Hip Hop Wanted Dead or Alive

photography by cagbay

Being an avid listener of the hip hop music since I was a child, I want to drop my two-cents on the topic IS HIP HOP DEAD? As we get closer to 2008 this same topic is still being discussed on television, magazines, hip hop magazines and even between friends. And to be honest, there is no right or wrong answer. Remember this is my opinion and if you dislike what I have to say then please drop a comment and let me know how you really feel. Now i shall proceed……..

Hip hop is alive and well. Just like fashion, hip hop changes either for better or worse. From Crime mob to Ghostface, Souljah boy to Outkast, Ugk to Mistah Fab it is still and always will be hip hop. You don’t have to like these artist, just as I am not a fan of Soulja boy or Mistah fab, but saying hip hop is dead just because of certain artists is just RIDICULOUS!! Just because certain artists’ lyrics might not seem up to par with Biggie, Jay or Pac doesn’t mean that hip hop is dead. I might think that the line “superman dat hoe” might be really dumb but to another person they might think it’s genius. Also many emcees (rappers) and I wont name names feel that hip hop is dead because the SOUTH has taken over the airwaves and television, which I feel is true because if you listen to any urban radio station or any urban music video channel you will notice a majority of the music being played is from the South. Which is totally fine, because it’s about time another region gets it shine. Majority of these emcees who are complaining come from the east coast, New York to be exact. Yes NY is the birthplace of the Four elements of hip hop, but why can’t these emcees just look at the big picture and realize how much hip hop has grown. NY is the motherland of hip hop and just like a mother she (hip hop) gave birth to all forms hip hop and placed them in different regions and gave each region a different sound. And for these emcees to put blame on a whole region is just stupid. Does every other region out there have to sound like the east coast and do their lyrics have to be east coast? If that was the case then every emcee will have “what up god” “what up son” in there songs and there would be no originality.

From what I read on hip hop blogs or magazine article interviews many of these east coast emcees sound really bitter and mad. I know I said I wouldn’t reveal any names but GZA from the Wu-tang clan recently dissed Souljah Boy and basically said “YOU’RE WACK.” Come on GZA you are verbally attacking a 17 year old boy. For what reason? because his “Crank Dat” song was one of the biggest records made this year? Or is it because he has more money than you? What Gza really needs to do is look at his own clan and see how to fix the issues they are having, but this can be discussed at a later time. If many of these emcees from the east coast are trying to bring back EAST COAST dominance in hip hop I suggest you stop complaining and start making that classic material again or you can do what Fat Joe and many other east coast emcees are doing and join the south. “If you can’t beat them, join them!” I grew up on that east coast sound but if I constantly hear complaining and whining like how my little brother used to then why should I purchase your music.

HIP HOP will never die because it’s a way of life. There are so many emcees in the game right now that keep hip hop alive such as Kweli, Jay, Nas, Kanye, Lupe and Common and those are just the Big Wigs the Mainstays. Each region has its own Jay or Nas and they keep hip hop alive. I watched hip hop grow, i was born in the late 70’s so I seen the ups and downs of hip hop, I listened to 90’s hip hop which is considered the best era of hip hop music by many, and sure I seen and listened to many emcees that I thought were really WACK but I still can’t say that hip hop is dead!

Once again this is my opinion and if you don’t like it, you can easily drop me a comment and tell me the reason.