Old school concerts are always enjoyable, especially if you are "of a certain age". It's always fun to relive the times when that music came out, sing the lyrics out loud, and even do some of the old dances. This is true of all genres of music. But this brings me to a very interesting phenomenon.
This weekend I saw Nice N Smooth perform and Greg Nice made a very interesting point. He said the rappers of today don't love hip-hop the way the old school does. He said everyone in the rap industry wants to get out of the rap game before they're thirty. They want to get rich fast, get out and retire young. He said that he want to be doing this until he's old like Mick Jagger and Sting. This resonated with me deeply because I think this is what really separates old school rappers from the ones of today: it used to be a lifestyle and an art back in the day and now it's just a means to an end. And the fans are to blame too.
People make fun of Jay-Z for being 40 and still rapping but no-one gives R Kelly grief for putting music out and they hit the scene at the same time, are the same age, and the same race. It is simply a matter of musical genre. The rappers today look at hip hop as a money making vehicle not as an art form. They talk about it in the same way that drug dealers speak about the narcotics trade: get in, make your money, and get the hell out.
But which came first? Their reluctance to keep rapping and therefore after they make a few dollars, they disappear. Or is it that after three albums, we no longer want to hear from them? Or even more important, do they only have enough talent for one or two albums and then are relegated to the realm of "featured artist"? This also brings up an issue that I will deal with in my next post which is that we 'put stuff down' quickly and leave it for other people take up. The question I need answered is where are the people that, like Greg Nice, want to keep making quality music until they're old like Sting AND have the talent to do so? These are my thoughts....what are yours
2 comments:
I pretty much detest much of today's rap, save for a few hits here and there, but old school rap? Now we're talking! They were fun, educational, held messages, stood for something, and ultimately made us feel good when we were done listening to them. Today's rap seems so angry and negative, from the clothes they wear to the words they say.
Bring back: Kool Moe D, Biz Mark, Doug E. Fresh, Erick B & Rakim, Dana Dane, MC Lyte, Slick Rick, Big Daddy Kane, Boogie Down Productions, Fat Boys, Heavy D, Roxanne, Full Force, Tribe Called Quest, Public Enemy ...am I dating myself?
See - that's a good question about whether it is them not wanting to rap or the fact that we don't want to hear them rapping anymore because it's old news... Let me twinkle think on that one....
Aisha
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