So I read a quote from an acclaimed "Conscious Rapper" today, referring to the labeling of artists being one of the huge downfalls of the industry today. According to him, it never mattered who sounded like what, who liked who's music, how one's content differed from another; artists would tour with each other like it was nothing. In today's terms, that would mean that Atmosphere, 50 Cent, Kanye West, The Black Eyed Peas, Immortal Technique and Luni Coleone could all be on the same tour.
Hip hop isn't about creating barriers based on things like sub-genre or label association. It's about breaking them down; giving everyone a common ground to stand on, something we can all agree on: the music. Why should it matter if The Game speaks about shooting people and selling drugs? Should we expect him to lament about the atrocities performed in Sudan when that's not the life he lives? On the other side of the crossfader, why would Asher Roth boast about his prostitutes bringing him money and rolling on dubs in his Escalade, if he doesn't care for that lifestyle?
Hip hop is a bond that we share through expressing our lives, thoughts, feelings, and emotions through an artistic medium. Our own styles, our own souls, in our own way. It's funny how people get so pissed off at these genres. 'Conscious' hip hop heads say 'Gangsta' is destroying real hip hop. Listeners of the 'Thizzle Movement' / 'Crunk' / 'Dirty South' complain about 'Conscious' not being danceable. What people don't realize is that all a sub-genre of a type of music means is that most everyone that's a part of said grouping sounds pretty much the same, in some way. Same flow; same chord progressions; same 'bitching' about politics.
The question here is, "Why the fuck are there SO many Lil Johns, 50 Cents, Eminems, Lil Wayne, Kanyes, Atmospheres, T-Paynes, Akons, etc, etc ,etc. Why are so many people trying to sound like each other? The answer has multiple parts.
1. Lack of originality.
Ever since ever since microphones and recording software became relatively inexpensive, everyone thinks they're a musician. Now don't get me wrong, I am in no way against people expressing themselves through music. No matter what culture one is brought up in nowadays, (even if you're Amish) music has been a part of our lives since birth. Whether it was "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", "Amazing Grace", Garth Brooks, The Ramones, Grand Master Flash, The Beatles, The Eagles, or Iron Maide, everyone was brought up on music of some kind. And for some people, music is so ingrained into them that they find it harder to express themselves through a sentence than through lyrics. Others can't really show how happy or angry they are than trough dancing, whether it's a backspin or headbanging. There's even those who have to play songs to convey themselves to the world, whether they be original or not. We are the musicians of the world, for whom music is the best part of our lives. But when you factor in that the creme de la creme among us make so much money off of what they lo9ve to do, then people see that and think, "Why not me? I could do that!" which leadsd me to my next point.
2. Money
The destroyer of all art, money. Because people assume that if they do the same thing, they'll be rich and famous, that's exactly what they try to do. This is where we get sub-genres from. Combine that with record labels seeing their competition make profit off of one artists style, they try to find a way to capitalize off of it. They make it trendy, to try and get their piece of that pie. They set it up to fade out until the listeners are begging to switch the track, but can't because it's not our party, so we can't change the stereo. So what are we left to do? Either keep listening to the radio / watching MTV / BET hoping to be the first to see improvement, or find better music through Word of Mouth tactics. Once a large enough audience begins to follow this 'new, fresh, and exciting' style (even though the artists have probably been doing it for 10 years), the cycle starts all over again. We are forced to watch our music scene suffer from arrested development because these money-grubbing corporate snakes need to line their pockets for as long as possible with the least amount of work.
So what does this do to us, the people? It separates us, causes dissent over a petty difference, and gives us reason to hate each other. Now this may not be the case for you or me, but to those out there who are the sheep in the white-collar flock, these subtle differences seem so important, as if one having a taste for East Coast flavor means they subscribe to this huge philosophy, this set of ideals, as if it were a religion and therefore all West Coast listeners are infidels and must be converted or die.
So along with all the other reasons people think they have to discriminate against one another, to not get along, to stand un-united, we now have music as one of them. Now I can't speak for anyone else, but I find this to be such a revolting truth that I feel I must rid myself of this disease by any means necessary. Now that doesn't mean I'm going to go blow up EMI, Universal, or any other capitalist whore that's destroying what I love.
Rather, I've now decided to rid myself of any preconceived notions for artists based on what I'm told or led to believe that their sub-genre represents. Everyone gets a fair shot, because until I decide for myself I truly don't know what any artist is putting out there.
Keep your ear to the underground kids.
GasmasQ
The quote this article is based on:
"They've got their little categories, like 'conscious' and 'gangsta'. It used to be a thing where hip-hop was all together. Fresh Prince would be on tour with N.W.A. It wasn't like, 'You have got to like me in order for me to like you.' That's just some more white folks trying to think that all n***as are alike, and now it's expanded. It used to be one type of n***a; now it's two. There is so much more dimension to who we are. A monolith is a monolith, even if there's two monoliths to choose from. I ain't mad at Snoop. I'm not mad at Master P. I ain't mad at the Hot Boyz. I'm mad when that's all I see. I would be mad if I looked up and all I saw on TV was me or Common or The Roots, because I know that ain't the whole deal. The real joy is when you can kick it with everyone. That's what hip-hop is all about. ... They keep trying to slip the 'conscious rapper' thing on me. I come from Roosevelt Projects, man. The ghetto. I drank the same sugar water, ate hard candy. And they try to get me because I'm supposed to be more articulate, I'm supposed to be not like the other Negroes, to get me to say something against my brothers. I'm not going out like that, man."
-Mos Def in an interview for a book on Tupac
