What’s Wrong With Hip Hop: Look In The Mirror

Before we get into this, let’s get a one thing straight. I’m not here to talk about how Hip Hop fans are so damn fickle that we treat our legends like garbage, unlike just about every other genre of music (The Rolling Stones and Madonna are still touring). No, one of my colleagues took care of that one for me already [click to read]. But that doesn’t mean I’m letting you suckas off the hook, either; because the truth of the matter is, the reason Hip Hop is suffering isn’t because of lackluster artists, or even greedy labels – the reason Hip Hop suffers is because of you. The fan.

For those of you who couldn’t make it to the second paragraph without flooding the comments section with responses like “UR JUST A HATER” and other similarly intelligent statements, I thank you, because you’re only proving my point. The thing that sparked this editorial is, in fact, the comments section. There was a fairly recent news piece on our site recently about Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin defending Jay-Z’s inclusion in the Glastonbury [click to read]. Basically, uppity Oasis guitarist had his panties all up in a bunch because he believed that Hip Hop has no place at the traditionally Rock festival. In come Gwen and Chris, superstars in their own rights, calling Jay “the best musician on the planet.”

Put a one in the “win” column for Hip Hop fans, right? I mean, not only is Jay extending the reach of Hip Hop to a completely new audience, but he’s being supported by one of today’s most successful musical artists and his similarly successful actress wife! This is huge for Hip Hop, right? Mainstream recognition on a global scale in the face of adversity – that’s what the culture’s all about…right? Wrong.

Instead of embracing this monumental turn of events, the readers left comments like “So now we got white people telling us who the best rapper alive is” and “wtf they know bout hiphop…biggie is the best rappa in history and lil wayne the best rapper alive.”

Here is where I make my plea to the fans: open up your eyes and stop being so damn close-minded! Who gives a flying fuck about whether or not Jay-Z is the best?! That’s not the point! The point is trying to expand the reach of Hip Hop to people all over the world, but that’s never going to happen – because of fans like you. How is Hip Hop supposed to grow if the people who are supposed to be fans focus on completely the wrong shit? Hell, I won’t be surprised if the comments on this piece turn in to a Jay-Z vs. Nas debate. Instead of praising Chris Martin and Gwenyth Paltrow, we automatically assume they have no place in Hip Hop. Never mind that Chris Martin has produced songs for both Jay-Z and Kanye West, because that’s not the point either. The point is we as fans – as participants in this culture that we claim to love – are completely ungrateful for anything good that comes our way.

Instead of expanding our tunnel vision to view Hip Hop from a global perspective, we shun outsiders. Never mind that Rock helped birth Hip Hop (ever hear of a little song called “Walk this Way?” Look it up, youngins), or that we continuously sample music from other genres to make our own – we should just say “Fuck everyone else” and let Hip Hop shrivel up by not letting others breathe new life into it, right? Because that’s what you’re doing. Yes, let’s all continue to argue about whose city is the hardest, and which coast makes the best music, and remain ignorant of the world around us – that’ll show those smug rocker cats who’s boss! Meanwhile, the music we love grows stagnant as the months pass. Big fucking sigh (© CappaTheGreat).

Now don’t feel too bad, folks – you’re not the only ones who refuse to take responsibility. Recently, Hip Hop legend Ice-T (arguably the most gangsta rapper in his heyday), went on a tirade on a mixtape about 17-year-old sensation Soulja Boy:

“Fuck Soulja Boy! Eat a dick! This nigga single-handedly killed Hip Hop…That shit is such garbage man,” said Ice-T. “We came all the way from Rakim, we came all the way from Das EFX, we came all the way from motherfuckers flowing like Big Daddy Kane and Ice Cube, and you come with that Superman shit? That shit is garbage.”

Now, let’s forget for a moment that Ice-T is a 50-year-old man telling a kid who isn’t even out of high school to eat a dick, and let’s forget that Ice-T has brought us such thought-provoking additions to the culture as Vh1’s Rap School. While all of that is hilarious, it’s not the point. The point is, Ice-T is blaming a kid who literally stumbled onto mainstream success by making a simple, catchy song on his MySpace page…for being successful. But really, is it a legitimate claim? Unless Soulja Boy either buys all of his own ringtones or has mind control powers, it’s the fans’ choice to make them successful. This brings me to my final point: have some gotdamn standards.

A lot of people bitch and moan about how shitty the today’s Hip Hop artists are, or how record labels shove awful shit down the masses’ throats. And while that’s true, no amount of marketing or catchy beats can force you go out there and cop the latest Lil Boosie shit sandwich (in my opinion); it’s YOUR CHOICE.

As Hip Hop fans, our lack of unity is most often displayed by our infighting. We claim we don’t like certain artists because they’re “too mainstream” or “too backpacker” – or some other equally stupid label – without even having listened to the music. We split up and categorize everything into so many tiny fucking groups – why? Because Hip Hop fans were stupid enough to get tricked into it. Ever heard of “divide and conquer?” It’s a tactic used by one group of people to take over another; the Europeans used it to conquer other nations, and the United Sates used it to keep slaves subjugated. In this case, major record labels told us their product was better, and WE FELL FOR IT.

Isn’t it obvious? The world would never have tolerated Hip Hop, because Hip Hop was about change. Guess what? There are very, very power people in this world who will do anything to retain the status quo. So instead, we were told that the likes of Public Enemy and KRS-One weren’t nearly as good as Puffy and Ma$e – and we fell for it. Instead of standing by our the people who helped cultivate the culture in the first place, we fell for the shiny suit syndrome, and never turned back. Now, this isn’t to say that Puff and Ma$e were the first to talk about money, guns and women – they weren’t the first, and they sure as hell weren’t the last. This isn’t even to say that their music is bad (No Way Out and Harlem World still get play from me). Rather, the point is that we accepted blindly what the industry told us. Surely that’s the record labels’ fault, right?

Wrong again.

Look, folks, if something looks like shit, smells like shit and tastes like shit, you probably shouldn’t keep eating it. This all goes back to the initial points: be open minded, and have some standards! Decide for yourself what you think is dope and what you think isn’t. Who the fuck cares if you throw Sadat X and Rich Boy on the same CD to bump in the whip? I sure as hell don’t. If what you eat don’t make me shit, then what you listen to shouldn’t make a lick of difference either – just learn to have balance. You can’t always party, and you can’t always feed the mind – you need to do both.

Like Big Bank Hank of the Sugar Hill Gang once rapped: “Now there’s a time to laugh, a time to cry/A time to live and a time to die/A time to break and a time to chill/To act civilized or act real ill.” Have some balance! It’s okay to want to have a good time and listen to some silly-ass shit like Soulja Boy – there’s no rule that says you have to listen to Talib Kweli and Rakim all day. But in the same right, you can’t sit there and treat the shit like it’s the Holy Grail of Hip Hop. There’s a time to fuck around, and there’s a time to learn and grow. Learn to balance the two; otherwise, you might as well say goodbye to this Hip Hop shit.

The fact of the matter is, people around the globe still view Hip Hop as a gimmick and a joke, and it’s not hard to see why. We focus on completely the wrong things – instead of praising artists that expand the culture, we deride them for “selling out.” When someone who isn’t a Hip Hop artist lends the culture a hand, we spit in it. Instead of encouraging unity, we encourage beef. Instead of concerning ourselves with where Hip Hop is going, we’re content with just sitting around, arguing about whether or not the south runs shit, or which city has the highest murder rate. Here’s an idea for you, folks – grow the hell up, read a book, and realize that for Hip Hop to grow, the global community has to come into play. I love this culture, and I’m assuming you do, too. It’s time to stop holding it back with ignorance, and expanding it with open-mindedness. In the end, if you’re looking for whom to blame about the current state of Hip Hop, take a long hard look in the mirror – you might find the answer staring right back at you.