Hip Hop Canidate...D Matt R'

Master Debater
written by Doesn't Matt R'

I just finished watching the Vice Presidential debate and it put me in the mindset to call out some general (and specific) ideas that I don’t agree with. So as they all start off, let me say first that I respect everyone’s right to have, hold, and speak their opinions. I just can’t help it if mine happen to be more right than everyone else’s.

The idea of the rich, white kid that listens to hip-hop is a very bad and overused cliché. Rich, white kids didn’t ruin hip-hop. Their father’s did. I say blame the corporations that bought and sold the culture as a commodity. The listeners are there because the music is good. And it used to be authentic. It is just as ridiculous to be a rich, black kid, or a millionaire Eskimo and claim the hood. And where did so much of the original hip-hop swagger actually come from? The obsession with Ralph Lauren’s Polo, Nautica, Burberry, Cadillacs, and fancy champagne. People who didn’t have this stuff saw these old rich white men and emulated their taste for fancy and expensive goods and services. So instead of hating on your wealthy, white friend for his attempted inclusion into the culture, you should give him a break, because the father he’s trying to rebel against, actually influenced the influencers he cherishes so much. Irony has its own beauty. Although I agree, no white guys should ever wear a doo-rag (and that includes you Marshall Mathers).

Plus, I heartily reject the idea of blaming your fans. The culture of hip-hop today (and for a while has been) putting sales numbers as the biggest priority. But you can’t go platinum and choose which million people are buying the album.

I have to disagree with a statement my boy JusHH (sorry to single you out, but I’ve been thinking about this all week since you said it) made on here last week. He said, “Hip-Hop is one of those rare musical genres that are tied to a specific cultural, socioeconomic background. Because you have the music but you also have the culture behind it.” I disagree with this not because hip-hop isn’t tied to a specific cultural, socioeconomic background, but because this isn’t a rare occurrence. I submit to you that every musical genre is tied to a culture and class of people in the beginning. Punk Rock—take your pick, British or American, came from a poor, disassociated youth as a countercultural movement against a specific economic and political force. Reggae, Jazz, Country, the Blues, the list goes on and on. And it’s not all poor economic backgrounds either. Look at Opera, which was deemed the epicenter of so-called culture for a couple of centuries. The problem is that within each one of these music genres, there occurs a certain amount of cultural elitism. It is unfortunate that one of the many things these art forms have in common is a feeling of superiority. That the issues that face us are new and original, when in fact musicians have been selling out or accused of doing so since the first drum was ever drummed. People are searching for authenticity, which isn’t bound by the man made diversions of race, sex, or wealth. Everybody wants to be a part of something and those who don’t want to be a part of that with other people.

Finally, let’s not be so harsh to judge those that don’t fit the mold that we have created. Twenty years ago, 50 Cent would have been M.C. Hammer. A rapper with a gimmick and several endorsement deals, who seemed to spend way too much of his money on material possessions and put all of his boys on, while seemingly starting off with unprecedented popularity, they slowly dropped off with each new album. Hammer was deemed a sell out and his career quickly evaporated. 50 has trademarked himself into a multi-billion dollar brand. It’s a strange time to be a hip-hop fan. So let’s not falsely glorify back in the day as “ the glory days.” We need to keep a realistic view that things don’t change as much as we think they do. And while we can’t tell where were going from looking back, we can always know where we have just come from.