4 Bars
Hip Hop Ain’t Cool No More
Hip Hop Ain’t Cool No More
Lil Wayne is putting out a rock album. Recently I watched a live performance of his single, “Prom Queen” and while it has yet to grow on me, it did get me thinking: Why is the hottest rapper around doing a rock album? He’s still riding the wave of his best hip hop release ever and has won almost every hip hop award possible. He’s widely recognized as the “best rapper alive” (not saying that I necessarily agree) and is no doubt highly regarded in almost every hip hop circle. So I’ll ask again: why is Mr Weezy F Baby (please say the Baby) making a rock album?
Artistic expression? I can somewhat buy that because Wayne is one of the few rappers not afraid to try whatever he thinks will sound good. But I don’t think that’s the answer. Along with Wayne, Kanye recently put out his most critically acclaimed album “808s and Heartbreak” which many (read: JusHH) don’t consider a hip hop album because he went away from the hip hop norm. Andre 3000 (top 5 MC) is phenomenal but his eccentricity has prevented him from getting his proper due. 3 Stacks’ “The Love Below” was highly regarded as a great album but most insisted that there was nothing hip hop about it. Andre has taken breaks from hip hop to pursue other interests but he has also said on a couple of occasions that he just isn’t interested in rap anymore.
My question is this: Why isn’t hip hop cool anymore? It seems as if artists no longer feel fulfilled or challenged with the current state of hip hop. It’s as if hip hop is beneath them. Granted, Wayne, Kanye, and Andre 3000 are among the most flamboyant figures we have in hip hop, but they still represent the best of what hip hop has to offer yet they all seemingly want more than what hip hop has to offer. Is it just three musically inclined cats branching out and trying to attain full expression or has the state of the game left them to feel like they are far above anything that hip hop currently has to offer?
10 comments:
Very interesting, sir.
Well, I think rap is one of those genres in which it's difficult for one artist to consistently express certain emotions without becoming boring or redundant. I think that's the case with 3Stacks and Kanye.
As for Wayne, he's just bored, man. If his bars as of late are any indication...
It's the same reason Barry Sanders hung it up early. Same reason Jay retireed. Same reason Jordan messed around with bunting. You do something forever, sometimes you need to challenge yourself with something different.
Side bar: That Prom Queen joint - naw! Just, naw!
Bars, when you first came to me with this idea about writing this post, i knew that there was something deeper to it but i couldn't put my finger on it.
I don't think that its about "cool" or even being bored. I think its about getting rewarded. If we draw the line at say 2001. Before 2001, you got props for being nice, for writing that insane 16 or coming up with that punchline. You loved doing hip hop music because u knew that if you put your best ish out, you would get the love.
Today its just not like that. The game is so ugly that you can put out the dopest rhyme and not even get the guarantee that it will be played on the radio. So what's the point of putting yourself out there creatively (which is alot of work) for Hip-Hop when it won't return the favor.
So these artists, who still need that fix, step outside of the box to look for that critical acclaim. It's probably more subconscious than a deliberate decision to say, make a rock or r&b record but i still think its to satisfy a need to get that love.
What yall think?
Hmmmm...
Thought provoking. I disagree a bit about the boredom, especially where Dre, Kanye, and Wayne are concerned because they still get the recognition for dope lines and sales.
I do think another form of recognition could be motivation, though. "He's nice" might not be enough anymore. After years and years and year of hearing how dope you are, you probably know you're nice with the rhyme. At that point it might be what else are you good at?
I can see how that question can pop into one's head. Once they've dominated one field what else can they do? But i think that if people still got props for being creative in HH then the artform would still have the same meaning and value to these established artists. There's no need to stray when you got that good stuff at home right?
marriages take work.
the getting to know you is fun and games.
And this is where I come in....Now although a lot of these artist come up through HIP HOP who held them down and got them to where they were (MARRIAGE). The get comfortable and loose some of the interest. They know what they got at home (HH) however, they get curious and test themselves to see how great they really are. They stray because WIFEY (HH) isn't switching it up n e more. Shes not giving that excitement factor to the MARRIAGE. I think HIP HOP needs to step its game up so she doesn't loose some of her MEN...
YEA!!!! I SAID IT....
AND NOT TO TAKE THE BLAME OFF OF THE ARTIST WHO STRAY....but if they were satisfied at home....there would be less reason for this to happen.
way to take my line and turn it into a great argument...
"I made it a hot line, you made it a hot song"
basically that's what i mean. the HH game is failing creative rappers and they being artists have to fulfill that need to get props so they'll go elsewhere.
THANK U.
hahahha, PHENOMENAL analogy. This is pretty much what I was gettin at in the post, wifey just aint doin it no more, cats are just creepin so they can get it in. I remember a video clip I saw of Pharrell talking about this group Chester French where his reference to "hip hop" was just soooo "blah", you gotta see it, just youtube "pharell talks about Chester French".
Great convo Bars u just know how to bring it out of people lol
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