Despite all the criticism surrounding hip hop music (when hasn't there been criticism?) and my personal feelings that "things done changed," I'm still a hip hop head. But don't ask me what's hot on Hot Black Radio Station, BET, or MTV.Cause this sista doesn't know. I took Ice Cube's (and dead prez's) advice a long time ago and turned off the radio.
Yet, on the daily, I'm still listening to hip hop artists that I can relate to and that actually have something to say. Artists that paint their realities through rhyme. Artists that provide a life soundtrack ranging from the mundane to the serious. Artists that actually look at hip hop as an artistic form and not just a way to sport a rented Maybach.
Ask me how.
It's all about the periphery. There are TONS of talented artists still doin' the damn thing. But you won't hear them on the radio. You won't see them on 106th & Park. Oh the beauty of the Internet...
Shout-out to folks like Murs, Little Brother, CL Smooth (yes 1/2 of the classic hip hop group Pete Rock and CL Smooth dropped an album earlier this year), Dres (1/2 of Black Sheep dropped one recently as well), Jean Grae, Akrobatik, Ed O.G. (yes that one), Consequence. Check out Sadat X's recent joint. Check out Talib Kweli's new label Blacksmith Records. Pharoahe Monch recently dropped a single about gun violence, but we ain't heard about that. I was just introduced to the rhymes of Asheru and OKAI. Nature Sounds has a lot going on. Rest in peace J.Dilla. Thanks for leaving behind symphonies that still bang.
Let me reiterate, TONS of artists (on MySpace alone) that I don't even know about, but seek to discover, are representing hip hop lovely.
But they ain't flashy enough. Many of us who complain about the current state of hip hop do very little to check out what's going on beyond Hot Black Radio Station.
In a new book, WHEN RAP MUSIC HAD A CONSCIENCE, writer Tayannah Lee McQuillar reminisces about the good old days of hip hop, the golden era that she deems from 1987-1996. She conjures up the work of artists like X-Clan (Brother J wrote the foreword), Arrested Development, Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, and De La Soul and links hip hop to progressive thought and action. It's a slim book that covers a relatively short period in hip hop, but I guess that's the point. She does make an interesting case when she writes, "It is important to note that the very existence of hip-hop culture is "conscious" as it gives a voice to the most marginalized sections of our population who would otherwise have none."
Any hip hop fan will tell you, the music ain't all got to be "conscious," (we love Biggie and Common alike and think Slick Rick is brilliant). We love to wave our hands in the air like we just don't care. But at the very minimum, it's got to be creative. Even through all the profanity, violence, and misogyny (all of which have been in hip hop for quite some time), we (including conflicted female fans) could at least argue that the music was creative. Hip hop's roots are heavily entrenched in the artistic/creative. Think Kool Herc and break beats; Flash and scratching; Bambaataa and musical fusion; Lee Quinones and graffiti; Crazy Legs and breaking.
But for the majority of today's mainstream rap music, we can't even argue that anymore. McQuillar's book title could very well have been WHEN RAP MUSIC HAD CONTENT.
Russell Simmons can call all contemporary "rappers" poets if he wants (I like how the "star" factor wasn't discussed when he was on The Oprah Winfrey Show), but we all know that when Lil' Junebug gratuitously rhymes (nowadays it ain't even got to rhyme) "spread your legs cause I'm hot as a potato," he ain't concerned with craft. He's trying to hit up Jacob the Jeweler.
During Oprah's Town Hall Meeting, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. actually got it right, it's all about the benjamins.
But Jay-Z said it best, "I dumbed down for my audience to double my dollars/They criticized me for it yet they all yell "Holla!"/'If skills sold, truth be told, I'd probably be lyrically, Talib Kweli/Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense/But I did five mill' -- I ain't been rhymin' like Common since."
Real poets are making noise. We just ain't listening.
Comments: (78)
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By: Butta on 4/20/2007 12:26PM
Felicia, this was excellent. Thanks for the 411 on this new book as well. I am definitely adding this to my reading list.
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By: Miss Phillips on 4/20/2007 9:43PM
Felicia Pride seems to believe that radio stations or television does not protray all the creative talents representing hip-hop, and she is right. It is not important to say current on hip-hop by using radio stations and popular television shows. I try to keep an open mind by trusting that I will be guided to listen to the right people when the time is right. Each artist has an audience, so no one left out the recognition circle. It's just that we all have different taste and styles, and we look for certain things when making music choices. Personally, I listen for content and unique arrangement of words because good hip hop is very diverse in its presentation and style. A point of connection needs to be present in order to relate to some people, but if a person approaches anything with passion the audience will walk away with something that helps them to grow or learn something new.
Comments from Miss Phillips
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By: Madelyn Mitchell on 4/23/2007 6:34AM
Thank god some one pointed this out! The radio is sooo depressing right now, I can't stand what hip hop stands for anymore. Like chris rock said, "I'm tried of defending it...move bitch get out the way...wtf". I mean how many times a day do we have to hear some dumb ass rapper talking about money, cars, hoes, and bling....enough already!!!!!!!!!!!!
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By: Catrell on 4/23/2007 2:57PM
This article has many great points of where the MC's lyrics was the focal point besides the beat. Too often, the record companies and labels want THE RAPPER(yes, an individual with no imagination)to be the example of INDUSTRY SLAVE. Meaning, sell your soul and be broke forever to accommadate some old white executive who can careless about the genre for his personal bank account. Truly, young artists need to read up and ask questions about the MUSIC BUSINESS. These two words are really completly separate because the artist can NEVER be totally free unless they demanding COMPLETE CREATIVE CONTROL and MASTERS OF THEIR WORKS. With the masters, they have so much control on how their catalog is handled, and have the ability to either be independent or have a exclusive deal with a major label with the perks. In short, the decline of real MCs with common sense and intregity is raising and it's sad how the new generation of rap headz is not exploring the past classics to understand the essence of which it comes from. Much love to the real MCs....Gangstarr, Wu-Tang, Talib, The Roots.....KEEP H.I.P.H.O.P ALIVE, Y'ALL
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By: Kevin Facey on 4/25/2007 4:10PM
Great commentary. Now, for me, I am not a hip hop head, though I do find the music very engaging. Much of what you see on BET, MTV, and other music channels or on radio is garbage. When I was growing up, I remember watching Run DMC, or Public Enemy, or Rakim, who could spit a rhyme with such fierceness. Today, most mainstream rappers, are not really that good. Put many of these rappers in a battle, they would loose. Anyway, very good article, Felicia.
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By: Dickthedog on 4/26/2007 7:15AM
There is a simple way to undo what has been to your music, don't refer to it as music, don't refer to the thugs as artist, don't support it, and don't hang out with those that do! The steet thug will quickly disappear, and the real artist will quickly reappear.
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By: ShadoEnn on 4/26/2007 9:58AM
Felicia, your article was excellent. I watch my 15-year-old bob up and down to the garbage played on mainstream radio these days and just shake my head; I don't understand it. Like you, I too took Crube's advise a long time ago and "turned off the radio". These days, I find myself tracking down and listening too some of the greats from "our" time-frame; Rakim, Big Daddy Cane, NWA (vulgar, yes but still poetic), Ice-Cube, Pete Rock and CL Smooth, etc. It's good to find out that some of the true poets and lyrical giants of our day are still bangin' the real. Good work Felicia.
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By: The blac zodiac on 4/26/2007 10:23AM
Im the best rapper alive
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By: Nick on 4/26/2007 11:22AM
I know there are some problems, but how does rap become the reason fo the ills of American culture? I mean corporations, the movie stereotypes, judicial system... all are racist and sexist. It is the American way. Rap is just a symptom of the American culture and greed.
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By: lwebb on 4/26/2007 4:04PM
I'm strait out of A Town, but I can't stand this snap ya fingers fad of music. And jay nicks you can not rap, stop playin that stupid ass song wit u and fabo.
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