Why has hip hop lost all its soul?

[Grits]

Quoting what a friend of mine wrote on the subject.....


Why has hip-hop lost all its soul?

What is the deal with all this crap they playing these days?
Materialism continues to disgrace the industry. Some of you will dislike me saying this… But BET is some crap. Once BET got turned over. They show nothing but videos. Stupid videos at that. Drugs, quick money gains, females, dubs and no GED is not the way. But yet we continue to let it consume the minds of our youth.

Ignorance continues to raise. Teen pregnancies rise. Teen crimes rise. This new generation of parenting is ignorant. No nice way to explain it.

Every male wants to be a thug these days. Why? What beneficial gains do they receive from that? Only to be drawn into the wrong crowd, never to reach there full potential.
Why isn’t education and intelligence televised?

Why must some folks be stupid?
Why isn’t friendship a bond between two close people? Why must it been some sort of business contract.

Ok back on topic…

Why does this studio garage played these days become so accepted?

I got the Flu, time to lay down. Finally let my mind lay to rest for the time being.

Feels like I am the last of an old rare kind. I know some of you feel like this.
I guess being used to being solitude is where my kind will remain to stay.

I attempted to speak to some of the people at my new job. You know…
Music came up, all the studio names came up. Luda this, Lil John that, Jay Z this < --- SOLD OUT HIS SOUL.

When I attempted to drop some real music. Music with meaning. Classics that had meaning. Soul and passion… They literally stopped talking to me as if I was some strange freak.

BUT I don’t care. Even if I remain in solitude. My pride will never be distorted
Always rising never falling.

Focusing on my future, education ideals and dreams is what my mom raised me to follow.

Like Pete Rock and CL Smooth said.
I am on an Exodus Escapism

[Grits]

My response to the issue.......


you bring up a point that I have been trying to discuss with people for close to ten years. See me.....I am a product of the generation of hip hop that had meaning, depth, and most importantly..had tight beats AND lyrics. I am not saying all hip hop was good at that time, but feel me....back then the cats handled business. I mean....just to see some of the greats getting started....Eric B. and Rakim came out in '86 when I was in eighth grade...and primarily they were the reason I got into it so much. Then came me getting into LL's "I'm Bad". Heavy D....Salt 'n Pepa, D Nice and who can forget BDP? Name ONE group today that could touch BDP. Goodness even when NWA came out and started all that controversy...all these so-called g's are a caricature of what NWA was. To this day, I am still a huge NWA fan. And who could forget when the white guys got in the game...Beastie Boys come to mind because on the real...there have been many white groups but none were better than the Beastie Boys. I say that to show the genre's appeal to all. And my goodness....I remember seeing Nas for the first time in MC Serch's video "Back To The Grill". Dude straight had a curl!!! I remember his verse on the song just as well.....

Finesse, keep a Tech-9 in my dresser
Lyrical professor, keep you under pressure
Mind like a computer, the inserter
Paragraphs of murder, the nightclub flirter
This is Nas, kid, you know how it runs
I'm waving automatic guns at nuns
Sticking up the preachers in the church, I'm a stone crook
Serial killer, who works by the phone book
For you I got a lot to shoot my songs in here
My rhymes are hotter than a prostitute with gonorrhea
On the mic I let vocabulary spill
(It's like that y'all) That y'all, kick em in the grill

I was a fan of his ever since. Nowadays it's all about money, clothes, and hoes(sorry if I offend anyone).

Anyhow the point I was trying to make is that nowadays all you need is a beat and a hook and you're in. There's no depth anymore.....I mean there's not even any battle raps anymore. Even those cats on Showtime's "The Next" was GARBAGE, except for this cat from the West Coast by the name of Trek-Life. If ya'll ever hear of dude...go cop his music cuz dude is fire! He is a true lyricist.

Well, I could go on about this topic but I'll step off the soapbox now because I could discuss this topic forever. But for the record, my top ten MCs of all time(whether they were in a group or solo) are as follows:

10)Busta Rhymes.

Now I love Busta!! But on the real he gotta come back to just slammin' joints like he had when he first came out. Again, lyrically, he's great, flow is still on ten, and he just has the pinache to know when to come hard with it and when to pull back a little. His career has had longevity.....and a lot of people didn't know he was part of Leaders of the New School, and had MAD beef with Charlie Brown as a result. But he definitely ahs staying power, and outside of "Anarchy", his albums have pretty decent.

9)Common.

There aren't too many people in hip hop that would have had the fortitude to be critically acclaimed, not necessarily the best seller, and wait four albums to finally acheive a pinnacle of success. Common has done just that, and then some. Lyrically deft, intristically intelligent, his music is usually something you just feel in one way or another. Plus, he has what I consider to be the BEST original hip hop joint of all time, 1994's "I Used To Love H.E.R.". Much love to Common!

8)Notorious B.I.G.

I loved Biggie, let me tell you. If he hadn't gotten killed my guess is by now he'd probably be number one. But I can't help but think that he probably not be with Bad Boy anymore, either. But lyrically, yes one of the best. Easily. But as is the case with Tupac...some of his "unreleased" recordings should have stayed unreleased.

7)Slick Rick.

How can you NOT include the greatest storyteller of all time?? No one besides Rick has perfected the art of telling a story with witty, razor-sharp lyrics that have tinges of humor and satire in them. Additionally, his images are very vivid as well. Admittedly some of his work should have stayed buried, but overall, Rick is still better than most of what you hear today. On this countdown, Slick Rick is STILL the ruler.

6)Lauryn Hill.

This is probably my most controversial choice because people only praise her for her one solo joint, as well they should. But, ah.....what about the fire she spit on the two Fugees albums?? Oh my goodness Lauryn is a poet, lyricist, and very well-spoken and knowledgeable MC. I can say without bias that she is by far the BEST female MC of all time, and if she had come back out, I'd have probably rated her higher. Much love to L Boogie!!

5)Nas.

Consistency. Tight lyrics. Good beats. Vivid imagery. Pain. Yes you see that in all of Nas's work. I'd probably say he's one of, if not the most, consistent MC of all time in that his work never seems to drop off. Well...I'm glad he got rid of that persona he had with The Firm.

4)Tupac Shakur.

Considered by many to be the greatest of all time, he reached his peak after signing with Death Row records. After breaking in with Digital Underground, I personally didn't think he was that good until his "Me Against The World" album. A lot of his so-called lost material that was released after his death should have stayed lost. But I can say that to me he was probably the realest there ever was, if there is such a term.

3)LL Cool J.

LL has been around for almost 20 years. He had his memorable battle raps against Kool Moe Dee, and ended up showing Canibus was a bust. I respect that when he was younger, yeah he did the "LL COol J is hard as hell" thing, but as he got older he realized that he couldn't be an over 35 thug. So he changed his target audience, yet still can get gutta if he has to. I respect the man for that. And let's keep it real...how many MCs have the longetivity Uncle L has???

2)KRS-One.

Satire. Politics. Social ills. And flat out good lyrics. I tell you KRS is arguably the most intelligent MC to ever grace a mic. his words always have a message....and he is a teacher and poet through his words. He challenged the way we thought about everything from politics to hip hop, and was instrumental in the "Stop the Violence" campaign, preferring to value knowledge and education over thug imagery and gang violence. He is one of a kind.

1)Rakim.

This dude changed the way we wrote rhymes. His vocabulary depth and rhyme style were second to none when he dropped. Matter of fact he was the first MC to start rhyming phrases instead of words at the end of a sentence. He is still unmatched even to this day. Rakim has been called the god of rap. I think that's a title well-earned.

[The_Realist]

"But BET is some crap. Once BET got turned over. They show nothing but videos. Stupid videos at that. Drugs, quick money gains, females, dubs and no GED is not the way. But yet we continue to let it consume the minds of our youth. "

ABSOLUTELY.


i refuse to watch MTV, BET, and what not... it's damn near disgusting to see how they've helped contribute towards turning a one beautiful culture into a damn mess.

this is my question i propose...
If J.Lo and Michael Jackson can put a stop to playing videos that "put out images of their past" or "tarnish their name" ... why won't BET put a stop to playing videos that tarnish the youth and put out images that put us further back as united towards making progress? i mean, damn.. do we have to raise money for each and every video that comes out to pay for them not to play it like J. Lo and Michael did?

i mean What's Really Going On??

Martin Luther King, Langston Hughes, Malcolm X, and etc have GOT to be looking down frowning on what minorities have become.


Well... Willie Lynch promised it...and i quote:
"I HAVE A FULL PROOF METHOD FOR CONTROLLING YOUR BLACK SLAVES. I guarantee every one of you that if installed correctly IT WILL CONTROL THE SLAVES FOR AT LEAST 300 HUNDREDS YEARS. My method is simple. Any member of your family or your overseer can use it. I HAVE OUTLINED A NUMBER OF DIFFERENCES AMONG THE SLAVES; AND I TAKE THESE DIFFERENCES AND MAKE THEM BIGGER. I USE FEAR, DISTRUST AND ENVY FOR CONTROL PURPOSES. These methods have worked on my modest plantation in the West Indies and it will work throughout the South. DISTRUST IS STRONGER THAN TRUST AND ENVY STRONGER THAN ADULATION, RESPECT OR ADMIRATION. The Black slaves after receiving this indoctrination shall carry on and will become self refueling and self generating for HUNDREDS of years, maybe THOUSANDS. Don't forget you must pitch the OLD black Male vs. the YOUNG black Male, and the YOUNG black Male against the OLD black male. You must use the DARK skin slaves vs. the LIGHT skin slaves, and the LIGHT skin slaves vs. the DARK skin slaves. You must use the FEMALE vs. the MALE. And the MALE vs. the FEMALE."

[jamadianUK]

I had a serious love jones for hiphop, but the affair is over.

[The_Realist]

and i can co-sign to that whole heartedly... another reason why i 80% of what i listen to is Old R&B... the other 20% is latin music, reggae, and current R&B.

[jamadianUK]

When musiq started getting to slack and destructive, i started to lean over to the Heavy Rock, easy listening indie bands and uplifiting gospel even more.........even tried some classical , still not my thing but I appericate the violins for sure.

Back to the topic........ If you focus on the elements of hiphop, you see the political struggle within the musiq has lost it's focus. Yeah Dead Prez are the new warriors, taken over from Public enemy throne. But how many are REALLY buying their stuff and taking the words on board . How many people actually listen to Hiphop in it's wider diversity away from the commercial distribution on offer? I know for a fact that many within this family ( yeah me too ) don't even listen to worldwide artisits in other genres of musiq alone. So what can we expect from the wider buying public?

[deepthought74]

Mainstream ruined hip hop....when money got involved...the artist views on their art changed...start chasing money..instead of just doing whats real and letting the art take care of them....and the record buying pubic *a lot of them, not all*...like to hear shit that's self destructive to their brains...anything of substance they want to sweep it under a rug like its a cancer or something....my movement is in trouble ya'll!!

[Justin]

I agree with all of you.

I really agree with Deepthought...I truly believe it is money.

Money changed it all. You had artist that made music for their love of music and because it was all they lived for. Now we're getting truly cheated in a way because most artists are all about the benjamins and they make sure they let us know in the songs, at the concerts and in the interviews.

They way we're getting cheated is because, think of all the music they make but don't think it will cross over or sell so they don't put it out. That's why I love artists like Andre 3000, Lauryn Hill, Cee-Lo, Res, Musiq, Bilal, Amel Larrieux, The Roots, Jill Scott, Badu, Common, Talib Kweli and Mos Def to name a few. They push the envelope everytime taking chances and expanding their creativity. I love them for that.