A few weeks ago I did a little social experiment on Facebook. I posted a status saying:
"On the real though, if you don't think Limp Bizkit is at least top 3 greatest rock bands in history, we probably can't/shouldn't be friends."
Now, many people know that I am a frequent online troll. So some people knew this was probably a joke. Some people were furious (not really)! As someone who talks, posts, writes, and plays a lot of music, to many, this was a disgraceful statement. Some, semi jokingly, said that I would lose my privilege to speak about music. Some went along with the joke and agreed, and some just straight up agreed. If you don't know who Limp Bizkit is, here is a sample:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTMVOzPPtiw
Other than causing a ruckus, which I always like to do, there was a purpose behind this little social experiment. Thinking about music, art, and hip-hop as categories is often helpful. We group them into genres, talk about the top 10 hip-hop songs of the 90's, we talk about who are the 10 best rappers of all time, and we often say who does hip-hop better, or who is fake and isn't REAL hip-hop. I do this all the time. As I began to think about this more, I wanted to come up with a working definition for hip-hop. In my head, 2-chainz is less hip-hop than Public Enemy, and I would never try to argue that Future is a better MC than Joseph Simmons. But those statements must be made from some qualification or definition right? So let's do it. Let's define hip-hop.
I believe a good definition of hip-hop starts at the beginning of where it all began. The Bronx, in the early 70's. Now it's important to understanding that in the early stages of Hip-hop, it wasn't just rapping that defined it. Rather hip-hop was an entire subculture composed of 4 main elements: B-boying (break dancing), MCing, graffiti art, and DJing. The DJing, MCing, and b-boying scene really began at late night parties in the Bronx.
The effects of the slave trade were still in effect for Black people living in urban centers such as the bronx. It had become covered by years of Jim Crow laws, the "war on drugs" and a continued hatred for the African American community. The Bronx was filled with dozens upon dozens of gangs. Looting, violence and drugs filled the streets. But to many living during these times, this wasn't the only way. Where was their salvation found? On the dance floor at night parties. Gangs from all over the Bronx would come to hear about these DJs that were spending minute after minute repeating a funk drum break. People knew, when you stepped into that party, you put your gun down, you cast your differences and colors aside, and have a damn good time.
Many people often view hip-hop and rap as an art (if they would even call it that) that promotes violence, crime, and drugs, and altough sometimes "it" does, (I put it, hip-hop, in quotes because there are already some issues with classifying it as an entity), at the very core of hip-hop was actually a way OUT of those things. It was pioneers like Afrika Bambaaata who was a part of one of the most active gangs in the Bronx at this time, desired peace. So they created an entire culture that brought together all brothers and sisters to share in something beautiful, unique, that was a full expression of who they were. They took that raw energy of anger, feeling endangered, and hunted, and turned it into art.
As Hip-hop/Rap progressed it began to take on this form and identity even more. Rappers continued to talk about the strife of the African American. Lyrics about how they weren't free just yet. They cared about their communities, the youth, the next generation, and about the homies that didn't make it because of the vicious cycle that the streets often engulfed people into.
To me, people like Afrika Bambaataa, Dj Kool Herc, Rakim, Tupac, Public Enemy are the ones that shape my definition of hip-hop, because they helped create it. My definition puts value in the values that the culture was founded upon. When you held the mic in your hand, you had a responsibility. People were listening, and you held a hammer in your hand that could shape an entire generation. That wasn't a responsibly you held lightly. I often here lyrics that I find quite repulsive. Lyrics that seem to not take any of the above mentioned things into consideration. And I am usually vocal about that. But enough of that. Let's get to it.
Here is what I think hip-hop actually is:
....
....
....
Ok, this is a lot harder than I thought. Like, A LOT harder. This is something I have been thinking about a ton recently. In my head, I have an idea of who and what I think is hip-hop. In my head I know who my current top 5 are, and who my top 5 of all time are. But when it comes time to passing a law, that decrees that my top 5 is more valuable than someone else's.. I run into some issues. These are the same issues you run into in general when trying to define any art form. Sure there are certain things that a genre of art tend to share, but the more precise your dissection tool becomes, the more difficulty you have of really making sense of what you are performing surgery on.
But what I know to be true is this: even though defining and making lines in art is difficult (especially when you can't color inside the lines hehe), or maybe even impossible, we do it ALL THE TIME. Functionally, we act as if art and music do have objective, quantifiable standards that we can use to make falsifiable claims. For instance, when I said Limp Bizkit was a top 5 rock band, people couldn't wrap their head around what kind of definition of rock I could be using that would allow LB to end up in the top 200 even. Sure you can argue a bunch of different bands that would be acceptable to put in a top 5, but SURELY LB isn't one of those. But they are are for me! Limp Bizkit is genuinely one of my favorite rock bands (ok maybe not top 5). I grew up listening to them, getting pumped up to play hockey with cousins on the street by listening to "Nookie" not knowing what they were talking about. It was music that I connected to. It was music that made, and still makes, me feel a special way.
So is it all just subjective and there really isn't any point in making a "best rapper" list? Not completely. To me what this practically means is: I need to hate a lot less than I do. I need to respect other people's taste and be ok when someone tells me G-Eazy is their favorite rapper. I need to be ok with Drake and how he chooses to express himself on his tracks, even if he comes off to me as being super fake, and not hard at all, and singing love songs.. ok I'm doing it again. No Drake is a respectable man, who has worked hard for his success. Although he didn't pioneer a groundbreaking new art form, he has shaped and changed hip-hop in many ways. Many people connect to his music and vibe out to it, who am I to say they shouldn't, or even diminish that experience?
Recently my friend (Taylor Wallace) sent me a fascinating interview including Pharrell and Flying Lotus. Two artists and producers that I have the utmost respect for. During the interview, the interviewee asked if they think "hip-hop is in a good place, lyricist wise". Flylo starts off by laughing, but when they get into it Pharrell speaks some insightful words. He first off says that in every generation there are people that say that. He explains that music is in a constant state of change. Music and hip-hop, like any art is fluid. There is no arguing that there are some artists today in hip-hop that choose not to focus the bulk of their creative energy in the words they choose to say, RELATIVE to some other rappers. But instead there is an overall sound that creates a feeling, and what Pharrell says is one of the most important traits of music, it's asking yourself how it makes you FEEL. There's no denying that music will touch people in varying ways, it's a beautiful spectacle. But it also complicates things when I listen to certain artists and all I be feeling is anger and frustration. At the end of the interview Scott Vener explained how today's hip-hop is really watering down the art, but to Pharrell the answer to that is simply that it is changing. In a sense Scott's not wrong, but maybe a better way of thinking about it is that we are adding some sparkling water flavor and trying to make a new cocktail, how much powder you add may determine just how much the music will resemble "original" hip-hop, or if there is a connection at all. But even making that claim assumes a definitive definition of hip-hop which we have seen is difficult.
In closing I want to apologize. I didn't give you a definition. The main reason is because I don't believe we can successfully filtrate our musical preferences and likes, with objective definitions. Our definitions will always favor and support our experience and highlight the things that WE think should be included in that definition because that's how we connect most with the art. To me, that doesn't mean we should ditch the effort. On the contrary, we should fully embrace it, and learn to live with hundreds, thousands, millions of definitions of hip-hop. What we end up with is a beautiful array of the human condition. I think that's one of the functions of art, to explore the human condition. If by creating definitions through individuals experiences we can learn even more about the human condition, I say define away! But be ready to see some definitions you don't agree with, or like. Learn to love the person who created them, and learn from them.
I will always connect more to the Q-tips, the Phife Dawgs, the Kendrick's, the Kweli's, the Cole's, because there are things they do in their art that I prefer. So if you hear me bag on Future, know it's partially a joke, and partially just not my vibe.
Instead of writing a boring definition I thought I would write a little verse/poem that highlights what I feel is hip-hop. I encourage you to do the same! Cheers.
Hip-hop, what is it?
Is it black?
Is it Latino?
Is it bloods and crips?
Is it street art?
Is it the escape from or the journey into?
Is it looking in, looking out, or looking all around
Is it conscious?
Is it subconscious?
Is it the party, the thrill, the liquor, the girls the cars the money the drugs?
Is it the mansion, the three piece suit, the bling?
Is it how much or is it how little?
Is it love or is it hate?
Is it violence and pistol whips?
Or is it peace and harmony?
Is it Rakim and Tupac?
Or is it Gucci Mane and YG?
Is it California Love or the New York State of Mind?
Is it the Bronx or Compton?
Or is it Atlanta?
Is it truth or a lie?
Or is it simply honest expression?
No,
Hip-hop is none yet all.
Hip-hop,
is life.
"On the real though, if you don't think Limp Bizkit is at least top 3 greatest rock bands in history, we probably can't/shouldn't be friends."
Now, many people know that I am a frequent online troll. So some people knew this was probably a joke. Some people were furious (not really)! As someone who talks, posts, writes, and plays a lot of music, to many, this was a disgraceful statement. Some, semi jokingly, said that I would lose my privilege to speak about music. Some went along with the joke and agreed, and some just straight up agreed. If you don't know who Limp Bizkit is, here is a sample:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTMVOzPPtiw
Other than causing a ruckus, which I always like to do, there was a purpose behind this little social experiment. Thinking about music, art, and hip-hop as categories is often helpful. We group them into genres, talk about the top 10 hip-hop songs of the 90's, we talk about who are the 10 best rappers of all time, and we often say who does hip-hop better, or who is fake and isn't REAL hip-hop. I do this all the time. As I began to think about this more, I wanted to come up with a working definition for hip-hop. In my head, 2-chainz is less hip-hop than Public Enemy, and I would never try to argue that Future is a better MC than Joseph Simmons. But those statements must be made from some qualification or definition right? So let's do it. Let's define hip-hop.
I believe a good definition of hip-hop starts at the beginning of where it all began. The Bronx, in the early 70's. Now it's important to understanding that in the early stages of Hip-hop, it wasn't just rapping that defined it. Rather hip-hop was an entire subculture composed of 4 main elements: B-boying (break dancing), MCing, graffiti art, and DJing. The DJing, MCing, and b-boying scene really began at late night parties in the Bronx.
The effects of the slave trade were still in effect for Black people living in urban centers such as the bronx. It had become covered by years of Jim Crow laws, the "war on drugs" and a continued hatred for the African American community. The Bronx was filled with dozens upon dozens of gangs. Looting, violence and drugs filled the streets. But to many living during these times, this wasn't the only way. Where was their salvation found? On the dance floor at night parties. Gangs from all over the Bronx would come to hear about these DJs that were spending minute after minute repeating a funk drum break. People knew, when you stepped into that party, you put your gun down, you cast your differences and colors aside, and have a damn good time.
Many people often view hip-hop and rap as an art (if they would even call it that) that promotes violence, crime, and drugs, and altough sometimes "it" does, (I put it, hip-hop, in quotes because there are already some issues with classifying it as an entity), at the very core of hip-hop was actually a way OUT of those things. It was pioneers like Afrika Bambaaata who was a part of one of the most active gangs in the Bronx at this time, desired peace. So they created an entire culture that brought together all brothers and sisters to share in something beautiful, unique, that was a full expression of who they were. They took that raw energy of anger, feeling endangered, and hunted, and turned it into art.
As Hip-hop/Rap progressed it began to take on this form and identity even more. Rappers continued to talk about the strife of the African American. Lyrics about how they weren't free just yet. They cared about their communities, the youth, the next generation, and about the homies that didn't make it because of the vicious cycle that the streets often engulfed people into.
To me, people like Afrika Bambaataa, Dj Kool Herc, Rakim, Tupac, Public Enemy are the ones that shape my definition of hip-hop, because they helped create it. My definition puts value in the values that the culture was founded upon. When you held the mic in your hand, you had a responsibility. People were listening, and you held a hammer in your hand that could shape an entire generation. That wasn't a responsibly you held lightly. I often here lyrics that I find quite repulsive. Lyrics that seem to not take any of the above mentioned things into consideration. And I am usually vocal about that. But enough of that. Let's get to it.
Here is what I think hip-hop actually is:
....
....
....
Ok, this is a lot harder than I thought. Like, A LOT harder. This is something I have been thinking about a ton recently. In my head, I have an idea of who and what I think is hip-hop. In my head I know who my current top 5 are, and who my top 5 of all time are. But when it comes time to passing a law, that decrees that my top 5 is more valuable than someone else's.. I run into some issues. These are the same issues you run into in general when trying to define any art form. Sure there are certain things that a genre of art tend to share, but the more precise your dissection tool becomes, the more difficulty you have of really making sense of what you are performing surgery on.
But what I know to be true is this: even though defining and making lines in art is difficult (especially when you can't color inside the lines hehe), or maybe even impossible, we do it ALL THE TIME. Functionally, we act as if art and music do have objective, quantifiable standards that we can use to make falsifiable claims. For instance, when I said Limp Bizkit was a top 5 rock band, people couldn't wrap their head around what kind of definition of rock I could be using that would allow LB to end up in the top 200 even. Sure you can argue a bunch of different bands that would be acceptable to put in a top 5, but SURELY LB isn't one of those. But they are are for me! Limp Bizkit is genuinely one of my favorite rock bands (ok maybe not top 5). I grew up listening to them, getting pumped up to play hockey with cousins on the street by listening to "Nookie" not knowing what they were talking about. It was music that I connected to. It was music that made, and still makes, me feel a special way.
So is it all just subjective and there really isn't any point in making a "best rapper" list? Not completely. To me what this practically means is: I need to hate a lot less than I do. I need to respect other people's taste and be ok when someone tells me G-Eazy is their favorite rapper. I need to be ok with Drake and how he chooses to express himself on his tracks, even if he comes off to me as being super fake, and not hard at all, and singing love songs.. ok I'm doing it again. No Drake is a respectable man, who has worked hard for his success. Although he didn't pioneer a groundbreaking new art form, he has shaped and changed hip-hop in many ways. Many people connect to his music and vibe out to it, who am I to say they shouldn't, or even diminish that experience?
Recently my friend (Taylor Wallace) sent me a fascinating interview including Pharrell and Flying Lotus. Two artists and producers that I have the utmost respect for. During the interview, the interviewee asked if they think "hip-hop is in a good place, lyricist wise". Flylo starts off by laughing, but when they get into it Pharrell speaks some insightful words. He first off says that in every generation there are people that say that. He explains that music is in a constant state of change. Music and hip-hop, like any art is fluid. There is no arguing that there are some artists today in hip-hop that choose not to focus the bulk of their creative energy in the words they choose to say, RELATIVE to some other rappers. But instead there is an overall sound that creates a feeling, and what Pharrell says is one of the most important traits of music, it's asking yourself how it makes you FEEL. There's no denying that music will touch people in varying ways, it's a beautiful spectacle. But it also complicates things when I listen to certain artists and all I be feeling is anger and frustration. At the end of the interview Scott Vener explained how today's hip-hop is really watering down the art, but to Pharrell the answer to that is simply that it is changing. In a sense Scott's not wrong, but maybe a better way of thinking about it is that we are adding some sparkling water flavor and trying to make a new cocktail, how much powder you add may determine just how much the music will resemble "original" hip-hop, or if there is a connection at all. But even making that claim assumes a definitive definition of hip-hop which we have seen is difficult.
In closing I want to apologize. I didn't give you a definition. The main reason is because I don't believe we can successfully filtrate our musical preferences and likes, with objective definitions. Our definitions will always favor and support our experience and highlight the things that WE think should be included in that definition because that's how we connect most with the art. To me, that doesn't mean we should ditch the effort. On the contrary, we should fully embrace it, and learn to live with hundreds, thousands, millions of definitions of hip-hop. What we end up with is a beautiful array of the human condition. I think that's one of the functions of art, to explore the human condition. If by creating definitions through individuals experiences we can learn even more about the human condition, I say define away! But be ready to see some definitions you don't agree with, or like. Learn to love the person who created them, and learn from them.
I will always connect more to the Q-tips, the Phife Dawgs, the Kendrick's, the Kweli's, the Cole's, because there are things they do in their art that I prefer. So if you hear me bag on Future, know it's partially a joke, and partially just not my vibe.
Instead of writing a boring definition I thought I would write a little verse/poem that highlights what I feel is hip-hop. I encourage you to do the same! Cheers.
Hip-hop, what is it?
Is it black?
Is it Latino?
Is it bloods and crips?
Is it street art?
Is it the escape from or the journey into?
Is it looking in, looking out, or looking all around
Is it conscious?
Is it subconscious?
Is it the party, the thrill, the liquor, the girls the cars the money the drugs?
Is it the mansion, the three piece suit, the bling?
Is it how much or is it how little?
Is it love or is it hate?
Is it violence and pistol whips?
Or is it peace and harmony?
Is it Rakim and Tupac?
Or is it Gucci Mane and YG?
Is it California Love or the New York State of Mind?
Is it the Bronx or Compton?
Or is it Atlanta?
Is it truth or a lie?
Or is it simply honest expression?
No,
Hip-hop is none yet all.
Hip-hop,
is life.
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