Ownership Society
I don't know how it is with other forms of music, but I've noticed how people tend to claim ownership of hip-hop. Every person I know that proclaims to be a hip-hop head relates some special relationship they have with the music. They are the connoisseurs, they know "real" hip-hop, they know what they were doing when they first heard a certain classic.
I have a friend who recently turned 30. He swears up and down that his peer group came of age when hip hop was best. I tend to believe that the "golden age" was when I was in college (approx. 1987-1994), when "Yo MTV Raps" and "Rap City" came on the air, when underground artists got airplay. My brother is 43. He believes hip-hop is his and we fucked it up. I don't know if Rock or Country inspires that type of discussion.
Hip-Hop was so ingrained in my consciousness, I used to dream "remixes". I'd have a beat in my head and apply it to songs other artists made as an alternative version to their hit in my dreams. It used to happen all the time when I was attempting to be an artist. It doesn't happen so much any more.
Hip-hop probably has the largest contingency of "artists" who are basically fans that caught a break. Cats who used to beat on cafeteria tables and freestyle over instrumentals in cars, or stand in cyphers trying to battle the next extraneous dude. We believed this hip-hop shit came out of our pores and grew organically. It was natural to chew on tree bark and wear a hot, knitted kufi on a 90 degree day.
I hear cats talk about hip-hop it's always so serious. It's often about realness and the state of the artform. Dudes would almost come to blows when discussing the merits of one group or the other. Like they were fighting for the integrity of hip-hop. I just don't know if there's other music that inspires that level of discussion or debate nearly 30 years hence.
I have a friend who recently turned 30. He swears up and down that his peer group came of age when hip hop was best. I tend to believe that the "golden age" was when I was in college (approx. 1987-1994), when "Yo MTV Raps" and "Rap City" came on the air, when underground artists got airplay. My brother is 43. He believes hip-hop is his and we fucked it up. I don't know if Rock or Country inspires that type of discussion.
Hip-Hop was so ingrained in my consciousness, I used to dream "remixes". I'd have a beat in my head and apply it to songs other artists made as an alternative version to their hit in my dreams. It used to happen all the time when I was attempting to be an artist. It doesn't happen so much any more.
Hip-hop probably has the largest contingency of "artists" who are basically fans that caught a break. Cats who used to beat on cafeteria tables and freestyle over instrumentals in cars, or stand in cyphers trying to battle the next extraneous dude. We believed this hip-hop shit came out of our pores and grew organically. It was natural to chew on tree bark and wear a hot, knitted kufi on a 90 degree day.
I hear cats talk about hip-hop it's always so serious. It's often about realness and the state of the artform. Dudes would almost come to blows when discussing the merits of one group or the other. Like they were fighting for the integrity of hip-hop. I just don't know if there's other music that inspires that level of discussion or debate nearly 30 years hence.
posted by Knockout Zed @ 10:07 AM
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