Whats wrong with hip hop??

[2GooD Productions]

There is no one person or thing to blame for the state of hip hop, except lack of diversity.
There is room for all forms of hip hop, East Coast, West Coast, Southern, European, Australian, Christian, UK, Horrorcore, Satanic, Hip Pop etc etc. Because everyone is different with different tastes, there is a market for all forms of hiphop. I personally wont condone all forms of hip hop, but there are people that would and do.
The reason I love the old days of hiphop so much is because the sounds and styles were so diverse, there were so many artists all doing it THEIR WAY. From sampled funk East Coast style/boom bap with raw raps, to Gangster style and G-Funk West Coast, to the Miamii Bass and Horrorcore from the South, they were all going on at the same time. A listener had a vast array of styles and flavours to choose from.
The problem now is not the southern music, nor 808's, nor autotune, as there is a market for all of them. The problem is the lack of much of anything else.
The reason hip hop has stagnated for so long is because of the lack of any diversity. Its all cookie cutter bullshit, made to measure for maximum monetary gain, riding bandwagons till the wheels fall off.
Hip hop has become a stereotype of what it spoke out against. And stereotypical rap is all that gets airplay nowadays.
Instead of educating it now dumbs down.
The message has been flipped on its head.

 

[UNORTHODOX]

the comunties have become based on following. back then you were praised for being your own person, and you were beatdown/exiled for bitting or even bandwagoning. Now people frown on doing their own work, and random observers say he's "gettin money stop hatin". People dont respect originality anymore, look at movies (recycling comics and redoing past movies), Tv shows are heavy bandwagoners, wallstreet even is based directly on another mans success.

 

[LDB]

the comunties have become based on following. back then you were praised for being your own person, and you were beatdown/exiled for bitting or even bandwagoning. Now people frown on doing their own work, and random observers say he's "gettin money stop hatin". People dont respect originality anymore, look at movies (recycling comics and redoing past movies), Tv shows are heavy bandwagoners, wallstreet even is based directly on another mans success.

So it's not the people i.e artist it's the machine behind it all i.e the industry itself. Just put your music out via the internet, never seek a recording contract with any of the majors or there spin offs and the problem is solved. Internet radio will soon take radio over anyway imo. Especially black radio based on that dumb as law some of our upstanding congressman signed a few months ago. Laws that will put many many urban radio stations out of business. The next business genius will be the one that figures out how to bring some of the bigger names in the game to really tap the Internets potential TOGETHER. The internet has been the one thing that the powers that be haven't been able to OWN! It's like what Dame Dash, Suge, Erve and J. Prince were attempting to do before someone sold them and there plan out(Jay Z). They should have try'd to launch it thru the Internet instead the normal real world music distribution route.

I think we've had the conversation right here to death....lol

 

[2GooD Productions]

look at movies (recycling comics and redoing past movies), Tv shows are heavy bandwagoners, wallstreet even is based directly on another mans success.

And this is why I think its social engineering.
Hypnosis can be a matter of just repeating the same message over and over again.
Anyone remember WMD's.
They just said the same thing over and over again without any evidence to prove it, and then slowely people took it as proven truth.
Creativity in music is being stifled by the lack of ways or methods and ideas that artists are never getting a chance to hear or advance upon. Because if its not cookie cutter its not getting no airplay.
Hip hop fans are being bombarded with the hypnotic message, sell drugs, bang those dirty hoes, kill all your rivals, have no ambition for anything else except stacking the wealth while contributing to the decay of your neibourhood through the attitudes that those hypnotic messages promote.
Creativity of all forms is being stifled, because our creativity is without any shadow of a doubt, the thing that separates us from the rest of the animal world. Creativy=advancement.
Stifle creativity and original thought, and kill real ambition to make a mark in the world and make people forget their own uniqueness then you create a load of mindless idiots easy to manipulate with transparent marketing techniques(sex & bling) and political ideologies, like Al Qaeda(an invented enemy that cannot be beaten, thus creating a never ending flood of taxpayers money for them to do with as they will)
Its amazing to me how easily the threat of a terrorist scares someone, or the muslim menace, when they are more likely to get knocked over or die in a car accident. That is testament to the power of social engineering through the hypnosis induced by repetetive false statements.
And thats all I see in the media of all kinds nowadays, since the big corps took over all the outlets.

The next business genius will be the one that figures out how to bring some of the bigger names in the game to really tap the Internets potential TOGETHER. The internet has been the one thing that the powers that be haven't been able to OWN!

I do agree that the internet is the future, and getting big names involved is key to its success.
It needs big names to give it credibility, but while people are still buying cds,the physical cd market is still a market that should be tapped. I prefer physical cds, simply because I have lost data before, and having the physical master for backup not to mention the packaging and info on that, is essential to me.
I dont think its time to give up on cd's yet, but the internet should be tapped better than just bloody iTunes.
Needs something to separate it from all the other music download sites.
Maybe you should be the one to get on the phone and try to make it happen. Could be lucrative.
Find one big name to back your cause, then the others can follow.

 

[skidflow]

I just wanna be able to go to the record store again and wanna buy something...you know...get out, go somewhere when I haven't got anything else to do...some power destroyed that for me. while back majors were getting away with selling cd's for $17-20 a pop because they had a better product in a sense (the music was slightly better)....artist just got tired of them wanting to stifle creative freedom and still wanting to profit in the same way which was basically fuck the artist...we need more indy record stores imo, and artist doing more consignment deals. This way hip hop stays in tune with the artist thats true to it (reguardless of your sound, I aint talking about your idea of real hip hop) and the fans that support those artist...and I speak moreless from feeling standpoint in my statement...so most might say..."fuck Skid talmbout?"

 

[UNORTHODOX]

I do agree that the internet is the future, and getting big names involved is key to its success.
It needs big names to give it credibility, but while people are still buying cds,the physical cd market is still a market that should be tapped. I prefer physical cds, simply because I have lost data before, and having the physical master for backup not to mention the packaging and info on that, is essential to me.
I dont think its time to give up on cd's yet, but the internet should be tapped better than just bloody iTunes.
Needs something to separate it from all the other music download sites.
Maybe you should be the one to get on the phone and try to make it happen. Could be lucrative.
Find one big name to back your cause, then the others can follow.

This is true, I'm afarid most artists are either to big to care, or owe to many favores/owned by too high up exects to pull this off. If it could be a business proposal, maybe flip it around like a whole foods of music or "reverse propaganda" it could work.

I just wanna be able to go to the record store again and wanna buy something...you know...get out, go somewhere when I haven't got anything else to do...some power destroyed that for me. while back majors were getting away with selling cd's for $17-20 a pop because they had a better product in a sense (the music was slightly better)....artist just got tired of them wanting to stifle creative freedom and still wanting to profit in the same way which was basically fuck the artist...we need more indy record stores imo, and artist doing more consignment deals. This way hip hop stays in tune with the artist thats true to it (reguardless of your sound, I aint talking about your idea of real hip hop) and the fans that support those artist...and I speak moreless from feeling standpoint in my statement...so most might say..."fuck Skid talmbout?"

I feel you. I think those store would be healthy for the "hiphop culture" if not the business also.

 

[Sucio]

The INTERNET is responsible......


If you wanted an album before..you had to buy it....or dub it from someone who bought it. The industry was making money because these acts could put out something and still profit from it because there was no other way to get these albums other than buying them. So a Boot Camp album can sell right next to Christian rap album...the diversity was there...


Now the internet has allowed people to get these albums through no cost at all...entire albums...the songs/albums circulate all over the place, there's no need to buy albums anymore if you could get them for free..so the guy who bought these albums isn't buying them anymore.....In turn the labels aren't making the money they have been in the past, therefore not signing artist to huge deals and coming up with the new "360" deals to make up for non-album sales.

Labels now have this mentality to make money the fast way now.....so when one act blows up, other labels follow suit and sign similar acts and in turn saturate the market with the same thing, labels aren't quick to sign acts that are different to what's "hot" right now...They need the assurance that they will make back what they invest in the artist..so it just so happens the south became hot during this time....now everything sounds southern..even NY rappers over southern rhythms and sounds....can't blame the artists for trying to make money by staying relevant to the game....

Blame the labels all yall want...it's US who ruined hip-hop....whoever downloaded a song/album at any point without paying for it is responsible.....if we sat there and purchased as many albums as we do now as we did in the past (everyone), we wouldn't have this problem and diversity will still exist.


Now the internet has exposed a lot of up and coming artists as well....But they become the victim in this cycle as well...forcing to stay relevant...forcing to make an album sound like jeezy..or weezy...or whoever else....

I hate some of the music because I don't consider it hip-hop but the stations are calling it that......but.....I can't blame them....I blame US...the consumer...



Just my opinion....

 

[shadeed]

I don't know if there's anything "wrong" with it. There is a changing of the guard and many of the mainstays of the past 10-15 years are getting up in age and a new crowd is coming in that many don't identify with because its not an offspring of the previous generation w/ the exception of the Kid Cudis, Cory Gunz, and others who derive their sound clearly from someone who came before them.

I will say that I did a workshop for high school students on "Hip Hop Entrepreneurship" not too long ago and in my convos with the kids who stayed afterwards, many weren't liking what's on the radio or in the mainstream. I don't think the level of dissent w/ fans towards hip-hop in general has ever been this high in any other point in hip hop history. Kids of my era would LOVE to listen to Red Alert and many other mixshows, buy the new mixtapes just to hear what guys had to say.

It's fascinating to me that Rakim started writing Paid in Full at Soulja Boy's age. Who's next to pick up that torch?

 

[LDB]

Nah Sucio......

The labels knew the internet distribution avenue was out there. They just didn't think it would blow like it did and there for once they tried to catch up it was too too late. You can't stop a train by walking out in front of it....that's what they tried to do with suing people and what not.

Let me put it like this...If I walked past a Jewelry store.....saw no one was there....doors wide da fuck open...knew there were no cameras and no police there and that I could just walk into to that store and take what I wanted with only a 1% chance of getting caught...GUESS WHAT.....I don't even need to finish that sentence do I? lol

Had the industry gotten ahead of the technology that is Internet distribution they could have curtailed internet bootlegging drastically. It would have been on the level of going to flea markets and getting the new shit with fake inserts. They got down for a minute but were always raided and shut down in the end. So much so that most eventually decided that it wasn't worth it. Of course they moved to mixed tapes after that but those joints eventually get shut down as well.

The train is so far out of the station now that they can keep suing mothers all they want but people will still keep taking the chance. The labels need to start sites like a few that I have memberships with as a DJ where you pay a monthly fee and you can download all you want. That's the only way for them to get in now! Offer the people a little something free to go along with it and the people will indeed buy from them again.\

Right now we have a whole lot of "sticking it to the man" going on because of the way they are trying to rectify the situation. Locking people up or suing them is definitely not the answer!

 

[MagnaOpera]

There is no one person or thing to blame for the state of hip hop, except lack of diversity.
There is room for all forms of hip hop, East Coast, West Coast, Southern, European, Australian, Christian, UK, Horrorcore, Satanic, Hip Pop etc etc. Because everyone is different with different tastes, there is a market for all forms of hiphop. I personally wont condone all forms of hip hop, but there are people that would and do.
The reason I love the old days of hiphop so much is because the sounds and styles were so diverse, there were so many artists all doing it THEIR WAY. From sampled funk East Coast style/boom bap with raw raps, to Gangster style and G-Funk West Coast, to the Miamii Bass and Horrorcore from the South, they were all going on at the same time. A listener had a vast array of styles and flavours to choose from.
The problem now is not the southern music, nor 808's, nor autotune, as there is a market for all of them. The problem is the lack of much of anything else.
The reason hip hop has stagnated for so long is because of the lack of any diversity. Its all cookie cutter bullshit, made to measure for maximum monetary gain, riding bandwagons till the wheels fall off.
Hip hop has become a stereotype of what it spoke out against. And stereotypical rap is all that gets airplay nowadays.
Instead of educating it now dumbs down.
The message has been flipped on its head.

Pretty much, money hungry assholes (producers, emcees, labels, A&R) have ruined a wonderful genre of music.

Hip hop is art, not money.

The INTERNET is responsible......


If you wanted an album before..you had to buy it....or dub it from someone who bought it. The industry was making money because these acts could put out something and still profit from it because there was no other way to get these albums other than buying them. So a Boot Camp album can sell right next to Christian rap album...the diversity was there...


Now the internet has allowed people to get these albums through no cost at all...entire albums...the songs/albums circulate all over the place, there's no need to buy albums anymore if you could get them for free..so the guy who bought these albums isn't buying them anymore.....In turn the labels aren't making the money they have been in the past, therefore not signing artist to huge deals and coming up with the new "360" deals to make up for non-album sales.

Labels now have this mentality to make money the fast way now.....so when one act blows up, other labels follow suit and sign similar acts and in turn saturate the market with the same thing, labels aren't quick to sign acts that are different to what's "hot" right now...They need the assurance that they will make back what they invest in the artist..so it just so happens the south became hot during this time....now everything sounds southern..even NY rappers over southern rhythms and sounds....can't blame the artists for trying to make money by staying relevant to the game....

Blame the labels all yall want...it's US who ruined hip-hop....whoever downloaded a song/album at any point without paying for it is responsible.....if we sat there and purchased as many albums as we do now as we did in the past (everyone), we wouldn't have this problem and diversity will still exist.


Now the internet has exposed a lot of up and coming artists as well....But they become the victim in this cycle as well...forcing to stay relevant...forcing to make an album sound like jeezy..or weezy...or whoever else....

I hate some of the music because I don't consider it hip-hop but the stations are calling it that......but.....I can't blame them....I blame US...the consumer...



Just my opinion....

You're aware that 90% of teenagers buy music from itunes right? BUY!

And no, this is not something I pulled out of my ass, I listen to this show on the radio called "the history of new music" and they guy comments every so often on these studies being done on how many people are pirating music etc.

Most people that I know do not illegally download music - most of the public is too inept to do it efficiently anyways.

Pirating is not the problem with hip hop, I don't see any correlation between the two.

 

[slik da relic]

the reason Hip Hop sux:





shit really DID change after 96... think about it.

da relic

 

[LDB]

Very good shit Slik.....very very good shit. If those vids don't answer this question nothing will!


Slik...start a blog....u really need to start a blog...u keep hitting us over the head with the goods homie...REAL TALK!

 

[manguino]

radio is irrelevant at this point. the only thing of recent that has resembled the power of the radio of past was funk flex and cee blowing up new york radio with that jay z track. i'm trying to understand what people think is wrong with the current state of hip hop and how do you even measure the quality of an ENTIRE genre?

are you basing quality of the genre based on the billboard top 40? rap has thrived WITHOUT any top 40 play for many many years, that shit is completely irrelevant. it's impossible to write off an entire genre especially when there are so many regional acts people have never even heard of that are running shit.

as far as diversity goes, i really don't understand this. what is this based off of? i can still hear distinct sounds from different cities. don't tell me that a z-ro song sounds like a project pat song, or that a toomp beat will sound like just blaze track. songs and artists still retain a sound that reflects their backgrounds and cities. please don't tell me there's not a whole new slew of sub-genres in rap either, from off syncopation shit that house shoes and flying lotus are doing or even grime that's popped up in england with artists like scorcher or ghetto. there's a whole new pack of people with different flows and cadences compared to what was big 10 or 20 years ago. yes, it's different- that's not the stagnation of anything, just a movement in a different direction.

don't get me wrong, there's a whole lot of shit out there but that's not a new problem. rap's been KILLING it for 30 years now, it's now just a matter of how deep people are willing to go.

 

[Sucio]

It is an opinion.... that I think...whether or not it's correct is what it is...

Word @ 6:06-7:46


That's so true..I do agree with that...

 

[Bump]

"I just wanna be able to go to the record store again and wanna buy something...you know...get out, go somewhere when I haven't got anything else to do"..."we need more indy record stores imo"

Regardless if this would help hip hop or not....its so true. So much shit is not WORTH getting out to do anymore. I love going to indi stores, even if not buying, it's fun to see what's around, come home and research it. I wish we had a place here that had more selection of hip hop vinyls than we do but i'm not so sure 20 years ago much if any hip hop was played over the airwaves in this town.

I think the lack of creativity is the main source of garbage music, a lot of these dudes are crazy on mixtapes and just random videos poppin up on youtube and google but the records are horrible party drug car bitches type music. I think the record labels would be surprised what the influx of new listeners, therefore new buyers, would be if they loosened up their tie and allowed a different sound to form within hip hop.

I'm sayin this based on "MTV" and "BET" music, but agian they thrive off what is released commercially to them...so they can only do so much I guess. The "underground" or whatever you want to call it is killin it right now though. You have sooo many dudes (and females for that matter) just speakin about some crazy, real, true shit. Be it love, war, murder, life, politics, the shit they used to love doin, the city they live in, what they wanna be, or just some abstract alien type nonsence.....it's their for us to find.


Just my opinion. I'm probably wrong haha

 

[DaWorldFamous]

The INTERNET is responsible......


If you wanted an album before..you had to buy it....or dub it from someone who bought it. The industry was making money because these acts could put out something and still profit from it because there was no other way to get these albums other than buying them. So a Boot Camp album can sell right next to Christian rap album...the diversity was there...


Now the internet has allowed people to get these albums through no cost at all...entire albums...the songs/albums circulate all over the place, there's no need to buy albums anymore if you could get them for free..so the guy who bought these albums isn't buying them anymore.....In turn the labels aren't making the money they have been in the past, therefore not signing artist to huge deals and coming up with the new "360" deals to make up for non-album sales.

Labels now have this mentality to make money the fast way now.....so when one act blows up, other labels follow suit and sign similar acts and in turn saturate the market with the same thing, labels aren't quick to sign acts that are different to what's "hot" right now...They need the assurance that they will make back what they invest in the artist..so it just so happens the south became hot during this time....now everything sounds southern..even NY rappers over southern rhythms and sounds....can't blame the artists for trying to make money by staying relevant to the game....

Blame the labels all yall want...it's US who ruined hip-hop....whoever downloaded a song/album at any point without paying for it is responsible.....if we sat there and purchased as many albums as we do now as we did in the past (everyone), we wouldn't have this problem and diversity will still exist.


Now the internet has exposed a lot of up and coming artists as well....But they become the victim in this cycle as well...forcing to stay relevant...forcing to make an album sound like jeezy..or weezy...or whoever else....

I hate some of the music because I don't consider it hip-hop but the stations are calling it that......but.....I can't blame them....I blame US...the consumer...



Just my opinion....

the internet is really not responsible it was the invention of the CD-R that fucked the industry..think about that

Let the first one without downloading mp3's ever in their lives or software cast the first stone...
I'm torn on this issue....on the one hand, the internet has made everything easier as far as not having to pay those gargantuan fees to record in a big studio. the technology has changed and became some what less expensive and any schmuck with a pc can make music. times have changed boys. How many of u actually know what it is to record in a studio with someone that's not familiar with your genre to a 2 inch tape with the synch tones and all that shit...This was not cost efficient at all unless you already had a deal and someone else was fromtin you....the internet is really not responsible it was the invention of the CD-R that did it to the industry. And why should we feel bad for the labels? There was collusion and black balling of artist, not to mention how the labels shitted on artist for years, keeping their royalties and fucking them over. Now the artist have the power to form their own studios they are responsible for their own sound, marketing, publishing, ect. ect. You are totally in control and u don't need a major label to make it. The Industry is dead yall. it started dying when Master P started buying his radio slots, somethng that the stations call now "ADVERTISING" (payola is still payola it's just done different now) The south took advantage of this and the arrogance of the East Coast rappers and labels contributed too. And we are here fellas....Now what happens?

The napster argument....

I found out about napster too late in the game. When I first learned of it I wasn't fuckin with computers, I was still doing tracks the old fashioned way. Now I pose u this question, what is the difference in the legality of downloading a song for free, or someone who goes to a used record shop and buys someone's album for a dollar or whatever. The artist are not gettin' additional royalties off this now are they? But you don't see the RIAA shutting them down. Please don't use the arguement that they got paid when the album was bought originally, cause that's bullshit. It's because the labels can't control a person selling used records. Please tell me the difference between that and sharing a file with your homie? That's why I Tunes is the shit now, because they made the labels bacically get down or lay down. They couldn't stop it and now the artist get a small piece of change off of the download....The lesser of the two evils ya digg?

Does anyone feel me yet?

 

[UNORTHODOX]

Does anyone feel me yet?

I get what you're saying but if it wasnt cool/fun to get over on people non-of this would be a problem. people dont want to(or cant) pay $10-14 for some half assed bull shit about: how their cars better than yours, their girls finer, they all around better than you. not to mention alot of people realised most of these dudes think they are hotter than they really are.
there is also a problem with the nations morals (or lack thereof) and everyone is too sheep or pussy to call people out or even take a stand for the younger generation to follow.

rant over lol

 

[2GooD Productions]

the internet is really not responsible it was the invention of the CD-R that fucked the industry..think about that

Let the first one without downloading mp3's ever in their lives or software cast the first stone...
I'm torn on this issue....on the one hand, the internet has made everything easier as far as not having to pay those gargantuan fees to record in a big studio. the technology has changed and became some what less expensive and any schmuck with a pc can make music. times have changed boys. How many of u actually know what it is to record in a studio with someone that's not familiar with your genre to a 2 inch tape with the synch tones and all that shit...This was not cost efficient at all unless you already had a deal and someone else was fromtin you....the internet is really not responsible it was the invention of the CD-R that did it to the industry. And why should we feel bad for the labels? There was collusion and black balling of artist, not to mention how the labels shitted on artist for years, keeping their royalties and fucking them over. Now the artist have the power to form their own studios they are responsible for their own sound, marketing, publishing, ect. ect. You are totally in control and u don't need a major label to make it. The Industry is dead yall. it started dying when Master P started buying his radio slots, somethng that the stations call now "ADVERTISING" (payola is still payola it's just done different now) The south took advantage of this and the arrogance of the East Coast rappers and labels contributed too. And we are here fellas....Now what happens?

The napster argument....

I found out about napster too late in the game. When I first learned of it I wasn't fuckin with computers, I was still doing tracks the old fashioned way. Now I pose u this question, what is the difference in the legality of downloading a song for free, or someone who goes to a used record shop and buys someone's album for a dollar or whatever. The artist are not gettin' additional royalties off this now are they? But you don't see the RIAA shutting them down. Please don't use the arguement that they got paid when the album was bought originally, cause that's bullshit. It's because the labels can't control a person selling used records. Please tell me the difference between that and sharing a file with your homie? That's why I Tunes is the shit now, because they made the labels bacically get down or lay down. They couldn't stop it and now the artist get a small piece of change off of the download....The lesser of the two evils ya digg?

Does anyone feel me yet?

I agree 100%

 

[DaWorldFamous]

I get what you're saying but if it wasnt cool/fun to get over on people non-of this would be a problem. people dont want to(or cant) pay $10-14 for some half assed bull shit about: how their cars better than yours, their girls finer, they all around better than you. not to mention alot of people realised most of these dudes think they are hotter than they really are.
there is also a problem with the nations morals (or lack thereof) and everyone is too sheep or pussy to call people out or even take a stand for the younger generation to follow.

rant over lol

Rap was PREDICATED off this braggin' and boastin shit...Do your research and u will find this out. It was always about how an individual was FLY...how much money and chicks they had or about their DJ or crew ect....I dare one of u to find me to be a liar on this..now with that said the subject matter really didn't change that much from then to today...YES THERE WAS PUBLIC ENEMY, POOR RIGHTEOUS TEACHERS. BDP, and others who led us into the "conscious" rap era...Everything returns back to it's original form...Understand that.

Im all about lyrics homie. If u say some hot metaphors and shit then I'm with you. If your flow and swag is tight then I'm with you...It ain't what u say it's how u say it.

And as far as the younger generation goes...too bad their parents didn't take care of them like they should have...It's not our responsibility to raise peoples children..they do what they see others do...firm parenting could fix that. My son is 17 and i school him always on what is out there in the street and give him my own personal expiriences to back that up...I smoke weed and he doesn't...and he doesn't have a desire to either.
And he also hasn't knocked some chick up either...because he knows what happens with that too...

I'm from another era..totally

 

[shortt knowtice]

I think wale said it best when he said, "They say hip hops dead, I believe its just the fans"

I think its people as a whole who have ruined it. We have allowed a space for wack music in the market. Not only have we allowed the space, but we have pushed other good music out the way to make room for wack music. If NO ONE liked or bought into catchy nonwitty lyrical songs like "walk that walk" or "halle berry" etc., then those artists would be forced out the game or forced to switch their style. If we bought and supported dope artists (IMO Lupe fiasco, blu, wale, little brother etc) then HIPHOP would be alive and dope artists would be profitting for being hot. as long as we as a whole feel the need to crank dat then we cant expect anything more to come out except people trying to imitate crank dats