There has been this argument the past few years about the direction of hip hop. Hip hop is considered to be dead by some, and others who reject that statement feel that people are “hating” it because it lives in the south, rather than its New York birthplace. My stance is neutral because I feel there are hundreds of other IMPORTANT things that died well before hip hop was born, and have yet to be resuscitated. Living or dead, hip hop is not owned by those who have created it, like a majority of things in America. This is why I consider hip hop to be dead: It was a culture, and like any culture the people have their own language, appearance, and order. It was an expression at its peak, being that music is the greatest form of communication. It told stories of poverty, struggles, and good times of urban youths in the growing ghettos of America. It had a certain consciousness of the past, present, and what we wanted our future as a people to be. It gave us a voice, something we hadn’t had since the civil rights movement if you ask some. It was ours, it was our return to glory on a long ladder we had to climb. It let you know that the struggles you faced on a daily basis were the same that someone hundreds of miles away also faced, and that our fight was one and the same.
Then it became a business, this is what caused its death. Artists who once spoke from the heart and helped you visualize the scenes and actions taking place in our inner cities now lost that message. They started to glorify the poverty and ignorance of the ghettos, making some feel that these ideas were ones around which someone should govern their life.
The selling of culture to comeercial and corporate entities ran by someone who didn’t even understand the concept but understood the power of its sound, style, and mentality led to its demise.
The fact is that there’s so much trouble in the world, and they can’t seem to talk about anything relevant to help that cause or achieve our own success and progress. The music is a part of us, it’s our culture, so regardless of who is in power we are going to refer back to it because it is US; like every other thing we have created. Selling of companies like Phat Farm, BET, Bad Boy and others by those who claimed to be for black progress contributed to the downfall of hip hop.
BET, or Blacks Exploited by Television as I like to call it, has played a great part in dumbing down our children and communities by selling them an image of luxury, independency, and material worth. The crazy part being that you can’t earn luxury for yourself and future generations without education; which is mentioned on that station, and every other one. The problem is not hip hop, but that parents are allowing hip hop to teach their children.
Rappers, some who never graduated from high school and couldn’t comprehend on a 10th grade level; are teaching values, morals, and reasons for living to your child. So hip hop is DEAD, but our people are also well on their way if we continue to allow those with agendas of oppression and exploitation to control our destiny!
Instead of making it rain, why don’t you buy some books and school supplies for the children who have their mother go out and spend her last $15 on your album?