To the surprise of early sceptics, Hip-Hop has become one of the most popular music genres the world has ever seen and has now been blessing our eardrums and impacting our lives for nearly 50 years.
The house party that birthed Hip-Hop took place back in the summer of 1973 in New York borough, The Bronx, where the now legendary and iconic Kool Herc was the designated DJ for the night.
HIP HOP'S CIVIL WAR
One of the saddest things to see take place in Hip-Hop today is the invisible expiry date that the consumer seems to be placing on the genre and some of its OG influencers.
In my opinion, this has had a negative impact on the culture and even causes a unnecessary war within the Hip-Hop community...
In Hip-Hop, Its almost become a trend to disrespect the earlier legends and iconic albums.
Every new, popular artist/album is put against an iconic artist/album and stated that they are better than etc which only seems to happen in this genre.
instead of praising those who have paved the way, new(er) comers to the culture seem hellbent on proving that recent drops are better than those that came before and those that are heralded as great.
I fell in love with, and began investing in the culture for myself around 1992-1993 but before that I was lucky enough to have an older sibling who lived and loved Hip-Hop so I was well aware of most of the classic/pivotal releases from the 80s and early 90s that were before my time.
This has helped me to not only appreciate the era I was personally impacted by but also the era I missed, and has helped me to have an open ear for the era that was soon to come and continuing to evolve into.
WHERE IS THE 'ROCK RESPECT'?
As I mentioned previously, unlike in other music genres, unfortunately in Hip-Hop there seems to be an allowance to disrespect those who came before.
Let's look at Rock for a quick example.
Rock legends like Guns N Roses, Bruce Springsteen, Queen, Eric Clapton and The Rolling Stones are still constantly celebrated and still selling out world tours and arenas. Why is this still not the case with Hip-Hop as much as it should be? I've seen people who laugh at MC's who have had to get a regular job to support themselves and their families but what choice do they have when they are part of a genre where the vast majority are slapped with a 'best before' sticker on their brand.
There seems to be this false narrative in Hip-Hop that dope music can't be made after a certain age is reached, which is becoming apparently false year after year.
The danger of this narrative is that it forces some rappers to constantly try and keep up with what's currently popular which, at times, leaves them open to ridicule.
'OLD HEADS' vs 'YOUNG HEADS'
In some cases, Hip-Hop, Like the Will Smith movie, 'Gemini Man', has become it's younger, passionate, impressionable, excitable and maybe more optimistic self at war with it's older, wiser, sometimes stubborn, more experienced but maybe at times more pessimistic older self.
Yes it's important for Younger Heads to appreciate the OGs but in my opinion it's just as important for Older Heads to try and understand where Hip Hop is heading, it may not be enjoyed, played much or even liked that much but it can be understood and to a degree, respected.
The term 'Old Head' seems to have a negative connotation to it and in all honesty I can see how this has been arrived at. It has come from those who were more than likely directly impacted by the golden age of Hip-Hop and has zero interest in the new age/new school and actively working against it or so it seems.
In every aspect of life there is the possibility that change will not be received or favoured by those who were there from the origin, be it the work place or family traditions the potential for disgruntled members is always high when it comes to change.
As I mentioned before, Hip-Hop was birthed in 1973 (so at the time of writing this blog, Hip-Hop is a forty-Seven year old genre), and like most things, with age, comes change.
in 1994, Common spoke about the evolution of Hip-Hop music in his classic song entitled "I Used to Love H.E.R", which is a must hear for all fans of the genre, I can't say everything Common mentioned speaks for the whole community, but I can definitely say it was received very well, which would indicate a lot of people agreed with what was said.
5 years later, in 1999, Mos Def said "Hip-Hop went from selling crack to smoking it" in his song aptly titled "Hip-Hop" which again, gives a look into the genres development which was 20 years ago so can you imagine how much things have changed since?
One of the beautiful things about this genre of ours is that whatever you want from it you can find, for example, I personally no longer have a huge desire to "Turn Up" or "Thug Out" regularly, nowadays I prefer music that touches my soul and the type of lyrics that stimulate my mind so I find the type of style/sound/MC that does that but I understand that some want music that is more fitting to their lifestyle perhaps, which may include "Turning up" and "Thugging Out" Lol, but for those times I want to, then I know where to find what I need.
The point I'm making is this, just because something is not our thing, it doesn't mean we have to tear it down, and that goes for younger heads hearing older projects or older heads hearing newer projects.
THE GREAT PEACE TREATY
A Peace Treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which normally ends a state of war between the parties.
Let's declare PEACE in the house of Hip-Hop!!!
Hip-Hop is a passionate genre, filled with excitement and adrenalin, but it is also one that needs defending and protecting... when we fight within, it leaves us open to vultures who prey on our community and our culture due to a lack of unity and ultimately a lack of gate keepers.
We need to work together to strengthen the Art Form and the culture of Hip Hop by reliving and respecting the foundation and its architects that built this great thing and by allowing ourselves to be educated on those iconic moments we missed and for those who lived it to understand that the culture is going to develop however it develops.
We must understand that by continually picking holes in it we will ultimately destroy the entire house that was built.
We as the culture are one, let's denounce the old Vs new narrative and begin to build together.
Hopefully you've heard the sayings 'Chew the meat and spit out the bones' and 'Don't throw the baby out with the bath water'... in other words, find what you like, keep that and discard the rest but remember that there is always something dope to find if you look in the right places.
Hip-Hop is an amazing genre because it has genre's inside the genre so it can cater for every type of fan in almost any type of mood.
By no means am I saying we need to like, promote or embrace any and every strand of Hip-Hop simply because it's Hip-Hop but what I am saying is that we should actively work together to protect and to build upon the foundation that was birthed all those years ago by respecting the originators and preserving the culture.
We should also work towards trying to understand the direction that Hip-Hop is heading in and help where it may be needed without tearing down what is being created.
As times change, so do people and their mindset, which impacts the topic, sound and audience but as long as the essence and spirit of the culture remains strong Hip Hop will never die... but let us build together.
"...Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand"
Thanks for reading...
'Hip-Hop's Civil War'... In The Spotlight
