Was Hip Hop really better back in the day?
Categories: Hip Hop
The biggest lie in the world is. “It used to be better back in the days.” I am here to say that a very few things were better in the past. Sure there were a few things, but that list is short. It is nothing like in the context people use that phrase right now. Let us look at it from a hip-hop sense. Was hip-hop better back in the day? First, let us define what day we are talking about when we say “Back in the day.”
In the late 70’s, hip-hop was pretty cool. It was what I look back as black punk music. The only difference was that it was embrace by the urban areas whereas punk was for the select few. The demographics were different but the ideal was the same. Music created by us for us. Hip-hop was clearly an urban and minority driven for of expression. The movement catered to the fact our differences from the main depiction of what America was shown to the world as bound us together. Jewish, Black and Hispanic kids that did not fit in the mold of what was represented formed a culture outside the bounds of what portrayed and created something so real.
Hip Hop in the late 70’s and early 80’s was about creating the party scene that wasn’t catering to everyone. The music clearly represented that fact. You had people of all races and ethnic backgrounds creating songs we call groundbreaking and classic. Songs like Rappers delight, the Rapture, The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel, Freedom, Break-dance – Electric Boogie, and others encompassed so many aspects of the different cultures that made hip hop so popular with the youths.
Granted there were lots of greats songs being made. But the greatness of the songs were due to their newness. It is like the first album is usually your favorite album of an artist. The first movie in a trilogy is usually considered the best. I don’t disagree with the music being great, but there was a lot less to choose from. I think that played a major role in things too.
Now the mid 80’s to the end of the decade was my favorite time. I know I am romanticizing the era because it was my teenage years, but so what. That was my greatest era for the music. It was hip-hop nonstop for me. I only had room for Jimi Hendrix. But other than that it was hip hop. Now during this time a new age was ushered in. Basically cause of Run DMC. It wasn’t so much about the sound or a dance, but now it was about the MC. The MC was supreme. LL, KRS-One, Big Daddy Kane, Steady B, and the entire Juice Crew, it was all about the MC. There is no denying how great of a time this was. But it influence in mainly dude to the quality and the newfound reach of the music across the globe. It was the foundation of hip-hop as we know it. This period was the blueprint for other regions to hear this new sound in a more accessible manner. The days of more music and less rap were ending. And the vocal power of the youth was screaming to be heard and it was. But not only were the kids listening so were the record label heads. Which began what I saw as the end of the music and the start of the hip hop industry?
The 90’s hip hop scene was arguably the greatest era. I disagree. I think the mid 80’s to the late 80’s was the golden age. The 90’s was just the mass commercialization of the scene as a whole. When gangster rap became the music of suburban southern cal boys and girls and NYC hardcore rappers were on Good Morning America it was clear to see Sprite commercials were just the beginning. The music didn’t suffer. There was tons of great music being made. Most of the best albums of the genre were being made at this time. However it was al formula driven that it lacked something. Take Nas for an example. Illmatic was a classic hip-hop album. It was pure inner city angst and reflective of the times. But by the time It Was Written dropped, the realness was loss for the façade of the game. Now it can be argued that It Was Written was better than Illmatic. I disagree. The showmanship that is all over IWW is overshadowed by Illmatic’s brilliance. The commercialization lent itself to probably what killed the 90’s. The dagger so to speak was the bling bling or the flossy aspect. It was something that was kicked off by NYC rappers like Nas, Biggie, LL, and Jay. It was then later picked up by Master P, Cash Money, and more and more groups all over the place. The trend still exists and hurt the game extremely.
The 2K hip hop scene might actually be the best. Because the music became so accessible thanks to napster and piracy. Sure a lot of junk has been put out, but the sheer volume of music thanks to how the mixtape game has change has given people more music to enjoy at a much faster rate. The days of hearing your favorite artist release a new song went from years to weeks. It the quality lost for quantity? Only the listener can say that. But I can say for myself that the opportunity to hear something new and dope every week makes this period damn cool.
So to wrap it up. I think saying it was better back in the day is not a truth. But I’m just one person.
I wrote a follow up to the blog post here..Hip Hop Fans Have To Be The Dumbest..
Categories: Hip Hop
The biggest lie in the world is. “It used to be better back in the days.” I am here to say that a very few things were better in the past. Sure there were a few things, but that list is short. It is nothing like in the context people use that phrase right now. Let us look at it from a hip-hop sense. Was hip-hop better back in the day? First, let us define what day we are talking about when we say “Back in the day.”
In the late 70’s, hip-hop was pretty cool. It was what I look back as black punk music. The only difference was that it was embrace by the urban areas whereas punk was for the select few. The demographics were different but the ideal was the same. Music created by us for us. Hip-hop was clearly an urban and minority driven for of expression. The movement catered to the fact our differences from the main depiction of what America was shown to the world as bound us together. Jewish, Black and Hispanic kids that did not fit in the mold of what was represented formed a culture outside the bounds of what portrayed and created something so real.
Hip Hop in the late 70’s and early 80’s was about creating the party scene that wasn’t catering to everyone. The music clearly represented that fact. You had people of all races and ethnic backgrounds creating songs we call groundbreaking and classic. Songs like Rappers delight, the Rapture, The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel, Freedom, Break-dance – Electric Boogie, and others encompassed so many aspects of the different cultures that made hip hop so popular with the youths.
Granted there were lots of greats songs being made. But the greatness of the songs were due to their newness. It is like the first album is usually your favorite album of an artist. The first movie in a trilogy is usually considered the best. I don’t disagree with the music being great, but there was a lot less to choose from. I think that played a major role in things too.
Now the mid 80’s to the end of the decade was my favorite time. I know I am romanticizing the era because it was my teenage years, but so what. That was my greatest era for the music. It was hip-hop nonstop for me. I only had room for Jimi Hendrix. But other than that it was hip hop. Now during this time a new age was ushered in. Basically cause of Run DMC. It wasn’t so much about the sound or a dance, but now it was about the MC. The MC was supreme. LL, KRS-One, Big Daddy Kane, Steady B, and the entire Juice Crew, it was all about the MC. There is no denying how great of a time this was. But it influence in mainly dude to the quality and the newfound reach of the music across the globe. It was the foundation of hip-hop as we know it. This period was the blueprint for other regions to hear this new sound in a more accessible manner. The days of more music and less rap were ending. And the vocal power of the youth was screaming to be heard and it was. But not only were the kids listening so were the record label heads. Which began what I saw as the end of the music and the start of the hip hop industry?
The 90’s hip hop scene was arguably the greatest era. I disagree. I think the mid 80’s to the late 80’s was the golden age. The 90’s was just the mass commercialization of the scene as a whole. When gangster rap became the music of suburban southern cal boys and girls and NYC hardcore rappers were on Good Morning America it was clear to see Sprite commercials were just the beginning. The music didn’t suffer. There was tons of great music being made. Most of the best albums of the genre were being made at this time. However it was al formula driven that it lacked something. Take Nas for an example. Illmatic was a classic hip-hop album. It was pure inner city angst and reflective of the times. But by the time It Was Written dropped, the realness was loss for the façade of the game. Now it can be argued that It Was Written was better than Illmatic. I disagree. The showmanship that is all over IWW is overshadowed by Illmatic’s brilliance. The commercialization lent itself to probably what killed the 90’s. The dagger so to speak was the bling bling or the flossy aspect. It was something that was kicked off by NYC rappers like Nas, Biggie, LL, and Jay. It was then later picked up by Master P, Cash Money, and more and more groups all over the place. The trend still exists and hurt the game extremely.
The 2K hip hop scene might actually be the best. Because the music became so accessible thanks to napster and piracy. Sure a lot of junk has been put out, but the sheer volume of music thanks to how the mixtape game has change has given people more music to enjoy at a much faster rate. The days of hearing your favorite artist release a new song went from years to weeks. It the quality lost for quantity? Only the listener can say that. But I can say for myself that the opportunity to hear something new and dope every week makes this period damn cool.
So to wrap it up. I think saying it was better back in the day is not a truth. But I’m just one person.
I wrote a follow up to the blog post here..Hip Hop Fans Have To Be The Dumbest..
In the 90's you were able to hear the old school and the new school. "Now you can get with this, or you can get with that."