Once upon a time in a universe far, far away, HipHopDX used to host blogs. Through Meka, Brillyance, Aliya Ewing and others, readers got unfiltered opinions on the most current topics in and beyond Hip Hop. After a few years, a couple redesigns and the collective vision of three different Editors-In-Chief, blogs are back. Well, sort of. Since our blog section went the way of two-way pagers and physical mixtapes, Twitter, Instagram and Ustream have further accelerated the pace of current events in Hip Hop. Rappers beef with each other 140 characters at a time, entire mixtapes (and their associated artwork) can be released via Instagram, and sometimes these events require a rapid reaction.
As such, we’re reserving this space for a weekly reaction to Hip Hop’s current events. Or whatever else we deem worthy. And the “we” in question is myself, Andre Grant and Ural Garrett. Collectively we serve as HipHopDX’s Features Staff. Aside from tackling stray topics, we may invite artists and other personalities in Hip Hop to join the conversation. Without further delay, here’s this week’s “Stray Shots.
Will Hip Hop Get Its Respect Before It’s Dead?
Ural: Cringing at the notion of Hip Hop being dead, the culture has managed to seep into essentially every facet of popular culture. If music consumption’s future is streaming, let’s not pretend not to know what’s on top. Even in academia, Nas has his own Hip Hop fellowship in Harvard while 9th Wonder teaches at Duke. The biggest television series this year so far, Empire, is inspired some of the biggest names in the rap today. It’s clear as to why; there isn’t better representation of the American Dream than Hip Hop for better or worse. Plus, it’s had a history of being catchy and infectious. Even on a global level, there isn’t anything that reflects youth culture perfectly like it. Hell, Hip Hop helped give birth to America’s first black president. Sure, the quality of the music may be questionable to some but, even that’s relative to personal taste. That’s not the point, however. For over 30 years, Hip Hop grew and evolved into something so capitative, a new study said it revolutionized popular music more so than any other genre.
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Sometimes those cultural transitions can divide those attached to Hip Hop since the beginning. Has it gone corporate? Any hot commodity has a value, even culture. But that’s totally fine. It’s just capitalism at work. For people normally reserved as degenerates, it’s nice to see Jay Z try his hand at Tidal or Dr Dre almost becoming Hip Hop’s first billionaire. Who would have thought to see Chamillionaire become a entrepreneur in residence at a venture capital firm? At this point, Hip Hop has infiltrated every socio economical level. That’s real respect; respect that not dying anytime soon. Yes, Hip Hop may mean different things to different people but, the common bond of community is still there.
Andre: Two separate reports have emerged this week illustrating the importance of Hip Hop as not only the preeminent musical and cultural artifact of our times, but as the most streamed and one of the most talked about genre’s around. And that’s because Hip Hop is a visceral, personal experience. It isn’t singing per se (though it can include a great deal of that and does and should), it’s talking, it’s storytelling, it’s partying, it’s brilliant, it’s ratchet, it’s the right to have something to say. But everywhere you look and as long as we’ve been around there’s been a debate as to how wanton and destructive Hip Hop is. From Juan Williams calling out Iced T on Oprah (forcing T to say “If I grew up like Bryant Gumble I’d rap like Bryant Gumble”) to some random “intellectual” or talking head like Bill O’Reilly or cultural commentator like Dr. Boyce Watkins talking the negative influence on young black men or whatever; through it all Hip Hop has and continues to persevere, no, flourish. It is not just a single part of youth culture anymore, it is youth culture. In fact, it’s not just youth culture anymore, it’s culture. Our president is black and our lambo’s are blue.
Yet, its detractors grow ever more powerful and prevalent. We still debate whether or not the Grammy committee “understands Hip Hop.” Or whether or not the police look at us as subhuman because we bounce our heads to beats and listen to people give us their best shot in 8, 16 or 32 bars. The competition is relentless. Hip Hop’s cannon shifts constantly, remaking itself in the image of the age. It is never static. Instead it is restless and unforgiving and there are as many sub-genres as there are fans. There is now and always has been a cup overfloweth of rap depending on what moves you. Hip Hop is the right to move and be moved. Hip Hop is also a voice for the poor where there was none. It tells you what is happening in the communities that they live in, the smoke they inhale in their lungs comes out on wax as wild yawps into the ether. So when will Hip Hop get the credit it deserves? When will it be revered and beloved for its many offerings? That’s a hard question to answer. But I’d hate it to see it go the way of Jazz (though that genre’s heart has been beating strong this whole time) with the genre’s major players bowing out and going to do something else. And, after everything, I’d hate to see Hip Hop, only then, get the credit it truly deserves.
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This Game vs. Thugger Stuff Is Silly
Andre: Game’s had a few solid stare downs in his career: 50 Cent, 40 Glocc. But most of his beefs have been pretty lame. Young Thug is not even numero uno on Game’s ledger of silly beefs. There was the completely one sided affair with someone trying to serve him papers at a basketball game. But what about that weirdo beef with Jay Z that no one really cared about and Jay Z never really responded to? What about his awful toe-to-toe with everyone on “Bigger Than Me?” The Supper Club incident that saw him get into an altercation with club security, and the time he said he made a shot for charity on a wager with KD, but then KD was like GTFOH.
His real beefs make this stuff hard to watch. Back and forths on Instagram? Really? Can’t we just work this out on wax. All I need is one good diss record, geez. I want to see if Young Thug can actually protect himself on wax. Now that would make this whole thing worthwhile.
Until then:
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Ural: Two very different views to modern rap beef are apparent in today’s Hip Hop climate . The back and forth social media tiffs or subtle jabs on wax that are normally never really direct. Both could be considered the results of a post-Tupac and Biggie Hip Hop along with the downward spiral of the music industry. No one wants things to escalate to violence. Why should they? On the flip side, no one has the time nor resources to make diss records when it’s just better to make a hit. Even when things do get heated on wax, does anyone outside of general Hip Hop heads even care? This isn’t 2005 when Game was on his G-Unot campaign and “300 Bars and Runnin” was a burn against 50 Cent and company. Over exaggerated disagreements between two rappers aren’t even taken seriously anymore. If things manage to get even remotely violent, the police and mainstream media will vilify the culture which is the last thing anyone wants. Young Thug posting videos of his homies brandishing Call of Duty style weaponry is just funny, not something to be taken serious. Are those guns licensed? Are they even real? The best thing for these two individuals to do is just avoid each other or settle whatever differences as civil as possible. Regardless, Hip Hop appreciates the unity stance JoJo Capone.
Andre Grant is an NYC native turned L.A. transplant that has contributed to a few different properties on the web and is now the Features Editor for HipHopDX. He’s also trying to live it to the limit and love it a lot. Follow him on Twitter @drejones.
Ural Garrett is an Los Angeles-based journalist and HipHopDX’s Senior Features Writer. When not covering music, video games, films and the community at large, he’s in the kitchen baking like Anita. Follow him on Twitter @Uralg.
