By Demone Carter of Funk Lab // art by Adrian Avila
Ageism is nothing new in the world of music. Whether Rock, Jazz, R&B, every new generation of artists has had to fight for its respect.But the generation gap in contemporary Hip Hop transcends mere ageism. The result: the ongoing battle between Old School vs. New School. True hip-hop vs. corporate rap.
That battle was seemingly re-ignited with Nas's latest album, ÒHip Hop is Dead.Ó The album is not only his most solid musical release in years, but is also a potent commentary on Hip Hop's current state. Hip Hop is Dead is a concept album reflecting on the genre's current status quo, juxtaposed with Hip Hop's golden era. The album's concept and title were meant to spark debate within the Hip Hop community, and it has done just that. Nas's album highlights a widening generation gap within Hip Hop. On one side, you have fans raised on the likes of Rakim and KRS-1. For the sake of this article, we call them old-schoolers, who are sickened by the state of modern rap.
On the other side you have fans who were reared on 2Pac and Snoop Dog, the new-schoolers, who think their elders should live in the nowÊ and embrace rap in its current form.
Vanessa Nisperos, 28, old-schooler co-founder of 5th Element, a San Jose group dedicated to advancing the female cause in Hip Hop, said she agrees with Nas' hypothesis. "The images you see today in Hip Hop are not the same as when I was growing up," Nisperos said. "You used to have artists like Queen Latifah and Monie Love who were about something. Now it's all about being sexual. What you have is white males making decisions on how women and people of color are portrayed."
New-Schooler Anthony King, 22, agrees that rap music is far from what it used to be, but maintains the music is nowhere near dead. "Yeah, it's not the same as what it was -- as far as being a form of expression for the Black community. But it's still alive."
It's not just the fans taking exception to the notion that Hip Hop is Dead. Multi-platinum rapper and, ironically enough, Nas's label mate, Young Jeezy, expressed his views on the Hip Hop is Dead controversy during an interview on Philadelphia's Power 100.3 with Old-School rapper turned radio personality Monie Love.
"I don't think it's dead at all; it's just a new day and time, a new story, a new movement," said Jeezy. The interview turned into a microcosm of the sometimes heated Hip Hop is Dead debate, and ended with Young Jeezy walking out of the interview.
Both sides of the debate have a point. The current generation of Hip Hoppers are entitled to put its own spin on the art form without being constantly compared to the rappers of the golden era. When an art form constantly looks to the past for its greatest accomplishments, said art form ceases to grow.
At the same time, there has been a full-scale corporate takeover of rap music. Corporations like Time-Warner and Universal Vivendi have done to Hip Hop what other corporations have done to the environment: pillaged and plundered. At some point after the release of Dr. Dre's Chronic album in 1993, companies realized that glorified depictions of ghetto life not only appealed to Black youth, these images struck a chord with white youth as well (which translates into billions of dollars). Not surprisingly, the artistic bent of rap music has been smothered by the 'gangsta' aesthetic.The new corporate rap power structure has made stars out of those artists who have a knack for marketing their street credibility to the point where rap skills are merely an afterthought (remember Mike Jones).
It seems the only hope is to find a way to make the corporate interests who control rap present a balanced representation of the culture in the mainstream. One example: the recent success of artists like Lupe Fiasco and Common proves that the corporate machine is ready to churn out artists with actual substance. However, this is conditional: said artist must be economically viable. As usual, it comes down to the almighty dollar.
If the old-schoolers support those artists who champion the fundamentals of what they refer to as true Hip Hop, then maybe the genre can regain some of its past glory. Otherwise, all that will be left is to listen to the radio and complain about another nail being hammered into Hip Hop's coffin.
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