this not indirectly disrespectful to her? Snoop Doggy Dogg has been married for well over a decade, but minus the song he completed with Pharrell ("Beautiful"), it is almost impossible to find a song where he calls a woman a woman instead of a bitch and discusses pimping with more enthusiasm than monogamy. R&B talent like Tyrese wrote rhymes about Snoop making it cool to call a woman a bitch. Even female Hip Hop artists like Trina, Foxy Brown, and Lil' Kim are referring to themselves as the baddest bitches, which does nothing for the women who stand firm on not being called out of their name. Some have brainwashed themselves into believing that it's a compliment. Remember the days of MC Lyte, Salt n' Pepa, and Queen Latifah who would sneer at the thought of being called anything but queens or grown women?

There are those Hip Hop artists who continue to bring the heat and aren't ashamed of being intelligent and positive, such as Lupe Fiasco, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common, (sometimes) Kanye West, and Jay-Z's other personality. They'll openly talk about politics, like Jay-Z did when making snide comments about Bush while on tour with Mary J. Blige. In addition to Jay-Z discussing the money for Hurricane Katrina on "Minority Report," Mos Def was arrested for performing "Katrina Clap" outside of MTV's Video Music Award show. It took 10 years for Common to win one award, and he has held a firm stance on bringing positive music to both mainstream and underground listeners. Talib Kweli won't bat an eye before talking about the social and political issues in America. Lupe Fiasco defies stereotypes left and right. The same goes for R&B. There is still grown man music from R&B singers like Ne-Yo, Tank, Carl Thomas, Chris Brown, and new artists like Day 26 and J. Holiday.

But the scale is still tipped. When are we going to have more grown men in Hip Hop and R&B than boys who happen to be over the age of 18? When are grown men going to be so proud of getting their grown man on that they won't have to commit to teenage views of what's hot? When are grown men going to stop sagging and become role models instead of acting like those who are supposed to look up to them? When are grown men artists going to realize that if they want golddiggers to stop harassing them, it might be a good idea to stop throwing in their faces how much money you're worth and how you can buy any woman you want? When are grown men going to think it's a great thing to appreciate women by showing them respect, like Hip Hop legend L.L. Cool J has done for 10+ years? When are we going to hear more songs about important issues in the community like a Black man running for president, a Black woman shoe shopping through Hurricane Katrina's issues, the War on Gas, the job market, mending the disconnect between Black women and Black men in relationships, love, unity, family, investing our money instead of wasting it on rims and liquor, and a plethora of other topics happening in the community. If music artists think that it cannot be done or sold, they're sadly mistaken. Artists like Marvin Gaye and Rakim did it with finesse, and to this day, young and old still speak about them with respect.