The+Death+of+Hip+Hop


 * The Death of Hip Hop **

If you listen to modern hip-hop versus past hip-hop, you can obviously hear a noticeable difference between the two. Sure, the beats sound more polished now but it's much deeper than that. When listening to modern hip-hop, it feels like the essence of something is lost and something terrible has come and taken its place. True hip-hop is in more than one sense dead because it is held up on the backs of very few artists instead of being evenly divided among the elite many as it once was. When you hear someone say "hip-hop is dead", it usually is a forty-year-old person making claims fueled by nostalgia. On the other hand, there are many young people making these exact claims who were not even born when these hip-hop landmarks came out. Albums such as //Paid In Full// (1987), //Midnight// //Marauders// (1993), and //Illmatic// (1994) are household names to anyone who is an old school hip-hop enthusiast through and through. When comparing these albums and other old school songs to hip-hop songs of our time, it is totally enigmatic to determine how hip-hop music has diminished from such irrefutable distinction to what it is today. More information on the album covers can be found on the following links that correspond to each album: Midnight Marauders by A Tribe Called Quest Illmatic by Nas 3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul Paid in Full by Eric B. & Rakim The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde by The Pharcyde Labcabincalifornia by The Pharcyde Stakes Is High by De La Soul Ready To Die by The Notorious B.I.G.

**Hip Hop Beginnings ** Hip Hop has been around for about forty years now and it seems like it isn’t going anywhere. But as time goes on and I see young people blindly echo Young Thug lyrics, I lose more and more faith each day. During the eighties and nineties, hip-hop was at the peak of creativity. Because it was so new, it seemed that no artist could do wrong. Everyone was bringing something new and different from the next person. //Sabotage Times'// Jimmy Jinx regards this time as “a magical period of seemingly unrestrained creativity and birth of movements-within-movements." Many people believe hip hop was at its peak during this time and I, for one, agree; old school hip hop trumps new school hip hop any day.  media type="youtube" key="cxN4nKk2cfk" width="420" height="315" media type="youtube" key="3hOZaTGnHU4" width="420" height="315"

**The Commercialization of Hip Hop ** Now you may be wondering, "What's the difference between old-school and new-school hip-hop anyway?" The answer to that is quite subjective and opinionated. According to Shaka Shaw of //Ebony//, hip-hop was known as "a culture and rap is one of four elements contained therein―the others being break dancing, DJing, and graffiti." Now, when it comes to modern hip hop, it becomes more challenging to explain since hip-hop is looked on as more of a genre than an actual culture. The terms rap and hip hop are now used interchangeably. Although this information may not initially seem very central to the claim of hip-hop being "dead", it is an aspect of one of the many causes of hip-hop's death: commercialization. "During the late 1980s and early 1990s rap music provided many black...and Latino youth with countless hours of culturally edifying and politically oriented music. (Comissiong)” When white-owned corporations recognized the multi-billion dollar industry hip-hop could become, they immediately began buying out hip-hop. They bought out record labels, radio stations, anything they could get their hands on. Because they had control over these outlets, they were able to control what was being played through them. The more money they made, they more monotone hip-hop became. Far gone were the days of influential and conscious hip-hop. In its stead came misogyny, violence, and female degradation.  See Also Hip Hop Is Dead: The Never Ending Debate

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**Mentioned Works **

@http://www.complex.com/music/2011/10/hip-hops-50-greatest-album-covers/

Davis, Jonathan, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, et al. //Midnight Marauders. // A Tribe Called Quest. Jive Records, 1993. CD.

 Comissiong, Solomon. "How Hip Hop Was Bought and Rap Was Sold." //raprehab.// Rap Rehab. 26 Oct 2013. Web. 5 April 2016.

Jones, Nasir, Christopher Edward Martin, et al. //Illmatic. // Nas. Columbia Records, 1994. CD.

<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Mercer, Kelvin, David Jude Jolicoeur, et al. //<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">3 Feet High and Rising. //<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> De La Soul. Tommy Boy Entertainment, 1989. CD.

<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Barrier, Eric, William Michael Griffin, et al. //<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Paid In Full. //<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> Eric B. and Rakim. 4th and B'way Records, 1987. CD.

<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Davis, Jonathan, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, et al. //The Low End Theory.// A Tribe Called Quest. Jive Records, 1991. CD.

<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Robinson, Romye, Emandu Wicox, et al. //<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde. //<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> The Pharcyde. Delicious Vinyl, 1992. CD.

<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Robinson, Romye, Emandu Wilcox, et al. //<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Labcabincalifornia. //<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> The Pharcyde. Capitol Records, 1995. CD. @https://www.discogs.com/Pharcyde-Labcabincalifornia/release/97529

<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Mercer, Kelvin, David Jude Joliceour, et al. //<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Stakes Is High. //<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> De La Soul. Tommy Boy Entertainment, 1996. CD. @http://www.allmusic.com/album/stakes-is-high-mw0000181606/credits

<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Wallace, Christopher, Sean John Combs, et al. //<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Ready To Die. //<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> The Notorious B.I.G. Big Beats Records, 1994. CD.

<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">Jinx, Jimmy. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">"No Sell Out: Hip Hop's Golden Era." //<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">sabotagetimes. //<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;"> Sabotage Times. 4 Dec. 2012. Web. 16 March 2016.

<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">TribeCalledQuestVEVO. "A Tribe Called Quest-Jazz (We've Got) Buggin' Out." Online music video. //<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">YouTube //<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 15.6px;">. YouTube, 13 Jul. 2013. Web. 20 April 2016

<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">NasVEVO. " Nas- It Ain't Hard to Tell." Online music video. //YouTube.// YouTube, 24 March 2014. Web. 20 April 2016.

<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Shaw, Shaka. "The Difference Between Rap and Hip-Hop." //ebony.// Ebony. 19 Sep. 2013. Web. 5 April 2016.

<span style="color: #bf2218; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">Comissiong, Solomon. How Hip Hop Was Bought And Rap Was Sold. @http://raprehab.com/how-hip-hop-was-bought-and-rap-was-sold/