When Hip Hop Lost Its
Soul
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To my sister
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Art by Ernest Totten
Ta b l e o f C o n t e n t s
Introduction: 7 The Revolution: 9 The Evolution: 16 Resolution: 24
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Introduction Crowded streets with the underlying smell of gunsmoke. Black youth takeover the sidewalks in peaceful protest to their social injustice. A young boy of 17 gets separated from the group and finds himself surrounded by police officers. He’s pinned to the pavement and beaten until his voice is muffled with the overwhelming pain of open wounds. But his voice, the protest, the very thing he was fighting for in peaceful retaliation dies with his crippled body under the white noises of police brutality. “A young n**ga got it bad ‘cause i’m brown and not the other color, so the police think they have the authority to kill a minority,.” says the NWA member Ice Cube in the infamously rebellious protest song F*ck The Police. Hip Hop, one of the biggest genres of music in the world, but also one of the most controversial came from an very visceral point in American history. The growing revolutionary movement that was soon accepted and became popular amongst the inner mainstream parts of pop culture. But as that increasing amount of popularity grew in the Hip Hop community the depth of substance and revolutionary impact decreased. This change the motives of what Hip hop truly means and sparks the discussion on how Hip Hop impacts the general public with its social and political message. Over the years it is safe to say that the genre of music does not sound like the same thing as it was back then. How the amount of influence it has over the youth can now be hindered by mainstream rap and hip hop culture because of its lack of substance can call for a new revolutionary movement.
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The Revolution “In 1981, 20/20 ran a mini-documentary on rap. Hugh Downs opened it by describing what rap was, saying it was ‘A music that is all beat-strong beat-and talk’” (Serrano). The viewpoints of certain people about rap varied during its early time of existence. The amount of expression being put into one genre had swept the nation and it soon became a trend that some thought would pass. In fact the Hip hop genre was compared to disco where the genre of music was only popular for a certain period of time and soon faded out into being irrelevant. But for Hip Hop the circumstances were way different, raps high success and popularity during the 80’s came due to the fact that it derived from such a complex place in the society; which is understandable that its importance and quality was up for debate. Starting from an oppressed minority where all they had as a means to express themselves was this music, requiring nothing but “talk and a strong beat”. To some it was astonishing how people could consider it music in the first place due to the lack of vocals and heavy instrumentation. Overall Hip hop challenged the norms and expectations of what music was supposed to sound like. Considering it a certain phenomenon. During the early beginning of the making of rap music, it was only listened to and enjoyed by a very small part of the part of the African American community, everything was easy to access in order to make rap because all you needed was your mind
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“The beats are way more basic, waaayyy more basic. We used to have the Miami base music, like booty shake kinda music, it was a faster tempo, like 120. Now they slowed it down to about mid 70’s to 80 beats per second. And it’s just too deep very low bottom sounding, it sounds clear and simple though, it’s crispy...I like it, but they all sound the same.” -Shaka Dickson
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to come up with the lyrics and a hard surface to make the beats. Considering that was the foundation of what one needs in order to make a rap song, anyone would think it was an attainable skill, when in actuality it wasn’t. In the Bronx, New York, black youth budded with creative incentives for a revolution. The song “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy elaborates on how the corrupt use of government power used to oppress a minority. An economic downpour that was used to secularize black communities was a means of taking away their power, so the music being produced earlier came from places as simple as the streets or even in someone’s garage. However Hip Hop is not just music, many mistaken it a specific genre of music, but it’s a culture. There are four crucial elements that made up its existence during this time, and it consists of MCing, DJing, Graffiti art, and Hip hop dance. A lot of the general public during the time of its early development fail to see that this was a whole culture and a way of life. Today modern Hip hop has morphed these elements into more specialised and separate skills other than a unionised culture. Today, the rap part o f Hip Hop means a different thing. Other than it being a tool against oppression, it is now mainly a means of expression of pretty much anything. But is this a good thing or a bad thing?
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“Well to do music you have to be kinda selfish, and shut everybody out. So of course it’s hindered it. Because I can’t be selfish and be like “Hey kids, hey wife, I’m gonna go make beats all night. Bye bye leave me alone.” -Shaka Dickson
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The Evolution A
s time passed the more industrialized hip hop became, as big record companies began to run the inner makings of the musical sound. The sound of hip hop evolved and migrated from the streets and into clubs and party scenes. Shaka Dickson, is a father of two kids and a beats producer. His hobby in creating the tracks music lived throughout his life and grew up with him and even after he settled down to have a family he still found time to develop his own personal style in order for it to mature with him. Although he does not create his music for a fanbase but more for fun, he is still very talented at what he does. Shaka was born and raised in the Bay Area, and was exposed to a variety of different types of culture, and music. His budding passion for producing music started in High school where he was inspired by his fellow peers who had done it before him. His views on Hip hop have changed over the years saying that it’s more commercialized these days with simpler lyrics, and less intellectual subject matters. The beats are also more simple with a lot of base which now appeals more to a younger audience: Listening to different types of genres of music. And also watching some of my older friends in the studio making their own beats. It just really inspired me to just say “ Hey i can do that myself!” So before all of the equipment, I used to have just two cassette players and connect them together, I would have a blank tape on one for recordings, and the other would be the instrumentals, and then you know, just hook up a mike and rap over that, because you know I wouldn’t have my own beats! So that also inspired me in continuing to make more beats as far as knowing “eh I could continue this” as far as learning a new hobby. When we used to go clubbing and all that, I would catch that vibe of the night and then go back to the house and kinda try and make that beat feelin the same energy...Not necessarily
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duplicate what a heard but make a soundtrack for the night. (Dickson) Once rappers got big record deals and were published all over the world was when they became products of the media, and that’s how commercialism came into play. Big brands and different sponsorships used rappers to promote their products, as well as a dramatic change in the way mainstream rap sounded. The sound was more ditsy and upbeat, to appeal to a younger audience, but it was still had edgier elements of hip hop. During the early 2000s, 50 cent was the one who took it the next level; mixing pop beats with gangsta rap lyrics. The lyrics were brash and all about having a good time but at the same time showing that he was a gangster. 50 cent is after all known for his very “street”
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“Commercialism...It’s all about money now. And everybody sound the same because that’s what sells. And before during my time there was no internet. So every subject matter and song would sound different” -Shaka Dickson
“STEP 1 Launch a dance craze. STEP 2 Score a No. 1 with the help of a meme. STEP 3 Spend Grammy night partying with superfans Chance the Rapper and Chris Brown--as Billboard tags along. “I try not to be cocky,” says Takeoff, “but hey, we the shit, man”. - Migos
or “hood” appearance, his overall voice and persona is that of a gangster and most people who do listen to his music listen to it to feel more hardcore. As the new emerging of this sound of Hip Hop comes to the surface of mainstream media, the mindsets and goals for these rappers become more shallow and easier to attain. Going from a dream of revolutionary black empowerment, to a new vision of a young man with ideals as materialistic as the gold chains around the gold chains around their necks. This form of party rap has taken the public by storm and has formed its own type of controversy within itself, the message. If one listens to mainstream rap on the radio it is undeniable that the messages that modern artists are conveying to the public is redundant. In the Billboard article “The Three Amigos”, Chris Martin, gets a close up interview with one of the most popular rap superstars today, and they talk about their motives and plans for stardom: “STEP 1 Launch a dance craze. STEP 2 Score a No. 1 with the help of a meme. STEP 3 Spend Grammy night partying with superfans Chance the Rapper and Chris Brown--as Billboard tags along. “I try not to be cocky,” says Takeoff,
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“but hey, we the shit, man”. Migos are one of most influential groups right now for the modern hip hop sound today. Their plans for “pop stardom” work in tandem with the goals of millennial today which is to party hard and look cool while doing it.” (Martin) This group has taken the social media by storm and has also inspired other artists to go off of their style which is an electric, bass heavy, form of Hip Hop called trap music. As for the lyrics of the songs the predominant subject matters that most of these trap rappers write about is about bragging rights to their lifestyle, which mostly includes: how much money they get, the types of drugs they use, and the amount of women they dimean. Now coming from a genre so bold and relentless as Hip Hop, this stirs up the discussion of which using this form of expression is crossing the line of being too overzealous and in essence, not really meaning anything at all.
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The Resolution B
ig record companies and Artist owned record labels tend to be in charge of the mainstream Now that there are several different music platforms that can be used to upcoming artists to share their music digitally such as: Soundcloud, youtube, Spotify etc. This makes for more rappers success to be contingent on the amount of followers or people who listen to the music from the general public. Basically the public can determine the success for a rapper these days and can catch the public eye quicker. Most of the time this type of rap is considered underground but still popular amongst the youth in their communities. “At first it was just me and Koa joking around ever since they got the library studio booth, we thought that we could just record a beat and freestyle over it. I started liking it a lot and thought this was a good way to express myself if I were to continue this art. I enjoy making music and still do. “ says 17 year old high school student Ahmad Washington. This young rapper is making his starting to digitally publicise his music on Soundcloud. He is one of many souncloud rappers who use their own creative voice with inspiration from mainstream music to experiment with music of their own.
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“ I came up with my nickname by, everyone used to call me saucy. So I always thought like oh, I’d go off of that. So then I started think of like Sauce God, all the stuff and then that kind a cool”.- Ahmad Washington
Ahmads hope for his new passion is to make it a career and eventually move to LA to pursue gigs and party with his friends at the most exclusive of lounges. The only problem in this is that there are thousands of American teens across the country that have the same vision as Ahmad. Even people who go the same school as him make music and post it on soundcloud in hopes of achieving that Migo type lifestyle. But what does that mean for the overall genre of music? As it’s taking a new turn and being used as a different voice for a new generation of people, does the message of this modern Hip Hop affect or pertain to any real change?
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About the Author
Syyah Brown Is a 17 year old Freestyle student, who grew up in the Bay Area. During her Sophomore year she came to realization that she wanted to further study writing and deepen her appreciation for the English language. Her main inspiration for writing this book was her fascination and love for the Hip Hop genre. She spends most of her free time watching her little sister and writing Sci Fi short stories that are based her dreams. Her main hope for people to take away from this book is to show colleges and the general public her talents of writing and love for music.
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Works Cited Dickson, Shaka. Personal Interview. 15, March. 2017 Horowitz, Steven J. “Who will rule SXSW 2017? As the industry summit changes shape, A&R experts pick the new faces with the highest upside.” Billboard, 18 Mar. 2017, p. 26. Student Resources in Context, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=moun43602&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA4 85971774&it=r&asid=08c73c71f8b2863edd182dd70d6d0971. Accessed 23 Mar. 2017. Martins, Chris. “The three amigos.” Billboard, 18 Mar. 2017, p. 32+. Student Resources in Context, go.galegroup.com/ ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=moun43602&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA485971780&it=r&asid=ba6e35489f3a707be68c5c77f3e ee725. Accessed 23 Mar. 2017. Music NewsCamille Augustin@JadoreCamille | March 29, 2017 - 12:24 pm. “N.W.A’s ‘Straight Outta Compton’ Album Added To Library Of Congress.” Vibe, 29 Mar. 2017, www.vibe.com/2017/03/library-ofcongress-nwa-straight-outta-compton-album/. Accessed 20 Apr. 2017. Keiles, Jamie Lauren. “7. ‘One Night’.” The New York Times Magazine, 12 Mar. 2017, p. 28(L). Student Resources in Context, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=moun43602&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA4850188 40&it=r&asid=167c345302979ee6f9529a47f08c51a5. Accessed 23 Mar. 2017. Serrano, Shea. The Rap Yearbook. Abrams Image. 2015 Washington, Ahmad. Personal Interview. 16, March. 2017
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