Can hip hop music include love of oneself, ethnic background, community, family, or education and still thrive in today’s commercial market? Some would say no. Actually most would say no. The millennium generation seems to give more thought to what color shoes they would like to wear than love. Even in its most popular urban form Hip Hop, love is as taboo as searching adult sites at work. Both can end your career before it starts. In fact, when asked how they felt about the L word, 4 out of 5 artists said they would love to use “love” in their music but no one would listen. The artist “Seven da Pantha” stated, “I am what I consider a real emcee. I hold hip hop in the highest regard and give it the utmost respect. Violence is for some reason a preferred topic in hip-hop. As a father and leader of a household, I try to be a strong, firm example for my seeds. I always express my love and affection for my wife and children. In my craft though, I rarely feel it appropriate to express my love over a track. I can talk about self defense with fire-arms and its ok though. The hip hop community as a whole seems to dislike love. Even non hardcore emcees don’t particularly support songs about love. It’s crazy.”
Long gone are the days of U.N.I.T.Y being chanted in chorus with Queen Latifah. No more chillin out watching LL Cool J proclaim “I need love” to his favorite lady. In today’s Hip Hop world, love has taken a backseat to modernistic ideals. These Ideals are based mostly around materialism, sex, and violence. In the late 70’s pioneer emcees like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five firmly promoted social change through their music. Songs like “The Message” painted pictures of poverty strickened family’s and underprivileged youth. It shined a light on overlooked issues faced in Urban America.
In the book “It’s Bigger Than Hip-Hop: The Rise of the Post Hip-Hop Generation”, Moletick Asante talks about how Hip-Hop has shifted from social issues and politics to violence and love of money. He discusses the effects of the corporate takeover of Hip-Hop music driving a vehicle of positivity into a negative direction. Control of radio and most major media outlets allow billion dollar companies to market harmful images to youth. These near criminal acts are all done in the name of the corporate dollar. Asante speaks about how today’s mainstream rappers aren’t taking enough responsibility themselves for the portrayal of our generation and its music. He feels,”we must be a part of the generation that rebuilds the city and fights against the officials in this city who try to keep us out. I agree.
In the Hip-Hop Wars: What We Talk About When We Talk About Hip-Hop and Why It Matters,” Tricia Rose discusses the role violence has taken in Hip-Hop. The shift in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s toward a more hardcore rap. The emergence of west coast rap detailing the everyday life in gang and crooked cop infested areas of Los Angeles. Once violence began selling cds and concert tickets, corporations threw more money into artist promoting drugs and violence and little to artist promoting education and prosperity. Artists such as rapper “Common got almost no recognition for his heralded classic album of the era “Like Water for Chocolate”. An album considered conscious for its lack of negative African American stereotypical images.
Although love seems to be lost to a billion dollar corporate structure bent on destroying urban communities and minorities while profiting ten figure salaries, I believe there is hope. Hope exists in the multitude of unheard artists with a voice and a message. Hope in the overshadowed emcees who speak social change and education. Hope for artists who promote honesty and strong moral conviction. Hope in lyricists who promote love of family, community, and self. Rap with a purpose like the pioneer artist of the 80’s such as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Hope in artists who provide education and entertainment or “Ed-u-tainment like KRS-ONE, the teacher and educator. He uses the microphone as a platform for the community’s voice. Hope in hungry young visionaries with strength to withstand the temptations of greed and envy and continue to help their fellow artist. The love of money and material objects can never take the place of Real Hip-Hop love.
