Why I'm Not Mad At Hip-Hop

For years and years, I have heard people ask the question: "what's happened" in reference to the way that hip-hop has changed over the years, stating that it has become overly sexual, overly materialistic, or lacks substance. There have been moments where I've fallen in and out of love with hip-hop, but I always come back to it with all of the enthusiasm I grew up with.
I was raised on hip-hop. My parents were young, so it was nothing for my dad to pick me up from school playing N.W.A. or Ice Cube in the car. My dad was originally from South Central so west coast gangsta rap was always a staple ion the house, although Rakim, A Tribe Called Quest, and a variety of diverse artists were also played frequently, blended with everything from rock to jazz to reggae. Today, you can find everything from Sinatra to UGK on my iPod and I'm actually really excited about hip-hop right now.

"No More Good Music"

My feeling is that if anyone is complaining about not being able to find good music, they aren't looking hard enough. Radio and TV are big business at this point, especially when associated with hip-hop, so if you're listening to the radio or watching BET or MTV, you're allowing yourself to be force-fed the mainstream, which is not necessarily for everyone, particularly those who are more knowledgeable about music. I don't listen to the radio and haven't in about ten years. I do watch BET almost on a daily basis and I just look at it for what it is. 106 & Park comes on after I get home from work, so it's easy to just shut off the brain for a moment and enjoy the show. If something comes on I can't get with, I understand that their target age group is ten years or so younger than me and exercise my ability to change the channel! The way I go about finding new music is by either word of mouth, reading, or simply trial & error, which is the only way to really go about it in my eyes if you want more than what's being offered in mainstream media.

"Too Much Sex in Hip-Hop"

As far as hip-hop being over-sexualized today, look at society as a whole. EVERYTHING is over-sexualized. Hip-hop is a product of its environment and art imitates life. I wasn't mad at Nelly's "Tip Drill" video. As long as everyone involved was over 18 and was cut a check, what is the issue? Sure, it showed some crass behavior, but it's building a fantasy. Men see fully-dressed women every day, so what is TV for if not an escape from everyday life? If you're anything like me, you can enjoy the visual, but in real life, you wouldn't look at any of those women as relationship material considering their line of work anyway. I am willing to give most Black men the benefit of the doubt that they know the difference between a real woman and what is depicted in videos. It is up to us as a community to make sure our children know this too, but we can't allow for artists to take on that responsibility for us (and if your kid was up after 3am watching BET Uncut when it was on, then they're in trouble anyway).

Why I'm Not Mad At Souljah Boy

Souljah Boy falls into a relatively new category of artists who make what many would call "fluff" music, or music of little substance. Some would go so far as to say it's not hip-hop. What was "Rapper's Delight" if not a party song, even to this day? Would anyone question the validity of that song as hip-hop? Personally, I love Common and Mos Def and what people would call "conscious MCs", but if I'm getting ready to step out or if I'm in a club, that isn't what I want to hear. I want something to fit the situation. Black music has become extremely successful over the past 20 years, so it's only natural that the progression of many artists will be toward the celebration of their success. Souljah Boy's having the time of his life and making music on his age level, so I can't knock the hustle. Hip-hop was supposed to be fun, right? I think the best thing about hip-hop today is that there are so many facets to it and it represents everyone. Hip-hop is one of the only truly organic art forms. You notice that jazz, reggae, rock etc. all have distinctive sounds that make them what they are. Hip-hop can be infused into any other type of music and a hip-hop track can come totally out of left field with a new sound and still be credible. Lighten up, folks.

Leaders of the New School

I'm actually really optimistic about hip-hop. Hip-hop's grown into a genre that's got something for everyone. Just look at the following artists: Wale, Mickey Factz, Cory Gunz, Asher Roth, the Cool Kids, Lupe Fiasco, the Foreign Exchange, and Kid Cudi to name a few (I swear I was up on all of these long before the XXL article). Then look at the effect that hip-hop is having on R&B with artists like T-Pain and the Dream taking it in a different direction. There's even some influence from entirely separate genres (see Li'l Wayne's "Prom Queen" and Kanye West's recent "808s & Heartbreaks").

The point is that this is an organic art form and remaining stagnant or only making songs with a message would do our whole community a disservice by not allowing it to expand and be all-inclusive. If you don't like what you are seeing in the mainstream, go out and support the artists you care about...buy a CD, see a live show, or blog about it and let others know. The media presents what the public shows they want economically, so the dollar speaks in this instance. Just sitting back and complaining is counterproductive.

And if you still can't find any good music, holla at me and I'll burn you some CDs...no seriously, I will burn you a CD.