markl
Hangin' with the monkeys.
Member of the Trade: Lawton Audio
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2001
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In the interests of stirring things up a little
, I want to know how you feel about hip-hop as a musical form. My suspicion is that there are very few fans of the genre here on this board despite its apparent wide-spread popularity in the world at large. This interests me, and I want to poke around this issue a little bit.
First let's define "hip-hop". I'm referring (of course) to rap, and rap/R&B hybrids. This definition probably excludes rap/rock in my mind but perhaps not yours.
I'd like to steer clear of racial issues, if you can contain yourself
, but you are not prohibited from attacking the content of hip-hop music if you find it objectionable.
I'll start (treading carefully around this issue) by telling you a little about me. I am a member of the class of '88. I'm white but grew up in southern California suburbian hell that was as racially mixed as anywhere in this country. Why does this matter? IMO, overall, there was a dramatic difference between the class of '88 and the class of '89 in my community (without regard to race), which as California tends to be, was really on the cutting edge of youth culture in America and probably 5 years ahead of the rest of the U.S.
When the class of '88 thought of music, it was either "pop" or "rock" in all its various guises. But the juniors (class of '89) were completely different than the class of '88. They were the beginning of the hip-hop generation and harbingers of the youth culture to come all across America. Not only was their music different than "ours", but their slang, attitudes, dress code and approach to life was completely alien to me and my peers. I feel I was part of the very last group of people raised outside of the hip-hop culture.
As a result, I myself tend to look suspiciously at rap and hip-hop culture. On the other hand, I am very catholic in my musical tastes and I can almost invariably find something in every kind of music that I can latch on to and learn to love.
I am not in any way "opposed" to so-called "black music". I am a huge fan '60's soul music, IMO some of the best music of the 20th century. I am becoming a fan of jazz music and the blues as well. However, I myself have only a few hip-hop artists in my rather large music collection, and I admit to feeling some "guilt" about this. For the most part, I find myself alienated from hip-hop. I tend to react like an old fogey when it comes to rap, and this worries me a little.
OK, so here's my bottom line: IMHO, rap is at best a "novelty" genre, not something that should be a "main course" in any music-lover's diet, let alone a way of life. I am amazed that it has lasted as long as it has and (I freely admit) I am somewhat dismayed by its pervasiveness and (what I regard) as the generally poor quality of this music.
Will hip-hop last as a musical form? Has its impact on today's youth been mostly negative? Years from now will people collect "classic" hip hop albums the way jazz afficianados collect the classics of that genre today?
What do you think? Is hip hop a valuable musical form? Please be thoughtful in your reply!
markl
First let's define "hip-hop". I'm referring (of course) to rap, and rap/R&B hybrids. This definition probably excludes rap/rock in my mind but perhaps not yours.
I'd like to steer clear of racial issues, if you can contain yourself
I'll start (treading carefully around this issue) by telling you a little about me. I am a member of the class of '88. I'm white but grew up in southern California suburbian hell that was as racially mixed as anywhere in this country. Why does this matter? IMO, overall, there was a dramatic difference between the class of '88 and the class of '89 in my community (without regard to race), which as California tends to be, was really on the cutting edge of youth culture in America and probably 5 years ahead of the rest of the U.S.
When the class of '88 thought of music, it was either "pop" or "rock" in all its various guises. But the juniors (class of '89) were completely different than the class of '88. They were the beginning of the hip-hop generation and harbingers of the youth culture to come all across America. Not only was their music different than "ours", but their slang, attitudes, dress code and approach to life was completely alien to me and my peers. I feel I was part of the very last group of people raised outside of the hip-hop culture.
As a result, I myself tend to look suspiciously at rap and hip-hop culture. On the other hand, I am very catholic in my musical tastes and I can almost invariably find something in every kind of music that I can latch on to and learn to love.
I am not in any way "opposed" to so-called "black music". I am a huge fan '60's soul music, IMO some of the best music of the 20th century. I am becoming a fan of jazz music and the blues as well. However, I myself have only a few hip-hop artists in my rather large music collection, and I admit to feeling some "guilt" about this. For the most part, I find myself alienated from hip-hop. I tend to react like an old fogey when it comes to rap, and this worries me a little.
OK, so here's my bottom line: IMHO, rap is at best a "novelty" genre, not something that should be a "main course" in any music-lover's diet, let alone a way of life. I am amazed that it has lasted as long as it has and (I freely admit) I am somewhat dismayed by its pervasiveness and (what I regard) as the generally poor quality of this music.
Will hip-hop last as a musical form? Has its impact on today's youth been mostly negative? Years from now will people collect "classic" hip hop albums the way jazz afficianados collect the classics of that genre today?
What do you think? Is hip hop a valuable musical form? Please be thoughtful in your reply!
markl