Hip hop—once a culture historically built on traditions and values, has now evolved into a society where some feel hip hop is dead. In the past, rappers and rap groups used music as a means of escape from poverty and street trouble.
Originally, hip hop started out with two major components: B-boying and MCing. They were the two components that kicked off the start of an era that would change the lives of all listeners. After hip hop began to evolve, the DJ was added to the equation. This triple threat began to take over from city to city and coast to coast. New York City is the father of hip hop. Legendary MCs such as Biggie, Big Daddy Kane, and Run DMC started their careers on the streets of New York battling other MCs for the title of being the greatest rapper. Hip hop was the savior of many because it was an outlet and a safe haven for others. Artists used hip-hop to bring light to events and personal experiences that has shaped and transformed the world.
In the 80's and 90's, hip-hop began to win over the hearts of listeners, fans and artists. Rappers began putting their hearts and souls into their lyrics by writing about their lifestyles, hardships, and experiences. Factual storytelling became the style and epitome of their songs and even their albums. Inappropriate lyrics and phrases were discretely and metaphorically used. The videos were synonymous to the songs and the radio played songs that influenced society in a good way. The outfits and styles during the 80's and 90's were apart of the culture of hip-hop. Every artist had their individual style and it went with the personality and image of their music. The gold chains, Adidas shoes and sweat suits, baggy jeans and jerseys, were all a part of how artist expressed themselves.
At one point in the music history, hip-hop was more than just music. It was a culture that used the genre to deliver messages about the black community, society, racism, and politics. But as time evolved, the messages in the music and the meaning in it, was lost. Music today doesn’t have a specific meaning anymore. Most rappers today talk about selling drugs, trapping out the bando (that doesn’t exist), and using a gun to kill someone over something trivial. Yet, there are more underground rappers that aren’t exposed on the radio because the messages in the songs are too strong for the world to handle. But the radio stations pick and choose what they want to play and if you have a hot beat, regardless of the lyrics, your music is the hottest song in the streets.
Most rappers use this new invented style of hot beats and meaningless lyrics. Although this style does exist for younger and older rappers, some artists such as Common, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, and Nas, still use the traditional style of hip-hop to express their thoughts and concerns about the issues oppressing people in impoverished communities, political issues that people should be aware of, and why hip-hop is still important and should never lose its power.
Lauryn Hill once said “Hip-hop isn’t just music, it is a spiritual movement of the blacks! You can’t just call hip-hop a trend," and I believe that is the true meaning of hip-hop.
