Before you read this and catapult yourself into a vicious debacle about who knows what and who doesn’t, understand, and treat this piece as more of a query into the state of Hip Hop at the moment. I’m not writing this to tell you that the points made here are set in stone, I’m not telling you anything in fact, I’m asking you.
Last year Hip Hop turned 40, you know this, you probably also know how drastically it’s changed over the years. Change is good; we need it to progress, but to what extent? And where does one draw the line? If that proverbial line even exists.
Okay, the title of this article is either going to make you say things like “Are you f**ing kidding me?” or on the other side of the spectrum, you might be one of the opinion “It died a long time ago”. Apart from a very few artists out there right now like Prof, who is signed to Minneapolis label Rhymesayers (home to Atmosphere, Brothers Ali and others), who as far as I’m concerned are also part of a squad of rappers out there dropping lyrical bombs on beats so deep your grandmother starts battle rapping Shakur, and Biggie Smalls, at the same time, but there is some serious fluff out there being labelled Hip Hop.
The Prof – The Reply
Anyway, it’s been a massive talking point here in South Africa, birth place of the legendary POC (Prophets of the City), South Africa, the same place that watched the morphing personality of Watkin Tudor Jones (Max Normal to Die Antwoord), the same place where we are donning guys like Tumi and the Volume, PH FAT, Cybot, veteran DJ Ready D and now with new kids on the block killing it behind the hardware. The list goes on, all without the genuine recognition they all aptly deserve, but that’s another story entirely.
The question asked entitled in the header, “Is Hip Hop Dead?” I ask the question because I’ve heard so many industry heads and rap-cats standing there at an event scratching their heads wondering what the hell is going on!? What happened to the good old days when DJ’s were blasting anthems from the Wu while MC’s were huddled up in corners rapping the caps off other MC’s? Sometimes, most times, it kind of feels like R&B is in fact, being called Hip Hop now? Justin Bieber dropping Eminem raps?? I don't blame Hip Hop for throwing in the towel.
What's going on in the once very authentic, poetic genre we knew as Hip Hop? Say it isn’t so, say the question is just a mere question, and not the case.