The Decline of Hip Hop

In a USA Today report, the newspaper discusses the decline of album sales in rap music, stating that "this year, rap sales are down 33% from 2006." This is even greater than the overall decline in album sales, and cannot be dismissed as simple suffering from digital sales and/or illegal downloads. Culprits include skipping whole album sales in favor of hyping the singles that sell ringtones and digital singles.

The greatest culprit in the declining sales, however, cannot be denied: people are just tired of hearing about bullets and bling. As USA Today puts it, "the young, largely white audience that can make a difference between modest and blockbuster sales ó are tiring of rappers' emphasis on "gangsta" attitudes, explicit lyrics and tales of street life and conspicuous consumption."

And one of my favorite hip-hop artists, KRS-One, puts it this way: "The music is garbage. What has happened over the past few years is that we have traded art for money, simple and plain, and the public is not stupid." You've got that right, Blastmaster! Hip hop as an industry has given up information and education and social activism in favor of being strictly party music. There is no balance in hip hop.

"The public has made a choice," KRS-One says. "They're saying, 'We do not want the nonsense that we see and hear on radio, and we are not putting our money there.' Rap music is being boycotted by the American public because of the images that we are putting forward."

Arguing that the current language of hip hop is blasted because it is a cultural representation of reality, 50 Cent counters "Music is a mirror, and hip-hop is a reflection of the environment we grew up in."

In my conversation with Salim, a Baltimore hip hop artist (the podcast will be available on Any Given Tuesday tomorrow), we discussed the lack of balance in hip hop, and it is clear from the above comments by KRS and 50 that there are different cultural representations that hip hop can make. There is a time for party music, a time for mirroring one's reality, and a time for speaking out against political and social injustice.

Album Review: Salim - Hip Hop Revisited; Free MP3: "Stresses of the City"

Salim hails from Baltimore, and if we let him, he can be someone to show the rest of the country that Baltimore isn't just the crime seen on The Wire and that hip hop isn't just pompous flossing. While mainstream hip-hop is bloated with ice and SUVs, there is a subset of rap with great flow, great lyrics, and without the obsessing over shiny things. Don't get a hipster like me wrong, I like mainstream hip-hop as much as the next, but like many die-hard music fans, I need my hip-hop to have some more substance.

Take, for example, "Stresses of the City" from Salim's Hip Hop Revisited. An urban anthem with fiercely in-your-face flow, inspired by the mixed blight and majesty of Baltimore's southwest. With a voice and a message reminiscent of Talib Kweli (and maybe, just maybe a bit of Phife from Tribe), Salim eschews the glamorization of stereotyped hood life to open up a new window into the life of West Baltimore. Instead of a world often painted as without hope, "Stresses" speaks of a dichotomy of a less-than-perfect existence with perfectly normal and admirable ambitions. As the suburban teenager is not just a kid on a cul-de-sac with skateboard under foot but has dreams of becoming an artist or an accountant, the city youth is more than baggy pants and headphones and dreams of the same thing. Salim wants to bridge the gap: we all struggle, we all strive, no matter what our world looks like.

Taking it down-tempo on "Hip-Hop Glory", Hip Hop Revisited shouts out to those who came before as well as contemporaries like Pharoahe Monch and Mos Def, reminiscing on the halcyon days of hip-hop. "Untitled" is Salim's vision of life in Baltimore, capably backed with vocals by Green Tea.

But the album is not just about lyrics. Hip Hop Revisited is full of beats that should make Swizz Beats jealous (not to mention a flow that, in a perfect world, would silence Diddy, too). Producers The Last Skeptik and Sin*seer are just the kind of beatmakers that I picture in Baltimore, a wicked studio in a rowhouse basement cooking up sick beats.

This album features lots of collaborations, with the above producers, as well as Theory (and, to give credit where credit is due, Salim produces some of his own, too). Singers Green Tea and Brianne Hemphill, turntabling by DJ Spontaneous, and appearances from Salim's band The Music Lovers also add to the reverie created by the album. But there's no fanfare in the cavalcade of guests. The cast of this album appear for the sake of the music.

Hip Hop Revisited could also be called Hip Hop Revised. A welcome reprieve from slick beats with no substantive rhyme, Revisited also avoids the unfortunate problem of many political/philosophical rappers who are cursed with mediocre tracks to lay their heavy rhymes on. The album is solid both in sound and substance.

You can purchase the album from Salim at his website.

Free MP3 Download: Salim - "Stresses of the City"

50 Cent Won't Clean Up His Lyrics, Punks Master P; TI Agrees

50 Cent has issued a characteristic response to the recent movement to "clean up hip-hop", with artists such as Master P changing their game.

In response to questions about others demanding artists to clean up their lyrics, 50 quipped: "I personally believe on every level that it's easier to attack an individual than it is to go after a corporation. They'll go after a specific hip-hop artist as opposed to a Paramount or a Columbia Pictures.

"Music is a mirror, and hip-hop is a reflection of the environment that we grew up in. It's the harsh realities that end up in the music. If I ask you to paint a picture of the American flag and not use the color red, you're gonna have a difficult time. To capture what we try to capture in the art form, I'm sure some conservative Americans can't actually ID with it because of their lifestyle and the way they've actually been brought up, and they haven't been exposed to those realities."

I appreciate that 50 Cent is standing up and presenting a valid argument for what he is doing, rather than dismissing it with a wave of the hand or lashing out. What 50 seems to miss is that one can reflect the environment they grew up in without sensationalizing those realities, and one can paint an American flag in an abstract manner with other colors, or with just black on white canvas, and still get the point across. The flag is an icon, it will be recognizable no matter what color it is painted in. Further, there are plenty of Americans, conservative, liberal or otherwise, who can identify and who cannot identify, regardless of their upbringing. Some folks grow up in tough places, both emotionally and geographically. But not all of those folks sensationalize that upbringing.

It is certainly important to create a historic record of these realities. Corporations, as 50 mentions them, have capitalized on the cycle of violence, lining their pockets with hip-hop money, and so has 50. Society will go to the individuals at the front lines over the corporation because the corporation is an intangible. It is much easier to blame the artist, though both the artist and the corporation are of unclean hands. I support 50's right to say what he wants, and he's lived a life that allows him to rap about his reality with authority.

50 also went at Master P during his commentary: "Well, Master P doesn't sell CDs anymore," he scoffed. "You can tell him I said it. Cameras is rollin' right?...Curtis, June 26." You heard it. June 26.

T.I. joined the fray with good points of his own. "What 50 was trying to put into words without losing his temper is it all starts at home. I'm a father of five. And my kids watch BET. They watch all kinds of videos, they watch movies, they listen to music, they like 50 and Lil' Wayne, whomever you can mention. But when my children look at these videos or listen to this music, I don't care how impressionable it is. They know they aren't going to have to deal with 50. They're going to have to deal with daddy. And that's the way it starts."

Continuing, T.I. said, "The things I say come from the life that I used to live."

Good words, but T.I. confirms the only point I keep returning to in my own battle with what kind of hip-hop to listen to: the life he used to live. Rappers tend to rap about their realities. Well, T.I., 50 Cent, your realities are now full of cars and money, and you're selling your past back to both those who do and do not understand that reality. I've seen you both on "Cribs." You've got it all. Rap about what your reality is now. Don't keep returning to the same stuff that you were lucky enough to break free of. Let's look forward a little bit instead of always looking backward. Rap about how important it is to look to the future and a chance to get out of these harsh realities that will always be a part of you. I'm not saying on every song, just some. Give your fans something they can look forward to, strive towards. Most of us aren't going to be huge commercial rappers like you. We're going to have to find other ways to change our situations.

Hip-hop, like any kind of music, is a wonderful thing. It's a creative outlet, and emotionally cathartic form of escapism, and many other positive things. In the end, the artist can, and should, have the right to say what they want on their record. But music is always involving. The climate changes. Artists grow and their world view becomes more complex. Let's get political, get sociological. People are growing tired of the status quo of hearing the same message in any form of music. Challenge the listener to dissect the complexity of the work. Be a part of the evolution.

KRS-One and Hip-Hop Appreciation Week; New KRS-One Album with Marley Marl: Hip-Hop Lives

As my favorite Blastmaster MC, KRS-One, has represented since 1998, we are in the midst of Hip-Hop Appreciation Week (May 14-21).

According to KRS: "During this time (May 14th-21st 2007) the Hip Hop community refocuses itself through a collective reviewand update of its own history and core principles and elements. Principles- peace,love, unity and having fun. Elements- Breakin, Emceein, Graffiti Art, Deejayin, Beat Boxin, Street Fashion, Street Language, Street Knowledge and Street Entrepreneurialism. The idea is to celebrate Hip Hop itself.

"Let us show our respect for Hip Hop with a sincere respect for one another. Men—support the women in your life. Women, comfort the men in your life. And let us all remain committed to the well-being of our children; they are the reason we do what we do. Love your children. Reserve a special love for them. Give them your time and your attention. Be patient with them. Touch them, hug them, play with them and be sure to teach them, advise them, protect them, discipline them, and most of all LISTEN to them. One of the best ways to teach our children that they are valuable is to value them. Often we must compliment them, point out their special qualities to them, fulfill their prayers, support their legitimate dreams and aspirations and let them know that we are interested in them. They are the future of Hip Hop! The preservation of our children IS the preservation of Hip Hop. HAPPY HIP HOP APPRECIATION WEEK! There it is."

Much respect to KRS-One. He has maintained a legacy of intelligent hip-hop, always challenging and always positive. I, for one, support his work and envy his dedication to his community. With his influence, we will see more positive hip-hop; hip-hop that we can be proud of down the road. Hip-hop we can give to our children as a time capsule of our lives, not boilerplate, commercial hip-hop that glamorizes this moment in life which will surely pass, but that provides a much-needed intellectual stream of good lyrics over quality beats that defy popular culture.

And, in a step showing impeccable timing, KRS-One's joint effort with Marley Marl, Hip-Hop Lives, hits streets on May 22.

Master P To Form Profanity-Free Hip-Hop Label

May the hip-hop community rain down fire upon me, but I've always been a fan of Master P and No Limit Records. While P's rapping skills were suspect at pest (like most hip-hop producers cum rappers, like Diddy, Kanye West, etc.), I was all about Ghetto D (click to check out the 10th anniversary edition of the album that put the dirty south on the map). The late 90's label put out all kinds of good records, and in its heyday with Silkk The Shocker, P, Mystikal, and Soulja Slim all churning out tracks at the same time, I could not spend money fast enough.

So it interests me to hear that P is going to introduce a new label (amidst all the hype about hip-hop eliminating offensive lyrics) that is entirely profanity-free. The label will be called Take A Stand Records, and P says, ""I can honestly say that I was once part of the problem and now it's time to be part of the solution. I am ready to take a stand by cleaning up my music and follow my son's [Lil Romeo] footsteps and make a clean rap album." P and Romeo are co-founding the label as a father/son venture, and are looking for talent via AmericasNextHipHopStars.com.

The label's first release, however, will be an LP with both Master P and Lil Romeo called Hip-Hop History.

Source: AllHip-Hop.com