New Jacks VS ‘Old School’ Vets It never ends

You’d be better off asking for a definite answer regarding religion, abortion or politics.

Truth be told, unless we grew up in the mid to late 70’s in the Bronx, we’re all pretty much New Jacks dropping opinions on what we think Hip-Hop is and isn’t.

Everyone has their own answer and propositions about what Hip-Hop should and shouldn’t be.

The generation gap in the Hip-Hop audience is pretty substantial at this point. Considering most 14-15 year old’s first memory of hip-hop was Dre & Snoop’s “Nuttin But A G Thang”, trying to get them to appreciate the sound of “True” hip-hop is like pulling teeth, because they’ve already subscribed to their ideals by now.

They find hip-hop for the first time, become ferociously loyal to the “underground” ethos and suppose that every mainstream rapper is a “sellout” and that they’re "wack", etc. And never bother to listen to the record.

The same thing works the other way around…with people that listen to mainstream hip-hop ONLY, because ‘the beats are better’. And pay no mind to lyrics/content/etc. and never bother to support a talented underground artist, cause they never make it to radio.

In essence, it’s a big jumbled clusterfuck of opinion, and NO ONE IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.

OLD SCHOOL?

:: Ever listen to them old school mixes on the radio during lunchtime or whenever, and they’re spinning some old shit with reverbed-out snare drums, pronounced handclaps and some old school MC going, “I’m FRESSSHHH!!”? If you listen alot of the old shit now, it’s laughable, because as a culture and a music, we’ve come so far since then. Things are taken more seriously, etc.

But did you ever stop to suppose that, when this shit dropped alot of people LOVED that record. They loved it enough that someone would be spinning the damn thing on the air 20 years later. Now, just imagine the cats that didn’t like THAT record when it came out. I’m sure there were plenty of those that didn’t.

:: Side-Note :: (What I find interesting is how, as time has gone on, Old School Mixes shifted from 80’s shit to early 90’s material.)

NEW JACKS?

:: Now, let’s take, for example, SOME of the cats here at Auralaria, who are younger. They didn’t grow up listening to Sugar Hill Gang, Kurtis Blow, UTFO, Kool Moe Dee, LL, Run DMC, Stetsasonic, PE, BDP, Juice Crew, Kane, Rakim, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc. They’ll never get that same feeling I felt, or you felt, from listening to them cats for the FIRST TIME...when they were NEW and fresh! They’ll NEVER understand that, no matter how many times we smack ‘em or tease them or whip ‘em with exposed wires.

Again, suppose that they experience that same feeling of awe in this day and age with some group that you may not particularly like, or dig at all. Now, WE’RE on the opposite side of the fence, and there’s really nothing we can do about it, except try to feel good about ourselves and give lectures and poke fun.

As an artist myself, I have to contend with this everyday of my life, every step of my career. Hip-Hop is a youth oriented music – Period. The kids are always gonna dictate what’s hot/next/classic in the future. Fighting it is totally futile. All I can do is present my own ideals through my music, with my own convictions and hopefully it will be welcomed. And, yes, it does suck that all of this work, in the end, will be judged & critiqued by many with an infantile understanding of what went into it. But that’s the case with anything.

And of course, I consider myself a “True” hip-hop artist. And I’m sure Nelly & Ja Rule do too.

WHAT’S DOPE AND WHAT’S NOT?!

:: I mean, who’s really the definitive authority on anything? I remember when the whole Native Tongue collective appeared, (DLS, ATCQ, JBs, BS, etc) mad people dissed the shit out of them, cause they weren’t “Hardcore” etc.

Still, they made great music…At least I believe they did. Alot of people STILL don’t like them or their music for the same reasons. But, in the “True” hip-hop circles, Native Tongues are widely regarded as legends of the artform. Are their albums worth checking out? Sure.. Are you going to love it to death? Maybe/Maybe Not.

The point is, there isn’t any DEFINITIVE list of what’s good and what’s bad. Even the so-called “Classic Albums” everyone confers on, still have detractors.

Example:
Hip-Hop Head 1: “Yo, Resurrection by Common is a fuckin classic, yo!”
Hip-Hop Head 2: “Nah, man, the only good song was ‘I Used To Love H.E.R! The album wasn’t all that”
Hip-Hop Head 1: “Yeah, but what about Nas’ “Illmatic” album?”
Hip-Hop Head 2: “It was hot, but that shit was only 9 songs, and he did the same flow on every track.”
Hip-Hop Head 1: “Then what do YOU think is a classic?”
Hip-Hop Head 2: “Ras Kass’ “Soul On Ice!” That shit was FIRE!!!”
Hip-Hop Head 1: “WHAT!! Ras had lyrics but his beats were just aight!”

NOTE: This debate continues for the next 10 years. It never ends.

RESONANCE

:: Everyone has their favorite artists. Everyone has artists they hate. Why? Just Cause. Do they need a reason? Sure. But do they care? Nope.

Ya know, I really WISH I was around when hip-hop was going through it’s birthing stages in the 70’s. I would’ve loved to have felt that initial burst of energy. BUT...I wasn’t born long enough ago. I had to settle for the entirety of the 80’s/90’s.

The irony of it all is this:
“Illmatic” & “Reasonable Doubt” may be classics, yes, but they’re not the first and they’re not the last of them. And IF that’s as far back as we can think…that doesn’t mean that prior achievements in hip-hop albums don’t exist.

f course, I am by no means the authority on anything, but I do know a thing or two, cause I’ve been around to watch alot. Sometimes we gotta re-evaluate why we feel the need to one-up each other all the time with this self-imposed ‘Class-System’. But in these times, we should be smarter than to do that to ourselves all over again.

Beezy.

Peace & Respect.
Tone.