Wanted: the proverbial bad guy-a "villain", to assume all the responsibilities of Hip Hop's requisite antagonist, and fill position of necessary cultural scapegoat. Must be arrogant, ignorant, smug, materialistic, slightly psychotic with glimmers of brilliance and remorse. Must have a violent and/or criminal background (preferably authentic) and suffer from one (1) or more mental illnesses-ideally some form of post traumatic stress disorder. Must be goal-oriented, and possess at least a basic concept of song writing ability and melody recognition. Ability to harmonize optional. Sexual preference will be privatized, unless otherwise suspected by bloggers, paparazzi, etc., in which case, you assume full responsibility of damage control. Apply at your own risk...
Now that 50's been counted out of the runnings, for the most part, Hip Hop is a need of a new nigga we love to hate. Or, hate to love, depending on your vantage point. A bad guy. Thanks to Rick Ross, Clipse, Raekwon, Killa Cam, Ghostface, and a handful of other hot spitters, 2009 saw the reemergence of Cocaine rap, with a vengeance. Well, if you count the brief 'Trap Rap' phenom, it never went anywhere, but I'm just saying. Even still, there's a galaxy's difference between a hustler and a gangster. Granted, the two can occupy the same space simultaneously, but ultimately you're one or the other. Where as hustler's talk slick and attempt to keep their noses clean-no pun intended, gangster's talk loud, and have dirty nails. Which brings us back to the role of the bad guy, a part 50 played so well that by the end of his stint with Interscope, he'd taken shots at both Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine. Gotta love it.
Who can we look to now, for extreme nigganometry and self righteous egotism, in between making the hoes dance and niggas wanna clap something? Who's voice is strong enough to fill the shoes? This is a necessary balance needed, lest we allow Drake and Kanye West to be in charge of the dispersement of aggression in rap music. No dice. So far the emo-rap community's street cred includes slapping Canadians, slapping paparazzi cameras, & getting slapped by abortion-having, scorned ex-girlfriends. Kid Cudi did get pulled over by the LAPD, but in his defense, cops in my city are so dumb they still haven't caught the dude(s) who killed Christopher Wallace. They sure as fuck caught O.J. pretty quick though, but I digress. Plus, the only person who can wear tight pants & be a bad motherfucker, simultaneously, is dead. Long live Rick James. Plenty of dudes on the rap radar have the ability to deliver grimy stories and gritty tales of street life, but that doesn't necessarily qualify them to be in charge of an entire sub-genre of a culture.
In the movie 'Matrix', how many of you can say that, not only were you rooting for Agent Smith, but you were extra hyped when he returned in the sequel, with upgrades? I knew that the future of the free world was dependent of Neo's victory, but in the interim, I needed to see him get his ass kicked by the bad guy. If it was just Neo flying around & having copious amounts of sex with that chick that looked like a little boy, that movie would've sucked. How important was Superman without Lex Luthor? Scores of bad guys could cross Clark's path, but Lex was the yang to his yin. Really though, cats had equal the amount of super abilities, sometimes even more so, & this little bald headed Jewish guy could eff up Superman's day faster than he could wax his dome piece. Now, rap needs a new yin, or something to that effect, to give us the overstanding of the underview, to balance all the emotional rollercoasters that we're bombarded with on a daily basis.
Without a bad guy, there's just "the good guy," & that's no fun at all.
Otherwise, rest assured, in no less than 5 years, Hip Hop will look like 'Revenge of the Nerds'-the musical. Will we be following Booger, or Ogre?
Showing posts with label Kid Cudi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kid Cudi. Show all posts
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
*no thinking cap required
No shots. Not even warning shots. Just saying...
Hip Hop, rap music more specifically, is mad mundane nowadays. That statement alone is one of the reasons Raekwon's 'OB4CL2' & Slaughterhouse's self-titled albums were so well received by the critical public at large. Also, this is why they didn't sell an ass load of albums, either. More on that later...
The Hip Hop fan has grown accustomed to a certain formula. Brainwashed, perhaps. We've graduated from accepting a mediocre beat, if the lyrics were hot (the '90s) to accepting a bland mixture of okay rhymes & so-so tracks (the '00s) to now, the end of 2000's first decade, & rap music is boring as fuck, for the most part. Sans a handful of artists who genuinely craft witty raps without a bunch of unnecessary violence &/or fantasy lifestyle, & it's the same song, over & over again. It's common knowledge that to be a successful rap guy, your chains, your guns, your cars, & your ability to get bitches ranks higher than your song crafting skills. If we get nothing else, that we get. Multiply that complete lack of originality by some trunk-thumpage that the hood rats & socialites alike can shake their tail fur at, & best believe, somebody somewhere will play your shit, loudly & often, however uninspiring it may be.
"Rewindability" is virtually non-existent at present, unless we're talking about DOOM, Slaughterhouse (as a collective), U-God & Ghostface Killa. Ghostface, not so much because he astounds with the verbiage, but because I don't smoke dust blunts. & even with some rewinding, most dudes still have no idea what the hell he's talking about, unless it's his dick. Pause. If I did smoke the leaf that dare not speak it's name though, something tells me he'd be the illest MC ever to grab the mic. I guess Eminem earned a spot in that group as well, but unlike most rap fanatics, I'm willing to admit that somewhere along his audio journey, Marshall Mathers hit me in the brain with so much awesomeness that I'm now hard pressed to be in awe at the majority of his current masterpieces. His genius has leveled off into normalcy, so to speak. He's more Kobe, less Lebron, if you smell my cologne. Once "greatness" has ascended to such an unattainable altitude, we come to expect nothing less than the best. Which, oddly enough, is detrimental to a degree. I guess that's why you don't mack a female with unmitigated A+ game in the first few months. God forbid you two fall in love, & you used all the heavy artillery just to score some trim. When she gets bored, you can't blame anyone but yourself.
Of course there's more than just who's on my preemptive list, but I'm only attempting to scratch the proverbial surface, not take roll call. This is literally a conversation that could last days, & thousands of words, which neither I nor your attention span is willing to commit to.
Now, you have some artists who by all means have the propensity be great, but operate under such a self-defeating agenda that they refuse to let their own light shine. Lupe Fiasco comes to mind, but he's so much smarter than the rest of us that maybe all this is part of a plan, & his plan is coming together like 2 lesbians on a double-edged deluxe gyrating vibrator. Ha! Kid Cudi is cut from that same cloth, also. In a strange turn of events, his quasi-depressing, melancholy approach at Hip Hop music has become his way of life, knocking cats the eff out & getting thrown off of ridiculously lucrative tours all in the name of anti-love. Toss in a Charles Hamilton, & not only do we see the dark side of "the Force" that Kanye West exposed to the world, but also the reason gangsta rap is on life support. Emo-thuggery is running rampant. Skinny jeans may not be able to conceal weapons, but man-bags & Louis Vuitton backpacks can carry guns, as well as plaid ascots & cashmere mittens.
I, for one, miss the days where I almost had to concentrate on rap music to enjoy it. As of late, it's more like having public conversations with some of my terribly less intelligent homeboys, over loud-ass 808 kicks that only muffle their ignorant jaw-jacking, but unfortunately not quite enough to drown them out entirely. There's no imagination, no drive, no real competitive spirit, outside of viral campaigns, tasteless personal attacks, & episodes of 'Candid Camera', with *insert your favorite rapper* doing his best Alan Funt impersonation. Hip Hop has allowed itself to go from two young, amped up tough guys smoking weed & intensely playing Chess, to two lethargic older cats drinking cheap cognac over a game of Checkers, in between nods & space-out moments. Even when they pick up a piece (no pun intended), everyone knows their next move. It's no wonder people get bored & stop watching them play.
Before the hoopla starts, I'm not one of those golden age veterans, who rubs miscellaneous bottles in hopes that I can wish us back to 1992. Hell, in 1992, I was still a virgin, so, yeah. But, I do wish that more effort would be put into making today's rap a sport again. Not a contact sport, because niggas don't fight any more, but a battle of wits, war of words, per se. Legend has it that, in their hey day, MC Ren & Ice Cube would sit in the studio & write against each other, for the same song. Whoever won that impromptu challenge, won the right to pen Eazy-E's verse, in addition to their own. Or, picture Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney working on 'The Girl Is Mine'. Cats may not hit the bowling alley for beer pretzels & White chicks after the studio session, but best believe they pushed one another to do their best, even if their best was only second place. I'll take second place over last any day of the Christian week.
There seems to be a growing surge of rappers who embrace the basic ethos that separates entertainers from MC's. That's a good look for the culture, plus it's not like folks are running out to drop hard hustled recession dollars on physical albums anyway, even when the record is a genuinely good buy. Ask Raekwon & Slaughterhouse. Might as well give the people what they need, because what they want isn't always what's best for them. Like prostitute sex, regardless how good she looks, she's still a hooker, & we know you can do better than that, mayne.
Hip Hop, rap music more specifically, is mad mundane nowadays. That statement alone is one of the reasons Raekwon's 'OB4CL2' & Slaughterhouse's self-titled albums were so well received by the critical public at large. Also, this is why they didn't sell an ass load of albums, either. More on that later...
The Hip Hop fan has grown accustomed to a certain formula. Brainwashed, perhaps. We've graduated from accepting a mediocre beat, if the lyrics were hot (the '90s) to accepting a bland mixture of okay rhymes & so-so tracks (the '00s) to now, the end of 2000's first decade, & rap music is boring as fuck, for the most part. Sans a handful of artists who genuinely craft witty raps without a bunch of unnecessary violence &/or fantasy lifestyle, & it's the same song, over & over again. It's common knowledge that to be a successful rap guy, your chains, your guns, your cars, & your ability to get bitches ranks higher than your song crafting skills. If we get nothing else, that we get. Multiply that complete lack of originality by some trunk-thumpage that the hood rats & socialites alike can shake their tail fur at, & best believe, somebody somewhere will play your shit, loudly & often, however uninspiring it may be.
"Rewindability" is virtually non-existent at present, unless we're talking about DOOM, Slaughterhouse (as a collective), U-God & Ghostface Killa. Ghostface, not so much because he astounds with the verbiage, but because I don't smoke dust blunts. & even with some rewinding, most dudes still have no idea what the hell he's talking about, unless it's his dick. Pause. If I did smoke the leaf that dare not speak it's name though, something tells me he'd be the illest MC ever to grab the mic. I guess Eminem earned a spot in that group as well, but unlike most rap fanatics, I'm willing to admit that somewhere along his audio journey, Marshall Mathers hit me in the brain with so much awesomeness that I'm now hard pressed to be in awe at the majority of his current masterpieces. His genius has leveled off into normalcy, so to speak. He's more Kobe, less Lebron, if you smell my cologne. Once "greatness" has ascended to such an unattainable altitude, we come to expect nothing less than the best. Which, oddly enough, is detrimental to a degree. I guess that's why you don't mack a female with unmitigated A+ game in the first few months. God forbid you two fall in love, & you used all the heavy artillery just to score some trim. When she gets bored, you can't blame anyone but yourself.
Of course there's more than just who's on my preemptive list, but I'm only attempting to scratch the proverbial surface, not take roll call. This is literally a conversation that could last days, & thousands of words, which neither I nor your attention span is willing to commit to.
Now, you have some artists who by all means have the propensity be great, but operate under such a self-defeating agenda that they refuse to let their own light shine. Lupe Fiasco comes to mind, but he's so much smarter than the rest of us that maybe all this is part of a plan, & his plan is coming together like 2 lesbians on a double-edged deluxe gyrating vibrator. Ha! Kid Cudi is cut from that same cloth, also. In a strange turn of events, his quasi-depressing, melancholy approach at Hip Hop music has become his way of life, knocking cats the eff out & getting thrown off of ridiculously lucrative tours all in the name of anti-love. Toss in a Charles Hamilton, & not only do we see the dark side of "the Force" that Kanye West exposed to the world, but also the reason gangsta rap is on life support. Emo-thuggery is running rampant. Skinny jeans may not be able to conceal weapons, but man-bags & Louis Vuitton backpacks can carry guns, as well as plaid ascots & cashmere mittens.
I, for one, miss the days where I almost had to concentrate on rap music to enjoy it. As of late, it's more like having public conversations with some of my terribly less intelligent homeboys, over loud-ass 808 kicks that only muffle their ignorant jaw-jacking, but unfortunately not quite enough to drown them out entirely. There's no imagination, no drive, no real competitive spirit, outside of viral campaigns, tasteless personal attacks, & episodes of 'Candid Camera', with *insert your favorite rapper* doing his best Alan Funt impersonation. Hip Hop has allowed itself to go from two young, amped up tough guys smoking weed & intensely playing Chess, to two lethargic older cats drinking cheap cognac over a game of Checkers, in between nods & space-out moments. Even when they pick up a piece (no pun intended), everyone knows their next move. It's no wonder people get bored & stop watching them play.
Before the hoopla starts, I'm not one of those golden age veterans, who rubs miscellaneous bottles in hopes that I can wish us back to 1992. Hell, in 1992, I was still a virgin, so, yeah. But, I do wish that more effort would be put into making today's rap a sport again. Not a contact sport, because niggas don't fight any more, but a battle of wits, war of words, per se. Legend has it that, in their hey day, MC Ren & Ice Cube would sit in the studio & write against each other, for the same song. Whoever won that impromptu challenge, won the right to pen Eazy-E's verse, in addition to their own. Or, picture Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney working on 'The Girl Is Mine'. Cats may not hit the bowling alley for beer pretzels & White chicks after the studio session, but best believe they pushed one another to do their best, even if their best was only second place. I'll take second place over last any day of the Christian week.
There seems to be a growing surge of rappers who embrace the basic ethos that separates entertainers from MC's. That's a good look for the culture, plus it's not like folks are running out to drop hard hustled recession dollars on physical albums anyway, even when the record is a genuinely good buy. Ask Raekwon & Slaughterhouse. Might as well give the people what they need, because what they want isn't always what's best for them. Like prostitute sex, regardless how good she looks, she's still a hooker, & we know you can do better than that, mayne.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Death By Mixtape
I always wonder, why Hip Hop is the only genre to extensively produce the "mixtape"? Before I go any further, though;
The mixtape is actually that; a "tape" of mixes. Some 30-odd years ago, they were referred to as pause-mixes, meaning a song was recorded from it's source, onto a cassette tape, & paused until the next song was recorded. My generation would stay up late, the only time radio stations played Hip Hop in most cities back then, & record all the newest rap songs, making an "album" full of what was hot at the time. The more industrious youngster would re-record their final product, on more tapes & sell them to people. Thus, the mixtape phenomenon began.
Eventually, artists such as Too $hort & E-40 (& many others) began using this format to personally market their own albums out of cars, at strip malls, etc. Which, in short, was loosely the inception of the independent Hip Hop label. Loosely, being the operative word, because it's more to it than I'm willing to allude to in this post.
Which brings us to today. It would seem that any rap artist MUST have at least one mixtape in their catalog. The majority of which are usually throw-away verses & meh choruses over already popular instrumentals. This concept is good from a novelty P.O.V., but how far does a gimmick truly take you? In most cases, once an artist releases an original song, the listener becomes accustomed to hearing said vocalist over the music, so another artist out-doing them, in & of itself, is quite the task. It IS possible to do so, but for example; once I heard M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes", there wasn't much more that Bun B (an obviously better rapper) could do to improve on the inaugural version. Half of M.I.A.'s lyrics were barely understandable, but I stand by my point. Basically, if a song was meant for you, you'd be on it already.
Now, some tracks do deserve a much needed lyrical upgrade, which works out well occasionally, but it's still not your song(s). So, does that make it plagiarism, per se? Is it "acceptable" biting? Many say nil to both, but I beg to differ. In today's Hip Hop universe, if you throw a rock into a crowd of young people, half of them produce music. 25% of the remaining half are rappers, & the rest hang out for the free weed &/or just to get out of their mom's basement for the evening. It's not THAT hard to find someone to do beats, for free even. A halfway decent aspiring rapper can find an up & coming mediocre producer, & who knows what magic may ensue. Original magic, like Harry Houdini, not copycatted mystification, like David Blaine.
But, don't tell that to any established artists.......
In between so-so major releases, label acts fill their audio void with countless mixtape efforts, many of which fall on deaf ears. Not for nothing, but when I'm done listening to my favorite MC's studio release, I don't want to hear him on a re-mix of every song the radio murdered that summer. It was one thing for Curtis Jackson to use it as a vehicle to go from obscured anonymity to megastar, but in general it should be left to either the unknown rapster or an established artist who feels there is something to prove. Case in point; 50's digital mixtape "War Angel" was truck loads better than the last two studio albums he released.
The one understandable aspect of a mixtape is the lack of politics. An artist is free to rap about whatever he/she chooses when a Tall Israeli isn't breathing down their respective necks spewing demographic sales expectations during their writing session. It frees up more time to smoke weed & drink between takes, if you will.
Maybe I'm over-analytical (i.e. a douche), but why not save that energy for the records the record company pays you to put out? A win-win, if you ask me. & to be honest, I'm computer-savvy enough to get your actual album for free if I really wanted it, so all these cutting room throways aren't going to impress me in the slightest.
For a dude like Kid Cudi, or Charles Hamilton (& their ilk), it's a good way to set the stage for their official arrival. But, once popularity is secured, there's not much left to prove. Unless it's to themselves.
For a good comparative narrative, think about the established rappers who DON'T release mixtapes. DJ's might star them on certain series', but it's not the artist who ultimately decided, "Hey, let me make all these songs waaaaay better!".
In fact, I think I just answered my initial question; because most rap cats are one of two things. Over-confident, self-serving narcissists or genuinely talented guys who's hunger & thirst make "quit" a non-word.
Word.
The mixtape is actually that; a "tape" of mixes. Some 30-odd years ago, they were referred to as pause-mixes, meaning a song was recorded from it's source, onto a cassette tape, & paused until the next song was recorded. My generation would stay up late, the only time radio stations played Hip Hop in most cities back then, & record all the newest rap songs, making an "album" full of what was hot at the time. The more industrious youngster would re-record their final product, on more tapes & sell them to people. Thus, the mixtape phenomenon began.
Eventually, artists such as Too $hort & E-40 (& many others) began using this format to personally market their own albums out of cars, at strip malls, etc. Which, in short, was loosely the inception of the independent Hip Hop label. Loosely, being the operative word, because it's more to it than I'm willing to allude to in this post.
Which brings us to today. It would seem that any rap artist MUST have at least one mixtape in their catalog. The majority of which are usually throw-away verses & meh choruses over already popular instrumentals. This concept is good from a novelty P.O.V., but how far does a gimmick truly take you? In most cases, once an artist releases an original song, the listener becomes accustomed to hearing said vocalist over the music, so another artist out-doing them, in & of itself, is quite the task. It IS possible to do so, but for example; once I heard M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes", there wasn't much more that Bun B (an obviously better rapper) could do to improve on the inaugural version. Half of M.I.A.'s lyrics were barely understandable, but I stand by my point. Basically, if a song was meant for you, you'd be on it already.
Now, some tracks do deserve a much needed lyrical upgrade, which works out well occasionally, but it's still not your song(s). So, does that make it plagiarism, per se? Is it "acceptable" biting? Many say nil to both, but I beg to differ. In today's Hip Hop universe, if you throw a rock into a crowd of young people, half of them produce music. 25% of the remaining half are rappers, & the rest hang out for the free weed &/or just to get out of their mom's basement for the evening. It's not THAT hard to find someone to do beats, for free even. A halfway decent aspiring rapper can find an up & coming mediocre producer, & who knows what magic may ensue. Original magic, like Harry Houdini, not copycatted mystification, like David Blaine.
But, don't tell that to any established artists.......
In between so-so major releases, label acts fill their audio void with countless mixtape efforts, many of which fall on deaf ears. Not for nothing, but when I'm done listening to my favorite MC's studio release, I don't want to hear him on a re-mix of every song the radio murdered that summer. It was one thing for Curtis Jackson to use it as a vehicle to go from obscured anonymity to megastar, but in general it should be left to either the unknown rapster or an established artist who feels there is something to prove. Case in point; 50's digital mixtape "War Angel" was truck loads better than the last two studio albums he released.
The one understandable aspect of a mixtape is the lack of politics. An artist is free to rap about whatever he/she chooses when a Tall Israeli isn't breathing down their respective necks spewing demographic sales expectations during their writing session. It frees up more time to smoke weed & drink between takes, if you will.
Maybe I'm over-analytical (i.e. a douche), but why not save that energy for the records the record company pays you to put out? A win-win, if you ask me. & to be honest, I'm computer-savvy enough to get your actual album for free if I really wanted it, so all these cutting room throways aren't going to impress me in the slightest.
For a dude like Kid Cudi, or Charles Hamilton (& their ilk), it's a good way to set the stage for their official arrival. But, once popularity is secured, there's not much left to prove. Unless it's to themselves.
For a good comparative narrative, think about the established rappers who DON'T release mixtapes. DJ's might star them on certain series', but it's not the artist who ultimately decided, "Hey, let me make all these songs waaaaay better!".
In fact, I think I just answered my initial question; because most rap cats are one of two things. Over-confident, self-serving narcissists or genuinely talented guys who's hunger & thirst make "quit" a non-word.
Word.
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