WHAT IS HIP HOP TODAY ?????

It has completely changed these days... and to me, for the worse. It seems the corporate media moguls have sunk there dirty claws into my beloved hip-hop. Everyday I get to hear new songs that follow in the tradition of "Laffy Taffy" or "Chicken Noodle Soup" My best example is Soldier Boy. I'm glad that an unknown artist was discovered on myspace and made it huge! but... did it have to be that same line repeated over and over again type shit?!? Mike Jones is another good example. 4 bars, repeat, 4 bars, repeat followed be a mind numbingly redundant and retarded hook. Where are my Wu-Tangs? Where are my Mobb Deeps. Oh wait they're still around, but have gotten swept up in this commercialization of hip-hop as well. Don't beleive me, listen to the most recent Mobb Deep album produced by 50 cent... yes you heard me... f'n 50 cent produced their most recent album. What, did Alchemist get abducted by aliens with all the rest of the great producers?!?! Wu-Tangs newest album was OK. They're still trying to please both worlds. My opinion is that people took to heart what the Wu said. "Cash Rules Everything Around Me" and with that, the true art of hip-hop went the way of parachute pants and backwards jeans. Was my love of a such a diverse and wonderful music genre a love of a passing fad?.. No. Rap and hip-hop hasn't died, It's just gotten so big that it can be heard in ALL facets of music... even country (Cowboy Troy for example) And because of its vast enourmaty, the real true artists have just been pushed to the underground, where they happily reside, away from the mindless drones of radio listeners. Just because they don't play it on the radio doesn't make it bad hip-hop, just not commercial rap.

So in ending, I say turn off the radio, turn off MTV. Dig deep into the world wide web. Stop listening to music that only perpetuates the trend of club rap on the radio. Keep that style in the club where it sounds good to the imbibed mind and bring conscious rap back to the radio. Feed the mind, don't feed the pockets of the fat cats on the top floors. Support lesser known labels like Detonator and Def Jux. Hip-Hop is not dead, but it's sick and needs our tender loving care to nurse it back to health.

It'll do what it do till it done
You keep it pimp... I'm a keep it gangata!

http://www.myspace.com/1andonlycapricornone

I'm glad I got someone else on my side... but why do I know that name russ par?

It'll do what it do till it done
You keep it pimp... I'm a keep it gangata!

http://www.myspace.com/1andonlycapricornone

I agree wit u cap but history repeats itself always. Its only a matter of time before this stuff fades away and the new sound comes, lil jon was runnin it and he died out, cash money, all dat music comin out of florida and texas, no limit, pastor troy...etc. Eventually the streets will get tired of hearing the same recycled music and a new sound will come. Hopefully we will be a part of the new and nothin else like whats comin out will take over. I think if pimp c didnt pass the music was finna change cause he was bout to call some people out and put a stop to all dis bullsh*t dats comin out

Agreed as well and a lot of the underground stuff has turned way too overground and commercialised, even crews like Jedi Mind Tricks and Dead Prez tend to slip into a more commercial sound gradually and most of the Wu albums have been pretty dire commercial shit for years with a few exceptions here and there...Think Differently Music was a good collab project and just about anything from the RZA is still slamming, but the crap solo and collab project turds churned out by Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Method Man and just about any other Wu Member are really starting to pile up in my toilet...
Too many once great crews and labels turned to shite from Onyx to Cypress Hill to just about anything on Def Jam and countless more, still there's more than enough peeps out there that do keep it rough and real instead of just claming to..even though they break into the bigger picture. Stuff like MF Doom, Mr Lif, Immortal Technique you name 'm...still plenty of good shit around as long as you're picky and look for it.
And there's more and more new peeps appearing bringing good shit as well as well as more and more non-US hip-hop (especially from France) that fills the gap left by people making too much money while they let their music slip.
With the Internet as free DIY distribution channel it's far easier for newbies to make themselves heard by a large audience as well, without needing to go through labels, record companies, distribution channels, etc. etc...definitely a good thing compared to just a couple of years ago...lowers the bar in terms of needing cash and connections and allows people with talent to stick out and be heard. So I'm not worried, the whole bling bling commercial bullshit is annoying but stuff like that has been around in some form or another since hip-hop began, and it's still here in myriad different ways and forms, so I'm not worried and still have enough good old and brand-spanking new shit to listen to as far as I'm concerned...just a bit harder to find that's all

"I blow minds for a living..." (Jello Biafra, 1991)
...or at least try to (me, just now)

Hey Cap...I have to hand it to you, I thought my musical taste included everything from the bowel noises in the depths of hell to the rhythmical gurgling of angels just finished brushing their teeth....but Japanese hip-hop..? Man...that's pretty fucking obscure, even for me...never heard of Samurai Champloo (though OBVIOUSLY they spellt Shampoo all wrong...tssk ;-) ) but I'll be Googling for 'm.

As for good French hip-hop, probably most well known, but for the right reasons, is MC Solaar...look for tracks like Noveau Westerne, Gangster Moderne and Bouge de La...and albums include "Qui Seme Le Vent Recolte Le Tempo" and "Prose Combat"...my French isn't that good, I can pick up the general idea of the lyrics after hearing a track a couple of times, but that's it....it's just the flow of the language as well as MC Solaar himself (technical genius) combined with great beats and sampling....really good stuff. His newer stuff has lost some of it's rougher edges though (same everywhere it seems ;-)
A big French crew to check out is Iam, sort of a French Wu-Tang clan from Marseille..did a few collabs with some of the Wu members and Redman a while ago as well when they were touring Europe, "L'Ecole du Micro D'Argent" is one of their strongest album releases. Just Google around, follow the usual collab trail and you'll find some great hip-hop. And for a nice mix of different styles and types of French hip-hop see if you can dig up the soundtrack for the movie "La Haine" (aptly called La Haine ;-)

Ooohh...and see if you can find something by Opgezwolle or Duvel-duvel...two really good dutch crews, sounds great even though you don't know what the fuck they're saying ;-)

Later,

H

"I blow minds for a living..." (Jello Biafra, 1991)
...or at least try to (me, just now)

Seriously... never heard of the second great anime form Shinchiro Watanabe? Oh you need to get that shit. Thanx for the heads up on the hip-hop tip! I'll be checking them out this weekend!

Be good... or just good at it
You keep it pimp... I'm a keep it gangata!

http://www.myspace.com/1andonlycapricornone

good catch... I wonder how that happened and how long ago?

Toogood... dig deeper than radio and TV... There are SOOOOOOOOOO many good hip-hop artists today that no one knows about, and because of the horrendous media manipulation going on today, no one cares to even look. So complacent, like a heard of cattle sent to graze on the grass in front of them... never looking beyond the fence for greener pastures. I could list artists on and on... just look to labels like def jux or detonator and clicks like Boot Camp Clik or Justus League. Boot Camp is holding it down right now... Sean Price is the shit! Good MCs are out there, just not getting proper exposure.

Be good... or just good at it
You keep it pimp... I'm a keep it gangata!

http://www.myspace.com/1andonlycapricornone

check out this jayz freestyle . this is what hip hop is , its 2 years old , right before kingdom come was released, still this shit is hot
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http://www.defsounds.com/singles/Jay_z_hot_97_funkmaster_flex_freestyle
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*This is more then selfish pride, it's the will to be the greatest*

http://www.myspace.com/kingdattoli

lyricly there isnt any ground you can travel that hasnt allready been stepped on.. Its all been done before.. I got no problems listening to song after song about money, hoes, clothes, dro as long as the beat is fire and the wordplay and rythems are on point.. Usually the songs with meaningful lyrical content are bland, theres some exception...
If the beats fire and the lyric rythems are on point they could be talking about raping babies for all I care. Id still bump it.

My opinion Rap/hip hop is better now then it ever has been.. The beats a waaay better now than they ever have been overall production value is much higher,and the lyrical rythems are much better. l I aint a kid either. I grew up listening to bone and mystical back when they first got it poppin. the state of hip hop is all personal opinion.

i with all of you , some of this bull shit needs to stop , butt i think im going more with teddy brazello on this one . im from the old school to and wood like to see things go back to some of the old ways of the law like capricorn one is talking about , social commentary . butt it is what it is . one man that is takeing a stand is ICE CUBE , check out his new album , Raw.Footage . he is talkeing about this same topic on that album . i bump it a few times a day . good album for real fam . hit me up if you need to check it out .

its a good album right Cap ? i think i will do a remix and post it some time this week for the make tunes fam so thay can check it for thim self

Herbie Hancock is the shit!! Heres a link to the grandmaster flash songs video.. check out his outfit..lol.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3kRuJhIVIo

Rap has and always will be a outlet for selfexpression not only that but it always in a constant form of evolution.. The songs your talking about are perfect examples. They sound alot worse then the songs that come out today.. from the mix to the lyrics and lyrical rhtyems they sound worse.. Back then nobody exactly knew what they were doing, but it was something new. Rap music has always survived off of whats new. Thats the way it is.

The original person to blame for the synth voice crap is Cher. That one song where she like do you beleive in life after.... some bullshit like that . Thats the first song with what everybody likes to call the T-pain effect. Almost every rap song you hear on the radio now is about bitches dancing, something about a club, getting drunk, being rich so your thoughts that rap music isnt about having fun but moreso shock value is way off.. The majority of rap songs that come out are about having fun cause getting drunk is fun and Im pretty sure so is being rich.

The only thing that could shock me right now in rap is if someone like say.... Bun B,Ice Cube doesnt matter who as long as their a established rapper. came out with a track saying shit about suckin some dudes off and about how they wanted to kick it with freddy mercury and take it like a champion. lol it would be even more shocking if it was featuring Shaq..

my roots are in hip hop, but the shit that comes out these day's i stopped listen to it and dont care any more...still loving that old skool stuff from new york. here in holland its big and the cool thing is that artists here dont follow the us style, but do there own thing. and not only here in holland...so i think the new stuff is coming from europe. watch out!!

some jazzy hip hop stuff from holland
PETEPHILLY AND PERQUISITE
http://www.myspace.com/petephillyandperquisite

here some dudes from holland that keeping it raw like the oldskool hip hop.
stropstrikkers
http://www.myspace.com/stropstrikkers

this a friend of my
http://www.myspace.com/igurakkuru

this kinda differant, but thats what i mean and this dudes are gonna be big
http://www.myspace.com/cmonandkypski

this guy's are awesome and also have that oldskool thing
opgezwolle!
http://www.myspace.com/opgezwolle

peace!!

http://www.myspace.com/kubusbeats