A Hollow Victory

For those of us involved in the culture, the current state of hip hop and its future trajectory are issues of fierce debate. On the one hand we have those who are in favour of recent developments in hip hop, pointing out that the art form has now outgrown many of its old boundaries and become much more democratised. Other people lament the current form that hip hop has taken, critical of what they see as a glut of poor quality music and a general lack of direction. The vast majority of hip hop listeners however are simply content to listen to the music that they have in front of them, and really couldn't care either way.

As for me, I can see some validity in both points of view. To my mind the home-recording and MySpace revolution is in general a good thing for the artform. This, more than anything else, has contributed to the democratisation of hip hop and allowed a whole new range of voices to be heard. Of course at the same time the disembodiment of hip hop from its native environment and culture have created the same dislocation of identity that an individual suffers, except on a much larger scale. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I'm highly critical of the current 'no effort required, get rich quick' attitude prevailing in popular hip hop and the prevelance of various 'joke' and 'spoof' rap tracks.

One thing is for certain: hip hop has expanded to the point where there is no putting the jack back in the box. As I discussed in my earlier post '2001: A Hip Hop Odyssey', hip hop was already at the crossroads as far back as the turn of the millenium. Now however it is starting to resemble a lazy twenty-something that won't stop sponging off his parents and sleeping over at his girlfriend's place.

I agree with the so-called 'underground' heads that hip hop has lost its way, but I propose a different direction. Most of these so-called guardians of 'pure' hip hop are in fact inventing their own permutation of the culture; original hip hop was not the highly-regulated, formulaic lyrical sport that it is today. Golden era hip hop was about more than rigidly relying on a formula of multi-syllabic rhymes and witty punchlines. Sure today's underground heads talk about the same thing as golden age rappers did (eg hot lyrics, sneakers, battling), but they miss what made those things so unique and special in that period of time. I can guarantee that golden age rap from back then was not as static as 'golden age' music from today is.

In my mind the future of hip hop lies in maturation and development. In other words, hip hop has to grow up and grow out of its cliches, blindspots and prejudices. And the main impediment to this development is not the artists (as these 'purists' often claim); it is the audience. Just as voters get the governments they deserve, listeners get the music they deserve.

A case in point is the debate surrounding Kanye West's 'Diamonds from Sierra Leone' remix. In my mind, Kanye's take on the track was witty, incisive and relevant. However most of the buzz around the track seems to be about how Jay-Z's guest spot stole the limelight. What is really disappointing about this evaluation is that Jay's verse just brings more of his braggadocio, something that you can get listening to any Jay-Z track. The fact that Kanye's verse, which deals with an important social and political issue, was overlooked simply because Jay's had better punches (which is debatable) is just plain sad.

Before I go any further, let me clarify a few things. Firstly, I don't think that Jay-Z's braggadocio has no place in hip hop. I think that Jay is one of the giants of the genre, and for good reason. Secondly, I don't even think that Jay is a one dimensional rapper who couldn't write about conflict diamonds if he wanted to. I personally believe that Jay-Z is a very intelligent, yet very savvy rapper who knows what will sell and what won't. He tells us as much on his excellent track 'Ignorant Shit'. The fact of the matter is that because Jay-Z is solely motivated by sales, his music is a perfect reflection of his audience. And that reflection isn't very flattering.

The reflection that we see in Jay-Z's music is that of a self-obssessed, money-obssessed, sex-driven megalomaniac who is only concerned with personal profit. The sort of character which, ironically, fuels illicit industries such as the conflict diamond trade.

As I said earlier, music is a reflection of its audience. Unlike what certain underground heads would have you believe, artists only have so much control over their content. Not only are they constrained by sales considerations and record label execs, they are also influenced by the culture in which they reside. No artist (myself included) is completely free of influence from the zeitgeist in which they write; to some extent every artist will cave into popular demands. Therefore the solution to hip hop's ills lies not in changing the artist, but in changing the listener.

If hip hop heads became truly well-rounded individuals with a range of interests, an open mind and a passion for excellence you would see music reflecting those values, seeing as anything else wouldn't sell. Thus the key lies not in blaming what we see on TV or hear on the stereo; it lies in taking a good look at ourselves and pushing ourselves to be the sort of people that demand a balanced and high-content musical diet.

If not, verses like Jay-Z's on 'Diamonds from Sierra Leone' will continue to be regarded as the hottest thing going around. However, due to the vacuous nature of his audience, Jay-Z's victory will be a hollow one.