Then I thought about what Nathan said; there needs to be a balance. For every Master P there has to be a Mos Def (or should I say, Yasiin). That’s what has made Hip Hop the force that it is; there are no rules or boundaries- just words spoken in rhythm. There is no formula to follow, whatever’s in your heart to say, just say it. The drums are there to provide a pace and a pocket to fall into; everything else is up to you. And that’s what this new generation of Hip Hop is missing; heart. Everybody’s rapping about something but nobody’s doing it with conviction. Listening to these new guys you get the sense that they wanna say something but they’re afraid to so they rely on image and bullshit gimmicks to draw the listeners in rather than focusing on the music itself. There is no discernible message; just a bunch of words strung together to sell a pre-conceived, highly contrived persona to the kids.
Interesting title, even more interesting views. When i write it’s from the perspective of a twenty year old that didn’t get a chance to experience the golden age of hip-hop. With Jason James it’s different, he’s seen hip-hop at what most would consider it’s peak, and is now living in this new era which is nothing like it was a few years ago. I enjoy his writing and you can read the article in its entirety-HERE
