Dear Fly Guy,
So, as I sit on the brink of my 30th birthday I'm starting to look at life in a COMPLETELY different light. And a huge part of my life is my music and children. As a single mother of two young girls (5 and 11 yrs. old), I have to be very leery of what I have playing around my girls. I'm an avid fan of hip hop - always have been. However, lately I've found that everything from the image, to the whack/imitating artists to the lackluster lyrics have left a lot to be desired for the up and coming generation. My eldest is reaching a stage where I want her to establish her own personal favorite artists and start building her own collection. And as much as I want to let her run free in Best Buy, down the aisles of the "new releases", I find myself over her shoulder with a disapproving look on my face because of the messages, or lack thereof, in these albums. I've found that artists have not only lost sight of delivering a "message" - I don't think it was the intention of over half of them to deliver one in the first place. I find that they're more interested in the superficial benefits of getting on the mic - than the TRUE reason they were gifted that platform from the Creator in the first place. I'm just wondering, in your experience mingling and interacting with the industry to the extent that you have - is all lost for hip hop lyricism? Where is the passion...the dignity? Will my daughters be left to the "Yaaaah Trick Yaaah" songs?
HELP!!!
Signed,
Pushing 30
Dear Pushing 30,
I feel your pain. Hip Hop still has the same message; it's just gotten lost in the translation. Most of us who consider ourselves artists still come from nothing, and try to make something out of it. The problem is, there's no creativity anymore. The cleverness of MC'n has been all but forgotten. Don't get me wrong, there are still those witty artists out there that continue to push the envelope of creativity, however; they're just not the majority anymore. I commend you for being a true believer in the preservation of Hip Hop culture but I cringe at the thought of who your daughters are gonna grow up listening to. Hip Hop has more influence over the youth now than it ever has. I am a conspiracy theorist, so I have my own reasoning as to why today's popular music is what it is. There's an underlying plot, I believe. But that's a whole other type of discussion. The lyricism in Hip Hop still exists. Look at this way, Hip Hop is a global thing. Thankfully, the rest of the world are still Hip Hop purists at heart and keep artists like Talib Kweli and Pharaoh Monch, who are both supreme lyricits, relevant today. Remember when our parents used to hear the stuff we were listening to when we were kids? The Snoop Doggs, The Salt N Pepa's, The KRS One's...and they would be like, what's all that rah rah rah noise you listening to? That ain't music. Then they start to play their Smokey Robinson, and Temptations, Anita Baker, and such... You might have to have a history lesson of sorts with your daughters. School them to the Hip Hop we grew up on. Make them aware so that at least they have a sense of where the culture came from and how it has evolved. Do remember, life itself is about balance. You can't have a yin without a yang; meaning, if there was no Yaah Trick Yaahh, artists like Common, Scarface, and Nas wouldn't be as refreshing and appreciated as they are today.
I Used To Love H.E.R. too.
-A Fly Guy
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