Hip-hop is dead
Anyone who has paid any attention to my musical tastes over the past few years might have noticed that I haven’t really kept up with new songs on the radio.
The reason is twofold:
- I don’t DJ anymore, so my desire to keep up with current releases has diminished.
- I’m older, and I have developed the (not terribly new) opinion that anything developed by any generation after my own is pure crap.
This is evidenced by the artists that I usually play in my car (Biggie, Jay-Z, basically anything from 1992-1997, as well as anything played by HKMD, who worships the ground that R-Kelly walks on, and believes that "Twisted" by Keith Sweat is the pinnacle of direction in music videos).
Now, I’m not a musical fascist. I don’t eschew anything new simply because it is new. I just feel that music today, in rhythm, beat, and lyrics, has strayed far, far away from where it was.
Yeah, I get the generic party vibe. I don’t even mind the dullness in the lyrics today (Bitches? Check! Bling? Check! Drug and alcohol references? Check! Random dick-waiving? Check!), it’s the feeling (or lack of) that I get when I listen to it that bothers me.
It doesn’t move me.
But really, when was the last time that a song reached into your chest and clutched your heart in an attempt to wake your soul?
It’s because of all this that I am currently thankful to the Japanese hip-hop scene. Now, I’m no expert, but I have come across a number of producers/acts that have begun to do just that; producers like Nujabes and Tsuchie, groups like GAGLE (special thanks to Lady Miyomi for indirectly exposing me to the former two).
Let’s take a look at "BIG BANG THEORY" by GAGLE:
