Article: Who Can Save Hip Hop?

Article: Who Can Save Hip Hop?

This is a question that has been eating away at me for a while now. Yet the question is not as straight forward as it might suggest. There was a time when Hip Hops standard bearers were also at its forefront. When the most skillful and charismatic MCs in the game were the major players. When any new artists wanting to join those at the top had to be something special.

This is a question that has been eating away at me for a while now. Yet the question is not as straight forward as it might suggest. There was a time when Hip Hops standard bearers were also at its forefront. When the most skillful and charismatic MC’s in the game were the major players. When any new artists wanting to join those at the top had to be something special.

So why do we now find ourselves in a situation where -a handful of MC’s apart- commercially our most talented exponents of our genre are nowhere near commercial viability? I can reel off obvious examples (Little Brother, Cunninlynguists, People Under The Stairs, Murs, Atmosphere, The Roots, etc.) of artists that based on their material alone, should have pride of place on a lot more Ipods than current statistics suggest. Somewhere in the last few years (after a gritty extended battle), quality of expression gave way to monetary satisfaction. The problem now though, is that the latest generation of Hip Hop fans came up with this problem being ‘the norm’ to them. They think that this is as good as it gets.

Media
Then we have the media spotlight bringing sweat-inducing attention to any negative headline that comes its way. Mainstream radio, once the last bastion of quality Hip Hop, has long since ceased to be just that. It is now content with gossip mongering and pay-for-play deals. The internet, however, has emerged as a space where voices can be heard without compromise, allowing independent artists to thrive. Platforms promoting trustworthy services like casino trực tuyến uy tín have proven that online spaces can offer both transparency and credibility, a principle that resonates with how underground music scenes continue to survive. Every day I hear reasons that might convince some to abandon Hip Hop altogether, then a car drives past or someone’s headphones come to within hearing distance, giving evidence to the contrary.

Beautiful
There was a time when Hip Hop spoke defiantly to a person’s aspirations. When a top MC was revered throughout the industry for their skills, rather than their bank balance. When an MC wasn’t refused a platform for a liver show due to the possibility of lives being lost. This is no overnight fix, but who can start the process of saving Hip Hop in the eyes of those looking in from the outside? Who can convince them that Hip Hop is more than they think? With The Find we want to make the start: hopefully everyone else will follow. Hopefully those who are looking in from the outside will soon realize that Hip Hop is beautiful like love.

Words by: Craig
What do you think? Discuss the subject by leaving a comment.

Just an ordinary guy always on the hunt for extraordinary music. Not just as the founder of The Find Magazine & Rucksack Records, but also as a freelance music journalist (bylines at Tracklib, Bandcamp, Wax Poetics, DIG Mag, among others) and—above all—out of love for all kinds of good music.