Since what feels like the beginning of time, the youth and their elders have been at odds over--well, everything. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in the black community, and black culture obviously pour into Hip-Hop. Young adults, especially young minority adults, and ESPECIALLY young black adults, have always felt misunderstood, particularly by prior generations. My generation feels older generations seem to look down on us. There's an unfair amount of condescending bashing coming from older generations. A lot of us feel like they don't understand us, and they don't want to. The biggest criticism from the "Hip-Hop is dead" old-heads is the lack of lyricism or subject matter, or as my mom would it, "Y'all don't talk about nothing". Contrary to that stereotype, this generation has list of thoughtful lyricists that could go on for DAYS. Kendrick, Cole, Drake, Chance, Joey Bada$$, Logic, Wale, J.I.D., Joyner Lucas, Mac Miller, Macklemore, Big Sean, Childish Gambino, A$AP Rocky, Big K.R.I.T., Earl Sweatshirt, the list goes on. Anyone who knows me knows I am HUGE fan of old school Hip-Hop, and am all about respecting elders and paying respect to the legends. But I'm prideful about the generation I'm a part of. There seems to be a lack of respect between the old generation and the new, and it seems like the older generation is more disrespectful.
However, I agree with the older fans to an extent about content matter. A lot of the popular music is either lacking substance, or overtly sexual. There's a lack of love songs compared to previous generations. I don't think my generation is as laid back, relaxed, or happy as the ones before. I think we take things too serious, and don't express our emotions the way we should, which is a product of our environment. My Hip-Hop education, so to speak, started with the older Hip-Hop I heard growing up. Between my uncle's fascination with hardcore artists like Biggie, Big Daddy Kane, Wu Tang, and Snoop Doggy Dogg, to my parents' preference of nerdy, soulful acts like A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, I had no choice but to become a Hip-Hop head. Their favorite artists became my favorites, and impacted not only the kind of music I like, and my old school Hip-Hop and R&B/soul-heavy musical pallet, but the new school artists that I call my favorites. Kanye West, The Game, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Bryson Tiller, etc. connected with me because they were reminiscent of the artists I got put onto. So I can see a lot of things that the older generations are saying.
However, I detest the way that older people in general approach us, and I think it's bigger than just music. They treat us like we're a nuisance. They blame us for the problems in this country, especially the crimes in inner cities. We get talked to like we're a nuisance, and not like their kids, grandkids, nieces, or nephews. I think that my generation has developed somewhat of a chip on our shoulder, and that there is a break in the link between eras. Most of us feel like we don't get the regard we deserve, and disrespect begets disrespect.
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming. I think the complaints of Hip-Hop falling off a reach. There are still artists in this generation that will go down as some of the greatest to ever do it. I don't see much difference between now and the Golden Era except for the type of Hip-Hop that's promoted. To quote 9th Wonder "[Growing Up] We had a lot of stupid songs, stupid dances. We had a lot of one hit wonders. The difference between that time[The Golden Age] and this time is that one hit wonder didn't make the cover of Vibe. That one hit wonder wasn't the face . And as popular as Vanilla Ice was, Vanilla Ice wasn't seen by America as the face of Hip-Hop. He was just seen as, a clown, to be honest. Same with MC Hammer. Our face of Hip-Hop in 1994 was Biggie and Tupac". I agree with that heavily. As much of a pull as Kendrick Lamar and J.Cole have on rap right now, the biggest hits of the last year are going to artists that aren't known for putting messages and thought into their music. Aside from Kendrick's dominance last year, most of the hits were songs like " Bodak Yellow", "XO Life Tour", "Rockstar", "Rake It Up". Artists like Lil' Yachty, Lil' Uzi Vert, Kodak Black, etc. are being seen as some of the most popular faces of rap. Hip-Hop is still Hip-Hop, what's changed is the marketing. But the older generations did the same thing. The only difference is no-one was touting 69 Boyz(The group that made "Tootsie Roll") as the greatest rapper alive. The art form is still alive, as a matter of fact. It overtook rock as the most popular genre. That never happened before at any point in Hip-Hop. LL, Big Daddy Kane, and Rakim didn't do that. Tupac, Big, and Snoop didn't do that. Jay, Nas, Kanye, and Em didn't do that in their primes. Although all of those legends most definitely laid down the groundwork, that was an accomplish this current generation of rappers achieved. So put some respect on our name!
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