Seems like it to me, and also to Pierre Bennu:I know you've been thinking it. And if you haven't, you probably haven't been paying attention. The art we once called hip hop has been dead for some time now. But because its rotting carcass has been draped in platinum and propped against a Gucci print car, many of us have missed its demise.…
Article comments
— go to most recent comments26 - Bliffle
Dead for 20 years, at least. All they're doing is recycling puny fashions and poses. Self-involved trivial.
The problem is we've become so used to depending on the black society to create artistic innovation that we will accept anything from that society as New Art, no matter how spurious, that we slavishly follow their lead. Poor miserable guilty white folk need some model to use to pretend they're black-like in order to improve their mellan-challenged artistic failings. Well, it's easier to nod your head and repeat tired rhythmic cadences than to, say, learn to play the violin.
We are truly a bankrupt people.
27 - WEBZ
Totally agree with u shawn,THATS whats missing from modern Hip Hop - BALLS .both musically and lyrically.I think the music industry has been in a process of dumbing down music for the last 50 years,and when a new wild music comes along,they ignore it until they tame it,and then they rinse it out.funk got rinsed out,until it became mainstream disco,with no real substance just one big glitzy dreamworld,and champagne lifestyle -sound familiar? The people who love that music (both funk,and underground disco) will always love it,regardless of what MTV tells em.There IS good hip hop out there kids,but you wont find it on mtv.
28 - The Source
Yo Hip Hop is dieing of Drugs, we know its hurt'n us but to weak to stop using it, it don’t even fell good to us any more but we keep using the shit. Hip hop is the body and heroin is all theses garbage ass rappers breakin the body down with this senseless bullshit until its so dependent and too scared to change. I need a shot of that laffy taffy yawl. The South had some good shit at first, the West coast had some good shit at first, the East coast had some good shit at first. How about we just start some other shit, some pure shit
29 - The Livest
Hell no. Yall got it all ass backwards wrong. Hip Hop aint dead. Hip Hop aint reachin its end yet either. What it is is this- Hip Hop is a man. That man was born and brought up in the worst possible conditions you could throw at a mutha fucka. And through all the pain n all the bull shit That man was hardend and made stronger. He was turned into a warrior. This warrior overcame all the obstacles in his path. He fucked up every punk ass law and restriction that got in his way. And over time he changed. He adapted to the world as it changed around him. Each change in hip hop was a new battle for this warrior. But then This warrior took his first ass whoopin. Then when he was down the world hit him again and again. Slowly The warrior became weaker. Each one of these blows to the warriors are attacks you have heard of. The death of pac, biggy, eazy, big L, jam master j., James Brown. other hits were dilevered by A& R's tryin to soften the warriors spirit. This Warrior Saw the A&R's and all these other rap critics as a way to stop the beatings. He followed Their instructions and did things that went against what he fought for. Over time they controlled the warrior that was once hip hop. But only because he let them. He needed time to recover. But by the time he recovered these critics had become the vision of the hip hop warrior. True hip hop was becoming a faded memory in our past. That is how they convinced all yall that is to blind to see that hip hop is not dead. Just chained down. But a warrior never stops fighting. Never gives up because his soul is to strong to be killed. These A&R's is to damn fake and weak to hold the hip hop warrior down for long. Eventually hip hop must die. But i can tell you that that day damn sure aint close.
Keep ya heads up and eyes open and maybe you can see that.
Hip Hop is back on the rise and aint takin no prisoners alive.
Mad love to my man Larry Clark holdin shit down in marci. Rest in Peace to your baby neice. That shit was fucked up. aint nobody that deserves to go out like that especially not no lil baby. Tell your sista ima pray for her. That wont take the pain of seein her baby girl shot down at a birthday party away but god can make life go on. Heard your moms got up out the coma and the bullet to the head aint do no permanent damage. thats the silver lineing to this cloudy life i guess. the streets is cold these days. And to all you other muther fuckers out there tryin to come up in this game, pick up a damn book and try your fuckin hardest. you might surprise yourself. Be on the look out for my man Dante's new demo The Lyrics is Important. He holdin it down for the east side. he got that gleam in his eyes, i seent it.
30 - Eirik
Hip Hop still lives,but it is all too much crap music (comercialiced etc.). I agree with this article, but for those who realy like Hip Hop, there are still good music out there:
you should check out this
norwegian rapper, thats a "friend" of mine.
31 - Miss Dionne
Rich boy sellin crack....what the hell
How is this hip hop??
are you listening to the words??
Hip Hop is not dead it is a Crackhead living in the south.
more thoughts in my blog
myspace.com/queendionne
32 - dont mind that
the unfortunate and sad truth to everyone who is about 20+ years, hip hop/rap is dead and desperately in need of a rebirth or the slightest enlightment. to all u YOUNGSTERS, 20 years n younger, ALL of the "ARTISTS" and record labels r using your uneducated and unaware knowledge of the history and whut used to exist.."art"..in hiphop/rap. rap/hip hop for radio/tv's sake has become strictly a cash game in which u do not need lyrics, intelligence, street experience, and sadly HEART...there once was a time when the East, West, Midwest, and South were all on the radio at the same time and ANYONE from any part of the country can easily listen to a rapper from another region because before the hip hop culture was perverted with bling, rims, cars, mansions, and all that non-sense that a majority of broke n poor hip hop listeners can relate to...please think about it folks, if your favortite rapper is bragging about all the clothes, jewels, and women he has because of his cash but yet u dont have any of that because u R BROKE but can still spit out a better verse than him while u r DRUNK then u really shouldnt b giving them your money. The older generation needs to put in serious work to have our hiphip sound flourish again NO MATTER WHAT REGION YOU ARE FROM and the youth seriously needs to do their history homework. peace
33 - dont mind that
CORRECTION:
bling, rims, cars, mansions, and all that non-sense that a majority of broke n poor hip hop listeners CANT relate to
34 - kayla
i dont think hiphop has gone anywhere i think it is still here
35 - WEBZ
Im lucky enough to remember a time when nearly every hip hop track you heard on the radio in the early 80s was innovative, when i used to get a tape that had been recorded by 4 or 5 other people before i got it,so it sounded fuzzy and distorted,but id be bouncing round the house like a loony,cos it sounded wicked!!,when the artists who made this crazy music didnt have an army of slimy, two faced toads around them telling them what to record,telling them that they need to appeal to this demographic,or get that producer in, cos he's got some corny MTV bimbo lined up to sing on your single, or get that clothing line in the video,when Hip Hop meant Breakbeat madness,when Hip Hop meant Electro When Hip Hop meant chopped up funk mashed up with Jazz,and Rock,Mantronik and Kraftwerk,and Go Go,and Yellow Magic Orchestra,and James Brown,and Led Zep Beats, any fucking music you wanted to use,and not giving a shit what some marketing dept thinks,When Afrika Bambaata,s musical eclectism and bravery were the standard that you had to aspire to,when to look and sound like everyone else was considered totally fuckin wack.As someone said earlier,anyone under 20 weaned on shite like MTV base,or corny,self important glamour mags like The Source,Vibe etc,should do a few things:1.get a few beers in the fridge.2.Watch Style Wars.3.Watch Wild Style.4 watch,read and study any thing you can find on Afrika Bambaata,Herc,Flash or any of the foundation guys (a book "Cant Stop "Wont Stop is a great place to start).5 Take a look at what utter shit surrounds you now disguising itself as Hip Hop - take a deep breath,and then go and make some fucking CRAZY MUSIC!!!.
36 - MD
Hip-Hop is definately dead. What happened to the raw, hard, beats, and amazing flow? What happened to telling a story? Nowadays it is all about "ice" and "ridez with 22's" That's not Hip-Hop, in my opinion. It has become so comercial, and so one-note. Completely un-original, and weak... Hip-Hop is dead. RIP.
37 - Name
I'm 16 and even I know hip hop is dead itself. I mean look at all these southern rappers they HAVE NO TALLENT. And anyone who disagrees(must be from the south) I understand you want to defend where you're from but let's face it the south killed Hip Hop and that's that. They get hired by white men to make us black people look stupid. Now we have these white rappers coming out of no where?? what the FUCK let's all get together and take these white people OUT! The other day I got harrased cause "my pants we're sagen" and I had a black coat on....what the fuck?? all I was doing was walking to my moms car fuckin redneck wet dog fat pig faced motha fuckas thats why yo wife is a cocaine sniffer and a dick sucker who wants a life with the black man, we black men gotta realize WHAT WE HAVE aight?? spread the word these southern motha fuckas are helpin white people make BLACK PEOPLE SLAVES AGAIN!!
38 - Frenchie
^^^^ sweetheart being only 16, you haven't even had a chance to experience real hip-hop. Yes you may have heard the artists and probably have them memorized. However this makes you purely a fan, not a memeber of the movement. Anyways measuring talent is not up to us, nor the record label. People want to make money, so the record label will sign those who they know people will like, who makes a cute dance to go with the song, someone with something catchy. A basic crowd pleaser.
39 - DEALTHEDECK
HIP HOP IS NOT DEAD IN CANADA - K-OS IS BRINGING IT
40 - Jake Oz
Hip hop has been dead. There's still a small group of real hip hop artists out there (ex: MF Doom, Mad Lib) but those guys are largely unheard of. Even mainstream "hip hop" artists have a dwindled audience and sponsors such as Reebok have pulled Jay-Z, 50 Cent ads and returned to sports oriented promotions. If you look at sales of most mainstream artists they have slumped heavily and everything is so cookie-cutter; just look at any music video on tv: there's at least 20 cars and 100 girls in each video and its all a big party. Its also all boring as a result; nobody in hip hop has anything to say anymore because they cant look past that shiny thing on their wrist.
41 - Mau MAu
HIp Hop Is Dead?
just like capitalism theory,
Things goes up and when it reaches at a certain level,it start to fall again.
They use our platform to get some money and they make us to look redeculous.
Things goes up and when it reaches at a certain level,it start to fall again.
people they forget that hip hop wasn't for capitalist purpose, it was just for the society, that it.To fight and give people (majority) rights.
open your eyes.
Peace
42 - N.Y
Hip Hop is not dead...yet.Emcee's like Nas,Ice Cube,Talib Kweli,Jigger etc are keeping it real.We need more artists like them to take it back to real rap.'2pacalypse now' lives on.
43 - Enlightenment
It hurts when your favorite music goes into a slow death spiral. You don't want it to end, but money grubbers have run it into the ground, and no matter how bad you want it to live, you can't keep it alive.
15 or 20 years from now, people will think back about the best tunes of your favorite genre, and laugh at the sorry ass wanna-bees. No different than 80's Long-Hair Rock or 90's Alternative Rock.
44 - Enlightenment
"Hip-Hop shot itself in the head and now it is dead, no one is to blame because they just kept doing the same."
45 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
"The problem is we've become so used to depending on the black society to create artistic innovation that we will accept anything from that society as New Art, no matter how spurious, that we slavishly follow their lead. Poor miserable guilty white folk need some model to use to pretend they're black-like in order to improve their melanin-challenged artistic failings. Well, it's easier to nod your head and repeat tired rhythmic cadences than to, say, learn to play the violin.
We are truly a bankrupt people.
Bliffle - how nice to see a spot of honesty amongst all the screaming and yelling on this comment thread.
Subliminal, a bunch or Israeli musicians, introduced hip-hop in Hebrew (as opposed to the American imported "product") in 2002 in the midst of the Arab bombing campaign here.
They were nationalistic, I-don't-take-shit-from-anybody, proud-to-be-Israeli singers who lambasted the government, lambasted the terrorists, lambasted the bullshit artists ru(i)ning this country.
Their introductory tune explained how they could rap in English, French, Hebrew and Arabic and reach the vast majority of Israelis that way. They borrowed from all of the many strains and national cultures who make up Israel.
At first the government kept them off the radio. But the kids were playing the CD's and buying them and copying them (not every Israeli teen can lay his hands on NIS 70) and singing the songs about how Netanyahu likes to take gifts and bribes and how the terrorists were going boom boom, but how we would survive anyway...
They did a great rendition of the Hanukkah song, "bánu Hóshekh l'garésh", which is used as a marching tune in Tzaha"l (the IDF).
The government hit on the solution of encouraging these kids to go on tour in the United States - anything to get them out of Israel. At first the copycat groups that sprung up were as nationalistic as Subliminal, making fun of Arab terrorists for having their brains in their ass and thinking with their peckers. But the government stuck with the program, encouraging copycat groups who did the hip-hop in the Hebrew but stayed away from the politics and religion.
Since the expulsion of Gush Qatif in 2005, and the defeat in Lebanon last year, little has been heard from the musicians of Subliminal. I have the feeling it just ain't fun anymore for them.
So, the government managed to kill creativity here as well...
46 - DAS in S. Jersey
I don't know when it got to the point when JayZ and 50cent became the standards for hiphop, but that stuff is something else.
People need to understand that there is a difference between rap and hiphop. Can you really listen to Nelly, Camron, JayZ, The Game, and have the audacity to put them in the same league as A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, Public Enemy, Doug E Fresh, or KRS One? PLEASE!!!!!!!
Are you kidding me? Every track on the radio for the last 6+ years has sounded like the equivalent of pots and pans clanging together over a microphone, and this is called innovative?
Come on, Ying Yang twins "whisper" is nothing but a Roland 909 drum machine playing toms up and down. As a producer myself, I could've never walked into a record label presenting that when I was getting into production back in 96'. But now this is called a "hot track"?
I'm an African American born in 72', I grew with hiphop at it's start, and I can tell you that I'm too sad and disappointed to see that this is what it has all come to for the majority. There are plenty of phenomenal hiphop artist that are really good, and positive, but the RIAA doesn't want to put the money into those acts. The public has been buying the garbage, and has let the media tell them what hiphop is instead of us that know better telling them how it's defined.
Hiphop is not bling, cars, getting hi, magnum condoms, $200k cars, guns, or drugs. Those are all criminal and dishonorable examples to live by that can eventually put you in jail, shame you for life, or take your life. Exactely what our forefathers gave their lives for to "not" be stigmatized with those names and labels. And in a matter of a decade, we have allowed all my african slave ancestors to fight for equality in vain.
It's all institutionalized slavery. I'm actually very happy that mainstream hiphop sales have fallen sharply. Thank GOD, it couldn't have happened sooner! Maybe now the REAL artists with something to say will have a platform and more eager ears of interest when there's no more ghetto/street life anthems played anymore.
You won't see me shed any tears for the garbage played day after day. You can't even play a track in front of a 6 year old or a 56 year old without having to apologize. Funny how the record labels would NEVER let a Jew, Italian, Asian, German, or other race put out albums calling themselves the equivalent of the "N" word a thousand time. But it's OK for black people to say it, while the record execs smile all the way to the bank, off of our stupidity. Black people need some pride now more than ever before.
47 - plan
hip hop is not dead it has just evolved...in my way of thinkin hip hop is at a good place now...hip hop is now a typ of genre of music...and with this evolution hip hop has broken into many different sections,like ever other genre of music....there is the commerical pop or the younger and new audience, there still is political rap out there...the ganger rap(the 50 cents of the world)and there still is good lyrical rap...i love hip hop and will alwayz will..hip hop cannt not die it will alwayz live with ous....Also i have to add that i get pissed off when i hear people say all rappers talk about is women sex violence and bling....Rock has been doing that for decades so everybody go fuck yourself if you say hip hop is dead....Canadian rap is a movement waiting to happen
48 - get down or lay down
oldtimers move over the new generation is running this shit
49 - DAS in S. Jersey
oldtimers move over the new generation is running this shit
See this is exactely my point, it's not about people wanting the old-school to come back, it's people wanting the new school to step-up! That's the point, the new school is not saying anything worth hearing. That's the problem!
How can you call yourself as have a new "style" by baseing all of your lyrics on derrogatory themes that no-one accepts, except people with no self-esteem or pride? I didn't grow-up in the best of places myself as a black man, but are you going to tell me that there's absolutely nothing to talk about except drugs, guns, violence, and women while cursing to describe all of life?
If that's your life, then that's because you haven't tried to see anything else. Would anyone want to hear about child-molestation, suicide, rapes, and or torture played on the radio every hour labelled as hiphop? I seriously doubt it, but guess what, those things unfortunately happen every minute to someone in the US and around the world. But to say that that defines life and reality and nothing else exists is just a big lie and the height of stupidity!
No one is saying don't discuss those topics in lyrics, but you can't think people are too stupid to believe that you CAN'T rhyme about other things in proportion also. That's my gripe with hiphop. There's no truth to it anymore in mainstream. Nobody is dumb enough to believe that black people can't do any better for themselves than to sell drugs, go to jail, remain illiterate, murder, and anything else that's less than a human being. If you've done those things, then that's because you choose those decisions in your life. Not because of the man, or the system, or because you're black like myself. It's because you didn't try to do better, and that's no fault but your own. And perpetuating that message over and over through hiphop is genocide.
If that's what the new-school considers as hiphop, then it truly is as dead as disco with no hope of life.
50 - DAS in S. Jersey
Oh yeah, before someone wants to make this into an old-school verses a new-school debate, which it most certianly is not, think hard about this:
95% of all of the hiphop tracks that have been out for the past couple of years have used samples from the old-school to make your new-school albums. There is no such thing as old-school or new-school, it's just good music period!
It's a hiphop thing, not a new generation thing. We are letting an innovative genre die because of mediocrity and a don't care about anyone attitude. If your whole focus is just to get paid, at the expense of spitting poison over the microphone, then it shows why no one wants to listen to hiphop as much anymore.
Hiphop was founded on consciousness, not just beats. There was always a meaningful message somewhere, skilled with creative production. Degrading women is not ART, period! Glorifying murder is not ART, period! It doens't matter if it's heavy metal, rock, punk, dance, country, salsa, or hiphop.
51 - real
HIP HOP ANT DEAD IT JUST CHANGED ATLANTA IS THE NEW YORK OF THE SOUTH THE BEST MUSIC IS HERE SO STOP HATTIN ON US YALL HAD YALL TIME ON THE CLOCK ITS ARE TIME LET US DO ARE THANG IN ORDER FOR SOMETHING TOO BE DEAD IT CANT BE ALIVE JEEZY IS ALIVE EVEN NAS IS ALIVE SO STOP CLIAIMIN HIP HOP IS DEAD AND ROLE WITH THA TIME U DONT SEE DIPSET CRYING
52 - Methuselah
Somebody bury that dead old hiphop corpse. It's stinking up the place.
Good riddance.
53 - Squirrel Master
But what state is hip hop in when most chart topping rappers do not make any mention of the other three elements of the culture? No DJs, no dancers, no graf writers.
What's going on?
54 - C*
"HIP HOP IS NOT POP, IF YOU CALL IT THAT THEN STOP !!!" - q-tip.
All the crap on radio is not hip hop. It's pop hop. So why do we care about that crap. Put in some stones thow joints or the new EL-P and keep it moving. Hip Hop never died, people's taste in music just sux. Why are you sobbing over mainstream music. I'm disgusted.
C*
55 - real
ALL YALL LAMES IS HATTIN ON THE SOUTH HIP HOP IS LIKE A GHOST JUS BECUASE U CANT SEE IT DONT MEEN ITS NOT THERE HIP HOP IS U SO IF HIP HOP DEAD THEN YOU ARE TOO SO STOP HATTIN BEFORE I KILL U YANKES
56 - DAS
Will some of you guys PLEASE think about what's being said? Nobody's hattin on anyone. This has absolutely nothing to do with a North verses South debate. It has nothing to do with NY verses Atlanta. Who cares where you're from!
If anything, you'll never hear me say anything bad about the south, because I grew up nearly the first 16 years of my life in Atlanta; Decatur, GA to be specific. I know Atlanta, I know the South. I know Georgia. My mother and father's side of the family is all from South Georgia. I still admire MC Shy D when I was growing up in ATL, which some of you are too young to know about. Some phenomenal music has come out of ATL, esepcially the whole LaFace era.
This ain't about a city. This is about the message behind your music. Period. I've heard music from my area NJ/NY and elsewhere all the way to CA, and it's just horrible music where ever you go when it comes to hiphop nowadays. Except for the hiphop that they don't want to play on the radio, because it educates people.
You guys don't get it. The record execs that are signing artists with this degrading music know that it's keeping black people down socially. If all you ever see and hear constantly are the same negative stereotypes about black people, then it's going to be that much harder for you to have positive goals in life to become somebody. More than likely, you will think it's normal to have a criminal record, or to have been shot, or to have a couple of kids still living with your parent(s), or to sell drugs, or to be violent, or to be uneducated, or not to read, or a lot of other things. Know this, the streets never have, and never will love ANYBODY!
Hiphop is supposed to make you feel proud of yourself, and educate you about your surroundings and who you are.
We will never ever get anywhere without people LISTENING instead of thinking you know everything. This music called hiphop right now can not survive any longer like this.
Don't think for a moment that it's not possible for a musical genre to die out of the mainstream or die out period. It happened to 80's Rock, it happened to Grunge, it happened to Jazz, it happened to Disco, it happened to some Electronic music, and it happened to Classical music. It can happen to Hiphop if we don't wake-up. And it's already started, and could be too late.
57 - HIP HOP
"the game is dehydrated n always the same we need sme1 2 re-brainwash us wid somethin gd 2 say n b remembered 4 ever in our brain" this is a quote i made up. i think hip hop should change for the better of it, no for the life. cos i give up with ppl blaming the south, yes they r to blame cos everysingle one of em is garbage exept ludacris and maybe T.I., but wot bout NY, hmm.50, dipset, ja rule, n wot is up with puff daddys nu song "last night". this is not hip hop, im nearly 18 n about 4 years ago i gave up with nu hip hop so i discovered some a tribe called quest, big l n 36 chambers wu tang etc. hip hop is to inform the reality of life and make everyone comfertable with themselves while listenin. the last real hip hop to come out was dre 2001, and dmx great depression. after dat not one album is good. jus because the record sales are decreasing dont mean hip hop will return to the lyrical game i.e. ny state of mind. but the media will find a way to still label hip hop for the next 5 to 10 years. after dat if this continues it will b dead like many other genres have rotted up and died. HIP HOP 4 LIFE
58 - yo
I'm 16 and even I know hip hop is dead itself. I mean look at all these southern rappers they HAVE NO TALLENT. And anyone who disagrees(must be from the south) I understand you want to defend where you're from but let's face it the south killed Hip Hop and that's that. They get hired by white men to make us black people look stupid. Now we have these white rappers coming out of no where?? what the FUCK let's all get together and take these white people OUT! The other day I got harrased cause "my pants we're sagen" and I had a black coat on....what the fuck?? all I was doing was walking to my moms car fuckin redneck wet dog fat pig faced motha fuckas thats why yo wife is a cocaine sniffer and a dick sucker who wants a life with the black man, we black men gotta realize WHAT WE HAVE aight?? spread the word these southern motha fuckas are helpin white people make BLACK PEOPLE SLAVES AGAIN!!
Yo, kid I dont know where your from, but your a little outta line with the racist shit! There is a lot of dumbass white people out there along with a lot of dumbass black people too, ya know?
59 - marquette
i think hip hop is kinda dead i mean all they rally talk about is think they ave and wat they do it yeah i listen to it bit i noticed it they might say sumthin like shoot u in da head layin on da ground bleedin u dead u know stuff like that but not every body is lik dat (Nas 2pac) and more
60 - marquette
yo let me spit one 4 you how dey do it : (yo call my friends call my grl have sent up or even called up maybe hauled up bitch igot e-nuf money 2 have all up shot up hung up bagged up and stabbed up u wont problems nigga sugget u bag up i sit bac eat cake and wach da money pile up u n my face suggest u bag up i have ya face leanin bac like fat joe in da club i carry sumthin wit a lil mo powa den a snub)dat was off da top of da head it be like dat but not all hip hop rappers rap like dat they actually talk about things but yeah i still listen to it
61 - mcnipplez
that rap was gay bro
62 - ~Beba~
I think hip hop is dead cause hip hop is not the same anymore its all about how many girls the fuck and gow many hoes they got and the cars they drive and hip hop is not about any of that.
63 - doo doo head
hip to da hop is dead son
64 - WEBZ
Controversy: U.S Hip Hop had a Fucking BIG wake up Call,When Goldies "Timeless" dropped.Although it didnt sell well in the u.s,it scared the shit out of a lot of lazy producers.Jungle/Drum n Bass has been the music that has taken what was great about Hip Hop without bending over and spreading its asscheeks for approval from the mainsteam.Some of you younger Producers need to stop trying to imitate Dre/Neptunes etc,and take a few risks.Goldie is a well respected graff writer ,and he applied that mentality to his music - pure hip hop. He did a track with KRS ONE (Digital),ICE T came to the u.k and was stunned by the scene he found,and was an active supporter of it.The breakbeat scenes around the world would fuck up ANY of the that corny shit that fills the airwaves/t.v/mags today.Modern mainstream hip hop can come test Drum n Bass,and get its flabby ass kicked from here to eternity,but most of em diss drum n bass,cos its too crazy,and not "polished" enough,You find better Hip Hop in France,and Brazil,than in the U.S...The reason....its the money..Style Wars forever.
65 - justin
yep its dead ,i remember 3d, hijack and mc duke .all inovative and educated as pe said "caught now in court cos i stole a beat this is a sampling sport "well written and inovative production from the bomb squad oh and 3rd bass proof you can be white and be good at this (take note m and m)but seriously drop the chains and the product placement blow the dust off the wheels of steel and get back to the way it should be ,peace!
66 - Mad Professor
Folks, let's wake up form deluding ourselves. "Hip Hop" is like a mangy dog staggering through the streets and foaming at its mouth. Let it die a deserved death! Put it out of its misery. It is about time for the youth to show some creativity and create a brand new street music or culture to replace it because NOTHING good is coming from the sickning and monotonous din of today with every other word being n---a, M---f--er, ad nauseum, encouraging the violence and ignorance that we see in too many commuities today.
I grew up with hip hop, but I for one will shed no tears over its needed demise and will gladly shout,"Good riddance to bad rubbish."
67 - Temple Stark
Rock N Roll is dead. Oh, wait ...
Just like Slayer is not Poison is not Linkin Park, hip-hop is not one thing.
Hip-hop is a wide river. You can swing your legs on the banks or dive in. The more you swim in the mainstream, the more tired you get.
Get out of the mainstream for awhile, long enough to dry off. Dip your toes in smaller ponds.
68 - Abe
hip hop is dead its all these damn dance songs like laffy taffy, sholder lean etc.
69 - San
It's not dead but it is dying, the question is what are we going to do to save it. Would Pac and Big go with this radio flow? It's up to the top artist. They have to show the yourh the way. Big radio is playing Flip-Flop. This must all come to a stop...
70 - Temple Stark
I also love the unintended irony. This was written in 2002.
- Temple
71 - real hip hop
The south does NOT represent real hip hop! Not hating, just the truth! Dont get mad cause your from the south (souf). Your shit it country pop music, NOT HIP HOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dont disrespect our culture by calling shit like young dro, shoulder lean shit, young cheesy, Real hip hop becasue it's not!!!!!!!!!
72 - WEBZ
I Just wish MTV/The mainstream media would declare Hip Hop dead,Then all the fucking clones,posers money grabbing,trend obssesed sheep that have infested hip hop over the last 15 years (black and white),will fuck off,and wait to be spoonfed something else - See aint you worked it out yet? buying $200 sneakers,cos 50 cent,or another "Rapper" says they are the shit,dont make you the same - it just means you have NO STYLE OF YOUR OWN!,Stop reading The Source,XXL etc - its all glorified toilet paper with pretty pictures!You cant let these devious bastards dictate what you buy,your opinion matters a lot more than some self serving gimp,whos getting paid good review-ola!! -If it sounds like shit -then thats what it is -and no amount of gloss can cover that up. (just because you sprinkle sugar on shit,it dont make it cornflakes!!)Just look behind the hyped up garbage and you will find some great hip hop, you just cant be lazy and small minded - get out there and look.If you cant find what you want to hear ...grow a pair,and make it yourself!
73 - goldenchild
I think that rap is dead. Hip Hop will never die. Essentially Hip Hop music is spoken word poetry accompanied by a beat. However, the traditional elements of Hip Hop (DJing, Graffiti, Breakdancing & MCing) have been exploited and simplified into corporate marketing tools in recent years. Rap is the mainstream, pre-packaged, dumbed down sound we hear on the radio everyday. Today's Rap focuses more upon flaunting attractive mediated visual images than actually attempting to make good music. Flashy images of beautiful half-naked women, fancy european autos and expensive clothes & jewelry lure us in to watching these rappers' stupid music videos. Not to mention all rap lyrics have become violent, criminal-minded, mysogynistic, materialistic and generally devoid of any intelligence. Mainstream rap music has become stagnant art form. Rap music has become a big joke. Hip Hop music is becoming very much like Jazz music. Jazz music, like Rap music, was a very innovative groundbreaking musical genre pioneered by black people that became watered down when it became popular with white mainstream audiences.
74 - Shawn
You know that an art is dead when you can turn on the radio and hear a "rapper" say three words that are not even in the English language and sell hundreds of thousands of records because they rhyme
Case in point - " ay ba baa "
75 - rhode3
i wouldn't say hip hop is dead but it damn sure is on life support,why aren't there songs like my mind playing tricks on me? why aren't there songs like straight up menance??? where the hell is AZ at with life's a bitch???? why can i lean and rock to every damn song on the radio??? im 15 years old (i know ima youngin) but i was lucky enough to have older cousins that exposed me to some real shit like bone thugs,pac, biggie, etc.... how many gurls my age can actually say dat nas is there favorite rapper and not lil wayne... to make a long story short here is a verse from real hip hop: Visualizin the realism of life and actuality
Fuck who's the baddest a person's status depends on salary
And my mentality is, money orientated
I'm destined to live the dream for all my peeps who never made it
cause yeah, we were beginners in the hood as five percenters
But somethin must of got in us cause all of us turned to sinners
Now some, restin in peace and some are sittin in San Quentin
Others such as myself are tryin to carry on tradition
Keepin the schwepervesence street ghetto essence inside us
Cause it provides us with the proper insight to guide us
Even though, we know somehow we all gotta go
but as long as we leavin thievin we'll be leavin with some kind of dough
so, and to that day we expire and turn to vapors
me and my capers-ll be somewhere stackin plenty papers
Keepin it real, packin steel, gettin high
Cause life's a bitch and then you die... and here is ur everyday bullshit:I'm lookin fa Mrs. Bubble Gum
I'm Mr. Chik-O-Stick
I wanna (dun dun dunt) (oh)
Cuz you so thick..... enuff said