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The State Of Hip Hop
By David P. L. Dodson
In 1979, some said that hip hop was a fad that would fade the way of disco.
However, always willing to embrace the new trend, popular culture began its squeeze on hip
hop. For most of the world, hip hop only existed when the popular culture presented it to
them. But don't be fooled, hip hop has nothing to do with popular culture. Hip hop existed
before popular culture made its Columbus-like discovery of it. Before popular culture gave
it the labels, it had no name. It was just what people did.
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It started in the Bronx, New York. A community destroyed
by city cutbacks and underdevelopment and home to a people forgotten by the rest of the
city, the Bronx during the early days of hip hop was devastated. Yet, life existed and
thrived in the Bronx with or without assistance from the outside. In 1980, Ronald Reagan
on a visit to the South Bronx would say that it reminded him of a war zone. Even still, a
people lived and created there.
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Expression became their means to rise above their
circumstances. They created their own dialect, style of dress, art, dance and ultimately
their own music. But they did not do these things to sell themselves, they did these
things as a function of living. People wore the clothes they had and the clothes they had
became the style. They created a slang to talk about their experience. They created an art
form using the materials at their disposal, dances that mimicked their environment and
reflected their history and a music that would carry their voice around the globe. In a
city where they were viewed as nothing, this community used art and expression to come
into their own.
One by one other communities neglected by the masses began to catch the hip hop bug. Soon
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority became the communication pipeline that connected
the communities. And hip hop spread.
When the MC took the mic he told people what hip hop meant in his community, spoke that
slang with his own style. While interacting with the crowd at a party, the MC represented
more than an image, a crew or a trend. MC’s were the voice of the people and they
knew it. If an MC improperly represented the people, it was the people who rejected the
MC. Paying dues meant coming of age in the community to a point where you could properly
represent the people. People did not believe in MC’s, MC’s believed in the
people. That is the pride that an MC took with them to the mic.
The only thing the Sugar Hill Gang did for hip hop was teach popular culture that misusing
the community was profitable. Grandmaster Caz did not ghostwrite Big Bad Hanks lyrics in
“Rapper’s Delight,” ghostwriters are paid beforehand and know that their
lyrics are being used. After “Rapper’s Delight,” hip hop was put on the
roller coaster ride that is popular culture. It's the same ride that destroyed disco and
ultimately killed it with excessive materialism - flashing fast money, wild parties, sex,
drugs and alcohol. Many felt the same fate was due for hip hop.
Hip hop suffered and continues to suffer under the wing of popular culture. The pop
culture formula defined hip hop in the 80’s and 90’s. Many stars were created;
most of them fell. There were many times that hip hop seemed to be on its final leg. And
human life became the cost of fame and fortune as hip hop bore the loss of too many. As a
result, disheartened artists disassociated themselves from the community they once
represented for the glamour of popular culture.
Ironically, that community now turns to popular culture to dictate what hip hop is.
Popular culture has people wondering, “am I real enough for hip hop?” Instead
people should ask, “is hip hop real enough for me?” And yet, despite all of
this, the one thing hip hop has managed to do is the one thing many were sure it would not
- survive.
Popular culture, consciously or unconsciously, is slowly sucking the life out of hip hop.
We should not blame popular culture for this because it's in the nature of popular culture
to do so. To push communities too far, too fast. Popular culture is about the here and
now. It has no time for history and traditions. It has no time even for the future. It
makes communities sell their history and traditions for material rewards. Sell their
futures for instant gratification. But who are a people that exist only in the present,
with no history and no future? |
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"Hip hop existed before popular culture made its Columbus-like discovery of it.
Before popular culture gave it the labels, it had no name. It was just what people
did."
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You have to buy into the hype in order to
believe its truth and after you spend you'll discover that all you've bought is hype. Hip
hop is for the people only in as much as the people are hip hop. Protect hip hop. Know
your history and traditions and act for your future.
Suggested Materials |
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- Wild Style
The quintessential hip hop movie, done by hip hop artists about hip hop. Featuring a long
list of legendary appearances, understanding this movie is key to understanding the
philosophies that birthed hip hop told by those who lived in it.
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- Black Noise by Tricia Rose
This book is excellent for understanding the genesis and development of hip hop from a
socio-political perspective.
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- Old School Music
There are a lot of items available with old school material on it.
But to really
understand old school music, try to get your hands on a live tape recording and don’t
just listen to it, imagine that you are there. Fat Beats Records is a store that stocks
these.
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- Criminal Minded by Boogie Down Productions
Truly legendary in the hip hop world, this album was the origin of many of the concepts
that would follow in hip hop as it portrayed the inner-city. It's interesting to contrast
this album with the classic Sex and Violence album to see BDP's evolution.
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- Paid In Full by Eric B and Rakim
This album should be paralleled with early Run DMC releases to appreciate how it pioneered
almost all lyrical styles that followed.
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- Three Feet High and Rising by De La Soul
Although Buhloone Mindstate is their most impressive gift to hip hop, Three Feet showed
the diversity of hip hop like no album before it had.
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- The Chronic by Dr. Dre
NWA was Dr. Dre’s initial stamp on hip hop taking “gangster” rap to new
heights. But with The Chronic, Dre created a sound for hip hop few have been able to
imitate but all have learned to appreciate.
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- Organized Konfusion Organized Konfusion
Although Kool Keith and the Ultramagnetic MC’s marked the birth of the complex MC,
their influence didn’t reach mainstream audiences until Organized Konfusion
rejuvenated the underground with this album.M
April 2000
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