What does the hip-hop Generation stand for?

[StillFaggyAF]

inb4peopleblame90sbabiesfortheproblemsoftheworld

Honestly, i don't know who to answer this because in the years that hip hop has been popular there has been less and less unity among black Americans, so hip hop messages have been similarly fragmented

 

[SecondChanceBro]

The generation has era's and every era has a few artist that ride for causes, Kanye's rants about Katrina, Hip Hop rallying the Youth the vote in 2008, There were lots of artist in the 80's and early 90's that stood for causes. These days niggas rather talk about Chief Keef being a reckless young black males instead of talking about a song like Prince Ea's Smoking weed with the president, therefore when people make a stand for something uplifting or positive it is overlooked or shitted on and niggas go on and glorify and or want to create dialogue about senseless acts of violence or which rappers has the highest body count.

 

[damobb2deep]

da same shyt the other black genres was standing 4....

sex...

money...

drugs...

unity...

violence...

struggle...

fame...

ect...

 

[jono]

Hip-hop did boom during a period of heavy fragmentation in Black communities but we still had plenty of songs about "stuff": unity, poverty, political rights etc. the voices of those people are drowned today.

Now its all about smoking weed, fuckin bitches and being a "baller". Anyone who tries to speak out gets shouted down by the ignorant and ignored by the system.

Even the ignorant shit of NWA is tempered with speaking on the frustrations of poor black youths in America. They weren't just an ignorant rap group.

 

[jono]

da same shyt the other black genres was standing 4....

sex...

money...

drugs...

unity...

violence...

struggle...

fame...

ect...

Most black music wasn't about money, fame, or violence. Sex was kept in the context of husband/wife or at least having a single lover.

You have a point about drugs....but the concept of the concept has changed. There are pro-drug messages now, as opposed to anti-drug messages before.

Struggle is a fair one, but we are seeing very little about that nowadays too.

Unity is also a rarity in hip-hop today, it used to be strong though.

 

[SecondChanceBro]

Niggas are conditioned to settling for rhymes about balling and blinging, Quality of life is not examined in our community unless its living extravagantly.

Pac is hated on this forum alot but he was a well rounded artist and always dropped jewels and stood for causes.

 

[damobb2deep]

da same shyt the other black genres was standing 4....

sex...

money...

drugs...

unity...

violence...

struggle...

fame...

ect...

Most black music wasn't about money, fame, or violence. Sex was kept in the context of husband/wife or at least having a single lover.

You have a point about drugs....but the concept of the concept has changed. There are pro-drug messages now, as opposed to anti-drug messages before.

Struggle is a fair one, but we are seeing very little about that nowadays too.

Unity is also a rarity in hip-hop today, it used to be strong though.

rather strong or weak the message is still there feel me?

 

[Lab Baby]

Hip hop is the sole force behind the advancement of social relations since its inception. Other genres brought other races together and spoke on social issues, but the emphasis was more on the music than the issues being talked about. At the end of the day, the music stayed the music, and unless the artist was directly hands on (James Brown in Boston during MLK's assassination), the artists were looked at as merely entertainers. Also, even though different races listened to the music, there was still a racial gap in America.

Hip hop was so upfront and graphic, people had no choice but to pay attention. When Cube said "fuck the police", it struck such a chord, but it brought more attention to police brutality than any song written before then. Hip hop not only brought listeners and artists together, but those social issues being brought to the fore front were slowly being resolved. There's still problems within our community and across the world yet to be touched on, but it's on this generation (late 80s/90s babies and beyond) to pick up where PE, KRS, NWA, Pac, and them left off.

 

[jono]

On the topics of struggle and unity I do. I dig.

The generation has era's and every era has a few artist that ride for causes, Kanye's rants about Katrina, Hip Hop rallying the Youth the vote in 2008, There were lots of artist in the 80's and early 90's that stood for causes. These days niggas rather talk about Chief Keef being a reckless young black males instead of talking about a song like Prince Ea's Smoking weed with the president, therefore when people make a stand for something uplifting or positive it is overlooked or shitted on and niggas go on and glorify and or want to create dialogue about senseless acts of violence or which rappers has the highest body count.

^ I like that track. I don't deal with weed at all and I don't see why people insist that its a miracle drug but I fully support the legalization of all illicit drugs.

 

[GeE-757]

this generation of hiphop dont stand fa shit thatz y a racist cracka is da highest seller hiphop been lost itz cred since 99 when da hiphop elvis took ova,,,..

 

[jono]

Hip hop is the sole force behind the advancement of social relations since its inception. Other genres brought other races together and spoke on social issues, but the emphasis was more on the music than the issues being talked about. At the end of the day, the music stayed the music, and unless the artist was directly hands on (James Brown in Boston during MLK's assassination), the artists were looked at as merely entertainers. Also, even though different races listened to the music, there was still a racial gap in America.

Hip hop was so upfront and graphic, people had no choice but to pay attention. When Cube said "fuck the police", it struck such a chord, but it brought more attention to police brutality than any song written before then. Hip hop not only brought listeners and artists together, but those social issues being brought to the fore front were slowly being resolved. There's still problems within our community and across the world yet to be touched on, but it's on this generation (late 80s/90s babies and beyond) to pick up where PE, KRS, NWA, Pac, and them left off.

Great post.

Even though artists were seen as merely entertainers they still made sure they were noticed as citizens and that all these societal ills of the nation effected them too.

We have seen that any time a hip-hop figure steps up with a message they get ridiculed, and not just by people who benefit from what they are standing up against but also by hip-hop fans too.

 

[Biggwillie]

Its few, but some that stand for something:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq9kDSXTggg

But mainly you have this on radio and all on tv:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmZvOhHF85I

 

[trilladelic]

we dont stand for nothing, so we mostly fall for anything..

 

[bigrizz]

This newer generation will be known for more one hit wonders with "hot" singles, mediocre lyrics, flipping which ever the way the wind blows and dissing rappers they once supported, dressing tight, bitches, weed and clothes..

 

[SHAYDEEEE]

back in the 80's when the most beloved acts were public enemy, BDP, and ATCQ hip hop was an uplifting form of poetry devoted to rising up and overcoming out of poverty. that was 2pacs main theme, in my opinion he was the messiah of hip hop. after he died and his message was corrupted to seem violent and ignorant after he was shot, you had DMX, the LOX, cam'ron, shyne all turn hip hop into a cliche that could be satirical without even trying to, then you had the ying yang twins come along and make all this strip club music with no effort being put into the content and no creativity being brought to the table. in the midst of all that, along came lil wayne, who i see as the antichrist of hip hop. i say this because despite being highly influential, not even as bad at rapping as haters would like to think, yet he openly does drugs and brags about it, he has multiple baby mamas, and even though he's rich and famous, keeps guns around. contrast this to 2pac, making uplifting songs like keep ya head up and dear mama, as well as revolutionary songs like holla if ya hear me, they all had a message. pac understood that he was influential and even if he was doin drugs he didnt tell people because then people who idolized him would do them too. lil wayne and the people who want to be anything like him are the reasons why rap music are criticized by people who dont study it in depth and he is all they see.

 

[LUClEN]

"Is hip hop a euphemism for a new religion?

The soul music for the slaves that the youth is missin?"

moving off that, hip hop as a whole has divided itself up into many little sections and assortments of niches. Trap rap represents something a lot different than conscience rap. Among this though there is also regional differences too. The bay does not represent what Stanton Island does. So it is in this that each rapper expresses a totally different view point. However there are many things in common and a lot of overlap. I think a lot of this comes from the fact that the main hip hop audience is primarily young people.

 

[moedays]

A question like this deserves a well thought out answer.

The problem is the we are the creators of the culture, but we are not in charge of bringing it to the masses. The power of people who are aware of their self worth and who are progressive is something the govt. can't have. Think about it. If the Public Enemies and the Dead Prez's, Mos Def's and Kweli's were the top selling rappers talking about bettering yourself an your community and the people were also down with it I know the black community would be different. Nobody brainwashed on bullshit. Imagine songs like that dominating the airwaves. Since music is so influential a change would eventually come. But we don't own any of the major outlets to push it out there. We who want better are out there and there are a lot of us, but we would need about a billion dollars to get controlling interest in a major media corporation, at least.

To answer the question, I think it's a mixed bag. I think was really the voice of the voiceless for the 1st 20-25 years of existence, bring together peoples of all colors and creeds, male and female, before it was hijacked by corporate interests and became grossly misogynistic, materialistic and just plain wack. Now I do think an appreciation for the art of lyricism has been creeping back into the fold and that's good, but negative messages are all that is put out there for the masses. They can't have people aware and coming together and doing for self, especially poor people. I don't know I'm kinda all over the place here. That's what happens when you smoke a blunt during.

 

[Stomp Johnson]

Self

 

[jono]

@moedays

That is a major issue. Losing control of distribution of your message definitely means losing control of your message.

Imagine a record label telling Bob Marley that his songs weren't "marketable" or to even go as far as to force him into fitting a particular image!! How asinine is that?

We have become so beholden to corporations that they even tell us what a rapper is supposed to LOOK LIKE?! I remember Joell Ortiz saying the cats at Interscope told him to lose weight, I'm guaranteeing it was somebody at Universal or Cash Money that told Nicki to get that giant fake booty of hers too.

In a game full of fake images and messages what really represents the artist? 90% of the shit on the radio is interchangeable, what I mean by that is any artist could have done it. "Pop That" doesn't take any real talent, and it says nothing. It adds nothing to the game. I'm not just picking on French Montana because he's just one of many artists who push the corporate image of hip-hop and rappers. True he's not doing anything 2 Live Crew didn't do in the 90s but there wasn't 1,000 2 Live Crews either. French Montana isn't anything special because he's not doing anything that the next artist isn't already doing.

If that truly represents French as a person, then that's fine with me, but I know that there are artists, like Lupe Fiasco, that are forced into a certain mold because of the people who welcome conforming to corporate visions and messages will do what he won't and it makes his job as an artist harder and in the end it dilutes what should be the VOICE OF THE ARTIST. Its not the hood CNN anymore, its the hood BET.

 

[ThatGuyJM]

This is the same question people have been asking ever since Biggie and Pac passed. It's the same answer 15 years later. The hip hop generation is going to be known for hood shit, drug abuse, pimps/sluts, big ass rims on buckets (rims worth more than the car), flossin racks/rocks/jewelry while living in the hood (condos on their neck/etc.), and other idiotic decisions that a regular person won't make. It won't be known for progressing the civil rights movement, women's rights, anything positive. Instead of staying in the hood to bring it up, fools stay in the hood to exploit the people. This isn't new. Most people on this board know this for a fact that when you have a fakester like Ricky Rozay as an example of a heavy hitter, it's a damn shame. When the #1 rapper is Lil' Weezy, it's a damn shame. All the Pac references are correct, as much as he said a lot of dumb shit (especially the west coast vs east coast/hit em up drama) that dude was on some political shit. When I was still DJing proms in the 90s and early 2000s, I saw all of this. When I DJed the Castlemont High (Oakland, CA) School Senior Prom the theme of the night was "What's Your Fantasy". Awww, that's such a nice theme. WRONG MUTHAFUCKAS. The last song of the night was "What's Your Fantasy" by Daz Dillinger. I love that song but c'mon, when high school kids make that the theme of the senior prom, it's fucking over for the generation. When I DJed the senior prom for Oakland High the song that got the MOST INSANE reaction was Luke's "Scarred". We can complain about the corporations but c'mon, we live in a market driven society. Money drives the radio spins. If Diddy is going to drop $25k as payola to Hot 97 or 50 cent giving Big Von on KMEL 10 racks to spin Tony Yayo's bullshit songs 100 times a week, you know it's a damn shame. There ain't no love for people like Mos Def, Common, Jurassic 5, Lupe Fiasco and the like. People always say, they want to listen to artists that closely resemble them and their upbringing (hood shit). That's a bunch of bullshit. We look at other genres of music and it's similar. Parents (traditionally of the Caucasian persuasion) would rather their kids listen to Maroon 5, Colplay, Jack Johnson instead of Disturbed, Slipknot, or Insane Clown Posse. The big difference is that when the hip hop generation is thought of, the initial assumption is of the negative and not the positive. That is the big difference between hip hop and all other genres. Hip hop has become a bad word. Look at the playlists below, this will let you know what the Hip Hop Generation stands for. You'll have a damn good time finding something positive.

HOT 97 NY

8/28/12-9/3/12

1 NO LIE 2 CHAINZ F/ DRAKE

2 MERCY KANYE WEST F/ BIG SEAN & PUSHA-T

3 TAKE IT TO THE HEAD DJ KHALED F/ VARIOUS

4 COLD KANYE WEST F/ DJ KHALED

5 LEMME SEE USHER F. RICK ROSS

6 UP! LOVERANCE F/ 50 CENT

7 PARIS JAY-Z & KANYE WEST

8 LOTUS FLOWER BOMB WALE F/ MIGUEL

9 THE MOTTO DRAKE

10 DANCE BIG SEAN

11 DOPE CHICK THE DREAM F/ PUSHA-T

12 ADORN MIGUEL

13 KING TUT BUSTA RHYMES F/ FREEK DA VILLAIN

14 BRUK IT DOWN MR. VEGAS

15 HEART ATTACK TREY SONGZ

16 AMEN MEEK MILL F/ DRAKE & JEREMIH

17 2 REASONS TREY SONGZ F/ T.I.

18 DICED PINEAPPLES RICK ROSS F/ DRAKE & WALE

19 BYE BABY NAS

20 WORKOUT J. COLE

21 LEAVE YOU ALONE YOUNG JEEZY F/ NE-YO

22 I WISH YOU WOULD DJ KHALED

23 NEW DAY 50 CENT F/ DR. DRE & ALICIA KEYS

24 ENOUGH SAID AALIYAH/DRAKE

25 BIRTHDAY CAKE RIHANNA F. CHRIS BROWN

26 TAKE CARE DRAKE F/ RIHANNA

27 3 KINGS RICK ROSS F/ DR. DRE & JAY-Z

28 TRIUMPHANT MARIAH CAREY F/ MEEK MILL & RICK ROSS

29 I AM YOUR LEADER NICKI MINAJ F/ CAM'RON

30 MY MOMENT DJ DRAMA F/ 2 CHAINZ

106 KMEL - The Bay

1. Kanye West - Mercy

2. 2 Chainz / Drake - No Lie

3. Ca$h Out - Cashin' Out

4. Clyde Carson - Slow Down

5. J. Cole / Missy Elliot - Nobody's Perfect

6. Miguel - Adorn

7. Usher / Rick Ross - Lemme See

8. Usher - What Happened To U

9. Trey Songz - Heart Attack

10. Tyga - Make It Nasty

11. Kirko Bangz - Drank In My Cup

12. Keyshia Cole - Enough Of No Love

13. Young Jeezy / Ne-yo - Leave You Alone

14. The-dream / Pusha T - Dope Chick

15. Kendrick Lamar / Dr. Dre - The Recipe

16. Trey Songz / T.i. - 2 Reasons

17. E-40 - We In This Thang

18. E-40 - Function Remix

19. Fat Joe - Another Round

20. Rick Ross / Wale / Drake - Diced Pineapples

This article is similar to my feelings of hip hop.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/02/showbiz/music/love-songs/index.html