If you know me, you know I love music, and not only that, but hip hop has a special place in my heart. Growing up, there was no more space for anything other than hip hop and R&B. That is the music of my people and my culture and my time. I mighty not have understood fully was the subject matter was, those songs carried so much.
Why am I talking about hip hop, you ask? I just saw this spoken word on YouTube in the wee hours of the night, and I was feeling it from beginning to end. I mean phenomenal. I caught most of the references the poet made, and that says a lot for me being the 24 year-old who was perceived to not be much in tune with her own culture. Oh no, I listened to it. I still remember my mama telling me time and time again to stop listening to that music. That never stopped me.
I know about the Sugar Hill Gang, KRS-One, Erik B & Rakim, NWA, Public Enemy, Snoop Dogg, Tupac AND Biggie, Missy and Lil Kim, and countless others. The genre has done so much in the last 30 or so years alone. Yet to me there is a decline.
For some odd reason, the content of the most popular songs today is very bland and rather vulgar. Either "you mess with me and you die" or "pop that, bust it wide open." I mean what is that? I am not a stripper, and you need to grow up before you decide to take someone's life over some altercation at the club.
I'm not quite sure why hip hop music has gone down this path. You could blame the artists themselves or the songwriters, the managers and record labels, or the audience for even accepting such crappy music. What happened to lyrics that made you think, not lyrics you wanna forgo for a good beat? The last I checked, songs are a form or poetry. I wouldn't put this stuff next to Keats or Shakespeare. Shoot, not even Dr. Suess's rhymes have more clout than the music today.
Most of the artists today are easy to forget. I feel that they want to be famous for some reason, not having a genuine passion for making music and sharing it with others. Are we past that age? I hope not. I'm not even 25 yet. I want to enjoy this music before I'm considered too old for it.
*I typed this out on my phone last night, so here it is!
No comments:
Post a Comment