Down To The Roots

I was watching a You Tube video the other day. The question was posed; "Define Hip Hop." Some of the answers were truthfully a crock of shit, while others where agreeable. If there was one thing I did agree on it was the fact that Hip Hop can be something different to each one of us. Now with that said there still has to be those 4 main elements that we must all agree embody Hip Hop such as the MC, the DJ, graffiti and break dancing. If you do not respect, at the very least, these 4 aspects then you really need to watch such ground breaking films as “Beat Street” and “Wild Style.” These films where some of the catalysts for such films as “Brown Sugar,” T.I.’s “ATL” and “Notorious” just to mention a few, but anyway, I digress.

The point I am trying to make here is if you analyze most of today’s mainstream Hip Hop you will notice that we have distance ourselves from the 4 aforementioned elements, especially the MC. Although I have and continue to deal with the DJ and production aspects of Hip Hop I must say the MC to me is the most vital part of this creation we call Hip Hop. I know this; most true Hip Hop Heads know this. But it seems the only one who forgot is the MC himself. I say that to say this; MCing is about the words that come from your heart, travel to your mind and exit your mouth. Somewhere along that path there seems to have been a disconnect of sorts. The MC forgot what MCing is about. To me it is not just about bragging how good you are or how many women you have or will have sex with. It’s not just about how much jewelry you can wear at one time in your videos. And it is definitely not about how many times you can utter the word “BITCH.” MCing is about how you can convey an image or an idea to others so they can relate, or how you can make someone at least wonder about something if they can not relate.

My 19 year old came home from school one day and shared with me a conversation that her and some of her classmates where having. The conversation went a little something like this;

Daughter: Who do you think is the best rapper right now?
Classmate: Gucci Mane. Who do you think is the best rapper out, wait let me guess, Jay Z right?
Daughter: Actually, yeah I do.
Classmate: Why just because he is from NYC and that is where you are from right?
Daughter: No it’s because Jay Z spits some real hot stuff. (Ok, I know she probably did not use the word “Stuff”) Why do you think Gucci Mane is the hottest?
Classmate: Because he spits shit that I can relate to.

Let me stop right here. This made me a little sick; I think I threw up in my mouth… for real.

This is what the classmate says he relates to:

“niggas riding foreign

rims burnt orange

ridin down town white folks just starin

not carin

im just talkin

car standin still but the wheels still goin.

im flexin

08 lexis…”
Lyrics by Gucci Mane, Song title “Cocaine Money.”

Now needless to say my daughter’s classmate does not own a foreign car, and even if he did the rims on it are not burnt orange. The rims are not spinning and he is not sitting in a 2008 Lexus automobile. Nevertheless this is what the classmate feels he can relate to. This is the problem in Hip Hop; we are inspiring to be and do the wrong things. Money has come before the art form. The art form is starving while the so-called artist is eating, and quite well I might add.

Now please do not get it twisted, I am not an anti-south rap person… ok well maybe a little. But this is not the point; the point is I am an anti-wack music person. Bad music is bad music, regardless of the region where the artist resides. I understand there are plenty of MCs who perform this type of Hip Hop, which is not the problem. What I have a problem with is the versatility of the artist. Where is the creativeness, the uniqueness, the special something that sets them apart from other artists? Nowadays most artists sound identical for the most part. I can turn on the radio, listen for one hour and it will sound like one album, one artist with the same 4 bullshit elements that have replaced the original 4 elements; drinking, fucking, jewelry and hoes. This is what has replaced the rich and potent elements of Hip Hop. There are sub-elements of course such as the number of woman the rapper is currently having sex with, how wasted a rapper can get and of course there is the ever popular bragging on how this rapper can fuck your wife or girlfriend.

I could care less what others think about my opinion. I could care less about others trying to convince me that this somehow, some way is acceptable. And I will never accept the excuse that it has to be good since that album sold 10 million copies. This my friends simply means that somewhere on this planet there are 10 million lost souls that have no fucking clue what good music is. They have taken Hip Hop and reshaped it to fit their needs. Listen people, we don’t change the roots of a music genre, the music changes us and in turn we continue to cultivate it.

Everyone likes to think they know what good music is but this is just not true. Just because you happen to like a great song that everyone else likes does not mean you have a great ear for music. I believe having a good ear for good music is a process, a long process of years of listening to music. I can confidently say that Maf and I have trained ears for unmistakable, quality music. We tune our ears; we train our ears, hearts and minds to know what good music sounds like. I am from the birth place of Hip Hop and was alive during its earliest roots. I was there when Marley Marl, Red Alert, Teddy Ted, Mr. Magic and Funk Master Flex were at their pinnacle. I was living in Bronx, New York City when the whole incredible movement was taking its first steps.

“It originated in the African American, and Puerto Rican communities of New York City (with the South Bronx as the center) in the late 1970s.” Wikipedia contributors. "Hip hop." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.

I ALWAYS give props where props are due, you should do the same.