Possibly one of the greatest inventions in the last ten years has been Pandora Radio. There really isn't anything like it still. A free service that provides you with your own personal stations of music you want to listen to. It plays music from the artist you request and then tracks that are similar to that artist's style, allowing you to always discover new music.
I'm one of the avid users of Pandora. If I'm on my computer, I usually have it on. It's been the sole reason for me discovering artists I would never have heard of without it.
Monday was one of those days. With it being finals week here at OU, it stayed on all day as I tried to cram for my Econ 103 final that I had no preparation for. Naturally, I chose A Tribe Called Quest as a station because I knew that it would be low-key and one I could jam to without becoming too distracted from my notes about short-run costs for firms that I don't give a damn about.
With two hours already in hitting the books, something catches my attention. A new song pops up on Pandora, "Don't Sweat the Technique" by Eric B & Rakim. The lyricism in this track is so good, that I actually take a break from studying to listen more closely. Once the song is over, I'm just about to return to studying, when another gem comes on, "Ring Ring Ring" by De La Soul. "'93 Til' Infinity" comes on next by Souls of Mischief, a largely underground west coast hip-hop group of the early 1990's.
Then it hits me, "wow, why can't half the hip-hop/rap we listen to today be anything close to as intelligent and talented as this?"
So with spring break approaching, I'm starting my own personal investigation to why hip-hop has gone from a respected and creative form of music, to one that causes protests and talks only about women, money, and drugs. Is hip-hop dead? Who's responsible for its demise? What has changed in it? Will it ever be resurrected?
These are questions I want to find answers to. Look for future articles coming from me soon. . .
good shit.. but its easy.. the times have changed!!! hip hop aint dead.. its the TYPE of hip hop that is dead.. gangster rap is not in anymore.. "swag" rap is.. as much as it sucks but thats how it is.. and good rap still exists. talent is still out there. wiz khalifa is MAD talented... j cole is MAD talented.. same goes for kid cudi,and one of my new favorite artists.. wale. they all bring thier own features to the table when talkin about rap.. and rap vets still exist to carry the game when it is "dead." if rap is dead, then why is it CONSTANTLY played on the radio? whether it is good rap or not, it is STILL being played. not hatin, i agree to you that it is dead to an extent, but cats like jigga, nas, em, dre, snoop, etc. etc. keep the game whre it shoudl be and younger dudes like your wale's, kid cudi's, and asher roth's bring their new shit to teh game to switch it up and keep it active.. peace n love...
ReplyDeleteThis was only an introduction, so wait to see what I find and conclude before you argue against it. There's a lot that's happened to make hip-hop what it is today from what it used to be.
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