The Generational Gap: An Opinion

Posted: Sunday, March 21, 2010 by The Urbalists in Labels: , , , , , , ,
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This is the very first editorial piece on our blog. We will often post our personal opinions on various topics within Hip-Hop music and culture as whole, opinions which may or may not resonate with you as a reader, or even between us staffers here at Urbalistic. The point is to have a discussions on these topics and hope to shed some light on certain issues that are dear to us as Hip-Hop heads. First up: Vendetta and the current state of Hip-Hop.

Like many of my generation , I grew up with a wide range of musical sounds, going from Motown to Metallica, from Otis Redding to the Rolling Stones, from Run DMC to Slick Rick. In short, I love and live music so it's a little disconcerting to see what Hip-Hop or Rap music (which I feel is close to its last breath) has come to.







Music, like people, should and must evolve and in a perfect world; improve from the previous generation, but for some unseen reason Hip-Hop has vowed to reach the lowest common denominator possible. It used to be fun, inspired; it seemed to have a sense of purpose, from the party tracks of Kid 'N Play, the consciousness of Queen Latifah, to the street bravado of NWA. Sure, we can spend hours discussing the ins and outs of gangsta rap, but at first it came out as a outcry from the streets of Compton, as poverty and violence was almost exclusive to the East Coast rap scene (still a very minor sub-genre at the time) and they came out swinging, ready for a fight. Hip-Hop started going on a downhill slide to hell when money and hoes became standard, when gratuitous sex, violence and persona became more important than content, when swag became prevalent, and lyrics was left to the non-selling backpackers. When is the last time you heard a concept album, one with a back story? Anybody can come out with a hot single, but it has become an oddity to come out with a complete album.

To each his own, I guess, but in the coming weeks we will delve deeper in the mind of the current Hip-Hop head.

Vendetta

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