Hip Hop IS DEAD? WTF

[soundboy]

Thats all you here is the mainstream did this and they did that and now they have labeled such and such hip hop or they changed the name to hip-pop. My questions is what are your ideas that can be implemented on an individual basis to help keep hip hop in the range it was created in. Whats some of the stuff that some of you guys do that we can all start doing to actually make a change as opposed to just saying thats the way it is. Me personally I dont suport business or magazines or stores that dont cater to the hiphop culture IE CompUSA, Circuit City, or HH Greg. These are all stores in my area that will sell the "pop hip-pop" items but will not cary more hard line original stuff or wont market to minorities as a general rule. I also disassociate myself with idividuals of other cultures who feel that they have to act "black" to be a part of hiphop. Hiphop is a melting pot and if you genuinely love hip hop you dont have to project an altered image to be percieved as part of the hiphop culture. I think that is what makes the ignorant fear hiphop and the greedy pimp hip hop. Take pink when she first came out was all on the hiphop tip for kids (yea yea i know). After she got paid she threw away the image and is all on the rock tip now. So just any thing that we all might be able to implement to make changes happen is what I am asking for?

[gatorhaus]

soundboy,

I think it happens to everything. Once some genre of underground music gets mainstream then it gets played out and watered down, and then dies\takes on a new form. We saw the same thing with Punk Music, Heavy Metal (man the hair bands really were crap), Alternative Rock, Acoustic Metal. I think it goes mainstream and then everboby wants to get their piece of the pie.

sorry, I don't have any suggestions, just some observations
larry

[THE BIG PIECE]

Peace, Soundboy.

Not sure if this will come as any consolation, but nothing beyond your scope matters. TRUTH depends on nothing, it simply is, not because of anything else, but irregardless of anything else. Ya dig? Hip Hop is not dead, as long as it exists in the pure form in your heart or mine or anyone else's. What is pop culture anyway but fickle 15 year-old gilrs? In ten years there will be some other bastardized version of a movement thrust to the forefront, but all the while, for us nothing has changed. We never stopped. Hip Hop is not for everyone, so despite it's current state the part of it that has any value remains with us. Keep it there.

Peace.

[Chestian Crowle]

I can kinda understand what your saying but to me, hiphop and rap are two different styles. I call myself a rapper cause rap is from the heart, you know more of life struggles than hiphop. 50 cent, cash money (and so on) are good examples of hiphop in my eyes. And I never cared to listen to em. Dmx, Nas, Tupac (and so on) are perfect examples of RAP. THATS WHAT TICKLES MY FANCY. I dont give a damn about pophip or hippop but I do respect it. Look here, I can type all day about this stuff but if anyone wants to continue, hit me up.

[distortedrumble]

as someone who listens to damn near everything except jazz, country and bluegrass. hiphop and rap dont really seem that different. but from the examples of artists you picked...the hiphop crowd go for "da club" hit and the rappers have/had club hits but it wasnt their intention. I guess its more like.....you listen to what the rapper has to say in rap but you listen for the hook in hiphop. as for preserving hiphop as a whole......you dont really need to....evolution is part of all things....and stuff thats true to the streets will still be. and every level of music has its underground form that hates its evolved (conformed)mainstream form. but the problem with keeping it underground is that nothing changes....someone has to step outside the box to bring something new into it.

[homershines]

Can't confirm that anything is dead, but I will say that no Black popular cultural form ever lived in the mass market as popular for 20 years. Never.

Things change and more important, people change. The fact that cats are still wearing pants that are oversized is amazing. I just looked at an old CrissCross album of mine and had to laugh.

Some folks will think that Hiphop's pop staying power is because it's so great. I think it's got a lot more to do wth the market.

I love the musc. But, I ain't no fool. I've watched what's happened over the years and it is very interesting. Hiphop might not be dead, but what about a zombie?

Peace.

[LiquidBronze]

not sure where people got this notion about the term "hip-hop" being associated with 50 cent, cash money records, club tracks etc...
to me that is "rap", put a C in front of that you get Crap.

hip-hop is about real, raw emotion. when cats rhyme about everyday life situations, break dancing, grafiti, DJing!!, hip-hop as culture, society, etc... (the 5 elements, do cats here even know what the 5 elements of hip-hop are???? i bet alot dont)

hip-hop is not about when people "rap" about cars, money, bithces, hoes. thats when i stopped even listening to BIG and tupac, because thats all they rhymed about in the later years. i cant and never will be able to identify with having money like uncle scrooge on duck tales and shit. so i could care less about that type of rap.

what i do care about is the roots of hip-hop, where it came from, how it turned this society and the music business upside down, with its sheer power of the word, and looped beats.

hip-hop is not dead, its just the (C)rap that has the upper hand at the moment...

peace
LB

[distortedrumble]

yeap thats right...i cant rap about my escalade sittin on dubs...but i can rap about my $500 '83 ford ltd crown vic with the faded gold chipping paint. cant rap about shooting anyone....cant afford the gun...but i can sneak by their place in the middle of the night and flatten a few tires

[LiquidBronze]

word!
that would make a great song man!!!!
incredible, you are a genious
once again props to you
you will be making that bling bling in no time
HOLLA!!!!

peace
LB

[distortedrumble]

lol the only song i ever wrote about shooting someone i only talk about shooting his knee caps so he wont run (I'm talking about the guy my girl cheated on me with)...and then i choke him to death.....after i finished writing it i recorded it but it didnt feel like me...even though it was filled with emotion. you ever wrote a rap that was written just to be written but wont be on the cd or performed live?

[L'espion Noir]

to kill it that is ,there is no way we all burying a genre that's clearly part of the nation's economy ( hip hop sales)
it happened to Disco only because its artists went on to R+B and Rock

MC Solaar some years ago said "Si le rap excelle, le jazz en est l'étincelle " meaning if Rap is catching fire Jazz was the spark.

how can they kill hip hop when it's fueled by jazz

hip hop will never die it went from break beat to full musical production.some of us still don't sample because we never bothered to learn how to sample.
jazz went from parade music to big band down to what it is today. it evolved and still growing because it has masters from whom we learn.
they once said jazz was dead and it was true partly cuz of the british invasion and because musicians couldn't find an audience so they started doing R+B cuz that's what clubs were booking. i guess jazz had an underground like hip hop does now.if Rap is catching fire Jazz was the spark.
Even the great miles Davis did avant-jazz before he got into fusion. Evolution Baby!

so don't compromise the integrity of your art(rhyme about what you feel,what you know)but don't sell yourselves short. if you don't feel like that song should have the hook or the track will be lost with more than 3 sounds then do that. why cuz we hear things only gifted folks hear

since Hip Hop is on the radio ,these days has taken residence on Madison ave. means it's very much alive

and trust me the backpackers still keep their headphones ON


HIP-HOP HIP-HOP HIP-HOP HIP-HOP

[LiquidBronze]

"and trust me the backpackers still keep their headphones ON"

lol, that they do

Im big into Euro hip-hop these days anyway. French hip-hop is very nice, production wise, just wish i understood the language, but ive ordered many albums from france, cost a load of $ to get them imported :P

Fonky family, Shurikn, NTM, etc... all nice

peace
LB