Comments on: The Death of Hip-Hop

By: clark

clark — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 16:24:23 +0000

@Wasteland Drifter, I agree entirely with your response. Hip-Hop has never been healthier. Of course one aspect of current Hip-Hop is the psuedo-gangster rap et al you see on MTV. But this really isn’t what Hip-Hop is about and instead of focusing ones energy upon this, why not just forget it and focus on the good music.

@hx-sin, The Hip-Hop you are referring to is actually a sub-genre of ‘Hip-Hop’ in the broader sense, and you should research what this actually is.
Hip-Hop has not died neither has it been replaced, instead it has been broken down into different subsets of the original genre. What you heard was the bad side, and unfortunately it is this that has become commercialised and brought into the mainstream. Rarely in this subset do we see excellent, artful pieces of music.
Seek and ye shall find however, the other side of Hip-Hop that is in fact artful, musically and lyrically rich throughout.

By: hx sin

hx sin — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 04:50:39 +0000

i don’t listen to hip-hop and find little redeemable value in it, especially having studied music theory. let me rephrase, i haven’t heard more than a handful of hip-hop song with real musical quality. if hip-hop is dead/dying it is the fault of everyone associated with it.
i can’t count how many times in the last month I heard some kid listening to a song in the car that makes my teeth grit because off key “singing” or just plain being off beat. Hip-hop because its dog eat dog attitude has kicked out quality musicians in favor of publicities hounds who turn out albums like they turn out feces. a hip-hop song today consists mainly of a theme, either bitches, living in the ghetto or getting wasted. throw a “street cred” photo on the cover along with some “bling” add in catch words like cred and bling and their you go. record companies don’t even have to pay for studio musician because a studio musician couldn’t write crap like these people do.
in other words, hip-hop is dying because it has no art. the art has been dug out and replaced with dreams of fame and money fueled ideas of how to produce a record.

By: Wasteland Drifter

Wasteland Drifter — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 11:39:21 +0000

[quote post="36"]we have to ask ourselves, “Just why did hip-hop die?”[/quote]

Hip Hop hasn’t died so why conduct a postmortem on a living thing? Are there no DJ’s? Are there no MC’s? Are there no breakers? No graf writers?

[quote post="36"]Problem one: The market is flooded with mediocre talent.[/quote]

Always has been. The rose tinted look back on history always forgets the PM Dawn’s, Morris & The Minors, and Ya Kid K’s. George Michael also says hi with his Wham Rap!

[quote post="36"]Problem Two: Hip-Hop continues to send the wrong messages, and glorify self-destructive behaviors.[/quote]

All bases are covered and always have been, the fact MTV and the radio want to focus on certain artists so-what? It always gets me how those claiming Hip Hop is dead always seem to use the corporate tools which have NEVER represented Hip Hop culture as some kind of proof they are right. You may not have mentioned them directly but all the artists you are pointing the finger at are the ones on the radio and MTV right?

Also what makes your opinion on drugs and society right? I probably agree with you but that doesn’t make it right nor does it mean it should be the only opinion voiced.

[quote post="36"]Problem Three: The continued commercialization of hip-hop and music in general.[/quote]

As soon as Hip Hop made it out of the ‘hood commercial forces have played a part in the culture. Why concern yourself with ‘mainstream’ audiences? They are always going to like diluted versions of what’s bubbling underground, big deal… I’m sure a lot of Hip Hop heads were brought into the culture after hearing Hammer or Vanilla Ice (not that they’ll admit it) so why criticise it? I’d rather people were brought into the culture by any means than Hip Hop really dying because no one was listening or participating anymore…

[quote post="36"]Problem Four: We have forgotten our roots.[/quote]

I agree, the backpacker and ‘real Hip Hop’ people have forgotten Hip Hop’s roots in a major way… Hip Hop wasn’t created as a force of change, it was Kool Herc making money playing records people liked… It then grew to more people making money… There may have been a period where ‘acceptable’ social commentary might have been at the fore but that doesn’t define Hip Hop or it’s roots, it’s a period of Hip Hop’s history – which will probably return at some point to be replaced with ig’nant stuff again.

There’s more social commentary Hip Hop around now than ever before, there’s more party Hip Hop than ever before and there’s more ig’nant Hip Hop than ever before, you can experience Hip Hop from almost every country on the planet, Hip Hop has never been healthier.

The biggest problem Hip Hop has is those constantly looking backwards instead of realising the beauty of Hip Hop is it’s constant change.