--- "B. Graff" <b.graff@lycos.com> wrote:
> That said, the issues surrounding contemporary music
> are numerous. One has to do with the lack of
> diversity being offered through mainstream outlets,
> which is basically all that young kids have exposure
> to. Speaking in terms of rap, back in the day we
> would see videos from Too Short, Geto Boys or NWA,
> but they'd also play Boogie Down Productions, X Clan
> and Queen Latifah. It seems like many labels, radio,
> and tv have decided to put all their energies on the
> most commercially successful stuff, which is usually
> highly sexual, materialistic and/or violent.
VH-1 Soul and MTV Jams have been digging into the
vaults and showing a lot of older videos, and I agree
with you. You could love Digital Underground, Poor
Righteous, Main Source, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh
Prince, LL Cool J, Cypress Hill, N2Deep, Ice Cream Tee
and everyone else equally. Ice-T's Rhyme Syndicate
label wasn't actually all hardcore, there was a guy
who did a song called "Something Mellow" that was very
poppy, and there was no hesitation to buy it.
Things change, things stay the same right. It's funny
that in the early 90's, there was this huge paranoia
that hip-hop would corrupt our youth. Yet it was this
hardcore rap, a lot of it very good, that got all of
the attention. I rarely read an artice where people
said go listen to Stetsasonic.
Even back then they were setting the standard: either
you listen to the hardcore, or listen to something pop
like Heavy D. That's why the Native Tongue was always
on the edge, because they were the freaks of the
industry.
I feel that hip-hop split itself when hardcore
suddenly became "gangsta", or it moved from the hard
lyrics to a hard "image". Once record labels realized
that MTV was playing more hip-hop, the push for
imagery began, so it became less about rewinding the
cassette over and over, and hoping for a chance to see
a gun in Eazy-E's face.
> Now why is that the stuff that dominates the
> airwaves? I think we as consumers have to look at
> ourselves in terms of questioning why "conscious"
> artists always seem to fall off. It's always been
> my belief that even during rap's Golden Age, most of
> those artists were going gold at best. To move it
> to today, how many of us own records by the Coup
> (who have sold only 15,000 copies of their most
> recent album), Antibalas, the new KRS One, Dead Prez
> or Femi Kuti? De La Soul just lost their record
> deal, and I think plenty of us would call them one
> of our favorite acts during the early 90s. I think a
> lot of people say they want "meaningful" music, but
> don't buy it when it's available. And if we don't
> buy it, who's supposed to counter the stuff our
> younger family members are listening to?
I'm with you, and the new Coup probably sold after the
attention the original cover got following the
attacks.
I thought De La fell off too, but I bought their most
recent album and thought it was as funny and complex
as De La Soul is dead. The beats are far from Prince
Paul, but the essential element of humor was still
there. A month later, I found out Tommy Boy was
kicking out everyone.
MTV aren't the only people to blame, look at "The
Source". I remember when the issue was done
independently and looked more like a fanzine, with ads
of Slappy White and playlists from Beni-B and
Funkenklein. But they realized what sells best, and
now "The Source" looks more like Cosmopolitan, without
the sex tips (unless Master P is offering that too).
> Most people buy music as background music (work,
> doing chores) or for riding, relaxing or partying
> to. Therefore, they just want something that sounds
> good. And I will concede that Ja Rule, Mystikal and
> most southern bounce have blazing beats that are
> perfect for dancing. Until people decide that
> lyrics are more important than beats (or "conscious"
> artists decide to put as much emphasis on their
> beats/hooks as their words), artists with dope
> production will always be more popular.
>
> Or, it could be as simple as something a friend once
> told me: the music is negative because we're living
> negative lifestyles/values.
There are two songs out now that definitely make this
statement true. One is the Fat Joe song with Ashanti,
and there's a reference to "E". There's also a song
with Ja Rule where he raps about putting his girl on
"Ecstasy". To me, this is jumping on the bandwagon
that existed in the early 1990's, when every other MC
was talking about high they got and how they loved to
trim their kola's and dry it out on their dashboards.
"E" is hip in the mainstream, so why not jump?
What makes things even worse, is that something as
broad as "acid jazz", whatever we choose to call it
today, isn't getting as much attention, and the music
is 100 times better than most of what is being passed
off as hip-hop.
With digital/satellite radio taking over, there's
going to be a greater push for crap, because crap
sells. It doesn't matter if it's bringing in the
flies, spray some cologne on it, no one will notice.
p.e.a.c.e.
-John Book
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