REAL Hip Hop??

                                            

REAL hip-hop? A very controversial and touchy topic most hip hop lovers tend to always engage in but always seem to never really find an ending conclusion. It always seems to be the case where both parties “agree to disagree” or be caught in a cycle of a vicious attacks on what real hip hop is.

Well from my point of view this term Real Hip-Hop is sometimes used out of context seeing that all hip hop music is very realistic if u ask me. Some persons just tend to stamp the real hip-hop label on their preferred style of rap music in order to distinguish that what they listen to is defined as what Real Hip Hop should sound like. I should know because I’ve been guilty of this procedure in previous times.  But no one person can make that decision, u see from the beginning hip hop has always been more than a genre, it is a vocal expression of black culture, the struggles, the aggression and the achievements of African Americans within the United States but like the culture throughout the years hip hop goes through a evolution, so as the culture starts to change so does the music.

During the early 90’s the hip hop industry was mostly populated with rappers with lyrical stability. Filled with individuals who brought substance to the game, provided the platform for upcoming rappers to be inspired by and to also continue the legacy of which these rappers have started. This period was the foundation of what most music critics would acclaim as the era of real hip hop.  But during this era major record labels did not see the branding potential of these acts, most rappers during the 90’s got terrible contract deals, and very low advance checks, which was used majority of the time to book studio time to record their albums.

Majority of rappers from the 90’s do not even own the masters to their songs, the record label owns the masters or a website/publishing company to profit from sample clearance. So u have to congratulate rappers like Jay-Z (who also started his rap career in the 90’s) to be his own boss and started his own record label Rocafella Records. He is probably one of the few rappers from that past time who owns majority of his masters.

But as hip-hop became more popular and trendy heading into the millennium this is where record labels started to see the profit from hip-hop, so more money was spent on branding the rapper thus bigger advance checks, more lucrative contract deals; real money was now being made from being a rapper but as I previously stated earlier as the culture changes so does the music so during this change in the monetary gain of the industry. U found more black males using rap as a means to escape the poverty of their communities, help provide for their families and to just simply Live The Good Life. With that being said, during the 2000’s the lyrical stability of rap was diluted with rappers who was clearly rapping not for the love for it but morally the  financial gain of it thus creating the more radio savvy entertaining era of hip hop. But this is what u sacrifice for more money in hip-hop, u give up the Substance to just Sell Records because that is all majority of labels care about. 

This evolution within the genre has now caused the state of hip-hop to be in what I like to call Ratchet Rap. This era lacks any lyrical substance and focuses on mainly on the chorus/hook to captivate their listeners in each record. But even with this era being the more popular trend these days u still have a few rappers that contribute to the foundation of Sub Conscious Hip Hop and continue to keep alive the platform of which rap was built on for example: Kendrick Lamar, J.Cole , Lupe Fiasco,  etc. 

but all of which was said was to give an explanation to my conclusion and also give u an idea of where hip hop is coming from because you see I believe there is no Real Hip Hop but I do believe in G.O.O.D Music, if the individual has the ability to rap and formulate rhymes, come up with witty punch lines and his/her music sounds appealing I will support that rapper whether it be entertaining or substantial. I mean there’s nothing wrong with having a preferred style of hip hop but the ignorance towards different variations needs to be stopped. If u is a true lover of the genre that is hip hop you will support the different variations of it and the changes it makes from time to time no need to discriminate but hey that’s just my outlook on the situation.