Quote:
Originally Posted by RichMan
The problem with the new school is the values, the priorities. Back in the day, you represented your name and let your skills speak for themselves. Nowadays their status is based upon the rides they roll with, how fat they money clip is, how many girls to get a night and how many peeps they've iced. Alot of it is just show, no street cred. But, unfortunately, the kids that listen to it are far to impressionable and don't see through the smoke. The only reason why these new, so called MCs, are still in the biz. Even some of the original MCs are speaking out about this, and quite a few are disappointed. Can't blame 'em...they took the culture and pimped it to the max, but with wrong intentions.
Now do understand, some new cats are for real and understand the responsibilities that come into play representing the Hip Hop culture and community. Sadly, they are but a few.
For a more eclectic sound of Hip Hop, y'all can check out Common and The Roots and C-lo, to name a few.
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I'm just as much of a fan of 80's & 90's rap as anyone. But im tired of hearing about how the MC's of that era weren't materialistic. They absolutly were. Just look at some Big Daddy Kane, EPMD(hell, their name means Eric and Paris Makin Dollars), Slick Rick, Special Ed, Biz, Etc. album covers. Lots of gold ropes, fancy cars, and half naked women. Rapping has always been a braggadocios art form. It was even like that in the 70's, but nobody was making money off rapping to flaunt. Thats just the way it is.
Sure there were more "conscious" MC's of that era...Rakim, KRS, P.E.. But we have that catagory today aswell. So basicly nothing has changed. The only thing that is different now is money. Cats back then weren't making anywhere near the same level of money...which in my opinion has taken the hunger out of the art form of rap. Dudes today are getting into it for all the wrong reasons. Today rap (and hip hop culture in general) is big business, which has had a dramtic impact. When i first got into this culture (early 80's), there was little to no mass media exposure. Hell, even in NY, radio stations wouldn't play any rap before 9pm because it just wasn't popular. haha i remember as a kid staying up late to listen to Mr. Magic & Marley Marl and then talking about what they played the next day on the playground.