Hip hop is a lot of things these days, but rap, not so much. Producing is where the real groundbreaking is done, hell, the advent of rap came about through the constantly evolving role of the disc jockey. The two roles, rapper and DJ, were not mutually exclusive, but rather worked with each other to create new ways of combining poetry and music. There seems to have been a split somewhere however, and now the two are rarely excelled at in conjunction today, the former if at all.
Fuck it, I'll say rappers suck nowadays, There, it's out in the open at the beginning so I don't have to ease you into the notion of a white guy complaining about rap music, shocking as it is, I know. I don't even really have a problem with the music, hip hop production has been constantly evolving with new sounds and rhythms. And back in the day, sure, there was something crucial to be said in gangsta rap as it evolved out of the early stylings of Stetsasonic and what have you, it's political message being violent and cathartic if a bit ill-wielded. However, this dual progression seems to have been left behind in the good-ole-days of hip hop and rap, as it were, the path of Double Dee and Steinksi influencing such innovative acts as DJ Shadow (such a Bay legend people forget he's form the Bay, but just listen to The Outsider), NWA and Ice T have left us with the poor legacy of Fitty and Eminem. Later, with De La Soul and Tribe we get the feel good rap: music about getting fucked up and fucking bitches in a nice way, or just about how great of a rapper you are. Even later comes the political hip hop, touched on by Tribe and Soul's Afrocentrism but really outplayed by guys like Immortal Technique to the point whiny bitchiness. (Oh and if you want point for genre reference, Kanye West is dance music, nothing more.)
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| It's either this... Photo by QXZ. |
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| ... or this. Well, fuck, not much of a choice. Photo by Dan Figueroa. |
