What does the hip-hop Generation stand for?

[P. Town]

Getting this money, as it should be

 

[usmarin3]

It stands for everything, the good and bad of society. I know the cry baby purist would like to act like all hiphop is on some materialistic and violence tip, but there is a counter balance to that out there two.

That's what life is to me, it's about duality. I don't want to hear positive raps all the time, and i don't want to hear some ignorant shit too, the faster people understand this the faster we will get off this snobbish shit. There is room for Talib, there is room for 2Chainz.

Ya'll walk around here with your self righteous asses knowing damn well ya'll don't live your lives righteously all the time.

 

[jono]

It stands for everything, the good and bad of society. I know the cry baby purist would like to act like all hiphop is on some materialistic and violence tip, but there is a counter balance to that out there two.

That's what life is to me, it's about duality. I don't want to hear positive raps all the time, and i don't want to hear some ignorant shit too, the faster people understand this the faster we will get off this snobbish shit. There is room for Talib, there is room for 2Chainz.

Ya'll walk around here with your self righteous asses knowing damn well ya'll don't live your lives righteously all the time.

I agree with your first two points. Its right to say hip-hop encompasses the positives and negatives of society and thus reflects society as a whole. Its right and its true.

However....

Looking at the landscape of the game at current times there is no room for a Talib Kweli or a Mos Def because there are so many 2 Chainz-ish guys in the game. Knowing what I know, and that's how invested corporate interests are in "urban" music to the point where they can virtually shut out any artist that doesn't tow the line changes the game. It doesn't make sense to act as if the playing field is level. To your point, and thanks to the internet, its more level than its ever been but what you gonna do once the corporations take over the internet too?

They've been fighting to do so with the SOPA & PIPA laws and all the threats to google and youtube, they are trying to crush competitors under the guise of protecting their bottom lines.

I also don't see anything wrong with being elitist about what you choose to listen to. Of course at the end of the day an artist should be able to touch on real issues and still have fun. Public Enemy is the perfect example of that, Ice Cube is another. But seriously I don't want a genre full of buffoons, because as a black man I am sensitive about how we are portrayed in the media. It opens the door for offensive parodies and neo-minstelsy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=en&client=mv-google&v=rV7ilFcozHs

Normally I don't give a fuck about what white folks think. But seeing new age minstrel shows pissed me off, its not something I can stand for.

 

[NoCompetition]

Far as the music, I listen to what I want and dont listen to what I dont want to hear. The current generation aint on the "keep it real, thug, gangsta, in the streets" stuff like the 90s and earlier 00s. (70s baby I was there, I know truthfully). Check the crime stats, they been goin down since the 90s. True facts. It aint no where near bad as negative irrelevants on here like to make it out in the real world. Yall woulda p!ssed yourselves in the 90s. But I lived through it. Im lovin things now.

 

[moedays]

Wasn't it our parents generation that said, "If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything.

 

[Gen. Stasia]

The Music reflected the Times back then like the Music reflects the time now.

There hasn't been a huge Civil Rights movement since the 60s except Gay Civil Rights but that's why the Frank Oceans, Lady Gagas and Miguels are doing great now.

They turned the Occupy Movement into a senseless rebellion when in all seriousness that's the true Good Fight we should be having.

When the next change come that ppl wont just tweet about today and forget about in 2 weeks then that's when it will stand for something.

 

[jono]

"The Music reflected the Times back then like the Music

reflects the time now."

That's a good point.

 

[ThatGuyJM]

It stands for everything, the good and bad of society. I know the cry baby purist would like to act like all hiphop is on some materialistic and violence tip, but there is a counter balance to that out there two.

That's what life is to me, it's about duality. I don't want to hear positive raps all the time, and i don't want to hear some ignorant shit too, the faster people understand this the faster we will get off this snobbish shit. There is room for Talib, there is room for 2Chainz.

Ya'll walk around here with your self righteous asses knowing damn well ya'll don't live your lives righteously all the time.

This is the same shit that people always bring up. It's the DUALITY. The GOOD and the BAD. The YING and the YANG. What people on this thread is saying is that THERE IS NO DUALITY. The negative assumption of hip hop is becoming a MONOPOLISTIC impression that these muthafucking artists/producers/djs are laying down on the sheep (people). Due to the fact that it takes EFFORT to appreciate "positive" hip hop, it's easy to see WHY the negative shit is becoming the norm in Hip Hop. I listed two playlists from both coasts and it PROVES there is no duality. As you can see, I didn't say I didn't like the songs, I'm just pointing out FACTS!

The point is not to be elitist (although some MFs are on that shit for some reason), but to ENSURE that the duality exists.

 

[ThatGuyJM]

Normally I don't give a fuck about what white folks think. But seeing new age minstrel shows pissed me off, its not something I can stand for.

You mean like Mac Miller?

 

[jono]

I wouldn't count guys like Mac Miller, Lil Wyte, Yelawolf, Machine Gun Kelly or Eminem. They tend to stay int their respective lanes as just white rappers. I'm not against white rap. I think its a big enough genre to hold a few tokens.

What I'm talking about is is expressed in the video I posted.

 

[usmarin3]

Maybe positive rappers should do a better job of presenting their music and making it for enjoyable and easily digestible. At the end of the day this music is just entertainment and nobody want to be beaten over then head with boring ass shit. If you're gonna kick knowledge, make it entertaining (Pac, Kanye, A Tribe Call Quest,etc) and that's what most conscious rappers lack.

 

[jono]

What do you mean "more enjoyable", who is to say people don't enjoy it now?

 

[usmarin3]

What do you mean "more enjoyable", who is to say people don't enjoy it now?

IMO most conscious rappers can't pick beats for shit and lack artistically. Sometimes less is more, nobody gives a fuck if you can out rap Canibus. Pac wasn't the greatest lyricist but he could convey a message that the masses could digest was easier than niggas like Talib, Mos,etc could ever do. That's all because Pac was a brilliant song writer.

 

[jono]

Your opinion, which is of course all it is. I think people should make their own decisions and be given that option. Look at any top singles list and you will constantly see all the same labels and parent organizations at the top...I'm sure weeks, months, maybe even years will go by and that won't change. Watch BET or MTV, same shit. You may get one or two different faces but for the most part, same thing.

Now either your naïve or your blind. Under no circumstances should the same shit be played all day, everyday, everywhere. Its not a testament to the song being "hot" its the power of the money behind it. See what happened when Rosenberg stepped out and lambasted a wack record even the NY Times picked up on it, but they also exposed the politics of radio stations:

"the comments [Rosenberg's] shattered the ostensible neutrality of radio stations, which prefer to be perceived as meritocratic spaces, even though playlists are built from a toxic combination of influence, groupthink, money and, occasionally, idiosyncrasy."
http://www.google.com/gwt/x?gl=US&hl=en-US&u=http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/05/arts/music/nicki-minaj-backs-out-of-summer-jam.html%3Fpagewanted%3Dall&client=ms-rim&q=minaj+rosenberg&sa=X&ei=RNBKUJt4hOLZBY_ogOgF&ved=0CEIQFjAM

 

[usmarin3]

So fucking what, those same labels that brought you the Jeezy's, Lil Jons, Ying Yangs, Mims,etc are the same labels that brought you Public Enemy, KRS, Roots,etc. Like i said these conscious rappers out today lack, they damn sure don't make the quality of music that Public Enemy, KRS, Ice Cube, Brand Nubian,Tribe,etc made back then. You can blame the labels all you want, but the conscious rappers now are all interchangeable and lack something to cross them over to the mainstream. If Kanye and lupe can make it kicking knowledge, there is no excuse for these dudes.

Tell these boring ass niggas to break the mold, force the radio to embrace your shit, Kanye did. Make something that's thought provoking and enjoyable (All falls down), and stop rapping on those boring ass beats trying to recreate J Dilla's shit.

 

[alexenderpope]

Each skeletal muscle consists of two parts: a red, soft and contractile muscle constitutes part and a white part, strong and constitutes noncontractile visual impact muscle building tendon. Tendons vary in form and arrangement, depending on their binding to the muscle fibers (which in turn are arranged according to the function of the muscle).

 

[jono]

So fucking what, those same labels that brought you the Jeezy's, Lil Jons, Ying Yangs, Mims,etc are the same labels that brought you Public Enemy, KRS, Roots,etc. Like i said these conscious rappers out today lack, they damn sure don't make the quality of music that Public Enemy, KRS, Ice Cube, Brand Nubian,Tribe,etc made back then. You can blame the labels all you want, but the conscious rappers now are all interchangeable and lack something to cross them over to the mainstream. If Kanye and lupe can make it kicking knowledge, there is no excuse for these dudes.

Tell these boring ass niggas to break the mold, force the radio to embrace your shit, Kanye did. Make something that's thought provoking and enjoyable (All falls down), and stop rapping on those boring ass beats trying to recreate J Dilla's shit.

You let the corporations tell you what's hot? If Kanye was an indie artist you'd be shitting on him too. There's nobody more interchangeable that the niggas on the radio. Shit every song features the same niggas lol. What's the difference between Meek Mill & Ace Hood? Pretty. much nothing. They rap over the same type of beats, and they rap about the same shit. What's so creative?

Again who said conscious MCs aren't thought provoking and enjoyable? They do well and have much more longevity than cats played on the radio all day. Isn't it weird how Talib Kweli with all his "boring" production and low album sales can get his album released on time and 50 Cent can't even get a release DATE?!

The correct answer is they don't clamor to be in the mainstream (its for the reasons I've already given you in previous posts about corporate influence in music) but you missed it.

Also you keep yammering on about Kanye, but what was the last "thought provoking" song he made? Its all about bitches, hoes and clothes, that nigga fully assimilated.

These mainstream cats are made and broken by big money labels but niggas constantly feed into it. A nigga can't be hot until he's in the "mainstream"? The same mainstream that brings us Waka Flocka? Lol. C'mon bruh we gotta do better than that.

Underground is where its at. Less politics, better music, better message, usually better lyrics...on average of course. Its not ALWAYS true. But I've proved my point, your response is to change them basically into the same cats on the radio, a corporate response. That's why we've lost touch of our own music. Chasing the almighty and often elusive dollar. That was my whole point, artists being forced to sacrifice what they do and their voice for some narrow vision of success.

 

[Disciplined InSight]

So fucking what, those same labels that brought you the Jeezy's, Lil Jons, Ying Yangs, Mims,etc are the same labels that brought you Public Enemy, KRS, Roots,etc. Like i said these conscious rappers out today lack, they damn sure don't make the quality of music that Public Enemy, KRS, Ice Cube, Brand Nubian,Tribe,etc made back then. You can blame the labels all you want, but the conscious rappers now are all interchangeable and lack something to cross them over to the mainstream. If Kanye and lupe can make it kicking knowledge, there is no excuse for these dudes.

Tell these boring ass niggas to break the mold, force the radio to embrace your shit, Kanye did. Make something that's thought provoking and enjoyable (All falls down), and stop rapping on those boring ass beats trying to recreate J Dilla's shit.

usmarin3 got a point..even KRS created the term "edutainment".

I'm all for having thought provoking Hip Hop, but at the same time it has to have some time of anchor to attract the listener because majority of the time those listeners aren't gonna listen to the message anyway. I'm not saying put any buffoonish/minstrel shit in the songs, but at the same time it has to be something. i.e. Public Enemy's "Fight The Power"..the chorus and the beat itself made the song enjoyable to listen to throughout Chuck's fiery message.

 

[Disciplined InSight]

So fucking what, those same labels that brought you the Jeezy's, Lil Jons, Ying Yangs, Mims,etc are the same labels that brought you Public Enemy, KRS, Roots,etc. Like i said these conscious rappers out today lack, they damn sure don't make the quality of music that Public Enemy, KRS, Ice Cube, Brand Nubian,Tribe,etc made back then. You can blame the labels all you want, but the conscious rappers now are all interchangeable and lack something to cross them over to the mainstream. If Kanye and lupe can make it kicking knowledge, there is no excuse for these dudes.

Tell these boring ass niggas to break the mold, force the radio to embrace your shit, Kanye did. Make something that's thought provoking and enjoyable (All falls down), and stop rapping on those boring ass beats trying to recreate J Dilla's shit.

You let the corporations tell you what's hot? If Kanye was an indie artist you'd be shitting on him too. There's nobody more interchangeable that the niggas on the radio. Shit every song features the same niggas lol. What's the difference between Meek Mill & Ace Hood? Pretty. much nothing. They rap over the same type of beats, and they rap about the same shit. What's so creative?

Again who said conscious MCs aren't thought provoking and enjoyable? They do well and have much more longevity than cats played on the radio all day. Isn't it weird how Talib Kweli with all his "boring" production and low album sales can get his album released on time and 50 Cent can't even get a release DATE?!

The correct answer is they don't clamor to be in the mainstream (its for the reasons I've already given you in previous posts about corporate influence in music) but you missed it.

Also you keep yammering on about Kanye, but what was the last "thought provoking" song he made? Its all about bitches, hoes and clothes, that nigga fully assimilated.

These mainstream cats are made and broken by big money labels but niggas constantly feed into it. A nigga can't be hot until he's in the "mainstream"? The same mainstream that brings us Waka Flocka? Lol. C'mon bruh we gotta do better than that.

Underground is where its at. Less politics, better music, better message, usually better lyrics...on average of course. Its not ALWAYS true. But I've proved my point, your response is to change them basically into the same cats on the radio, a corporate response. That's why we've lost touch of our own music. Chasing the almighty and often elusive dollar. That was my whole point, artists being forced to sacrifice what they do and their voice for some narrow vision of success.

Truth to what you said in your post...but what was Talib's method to his madness when he recorded the song with Gucci Mane?

 

[jono]

No idea, probably I asked the same when he did tracks with UGK. Dude just be everywhere, he makes sporadic appearances in the mainstream and then disappears.