Post#496 » by kane2021 » Tue Aug 4, 2015 1:18 pm
Hip Hop is a culture its not a music. Rap is one of the elements of the culture. EmCeeing. Its something you do.
Whats happened is major record labels that do main stream pop has taken the profitable element of the culture and made it their own. The other elements have gone out of style. Im sure there is still a small number of people out there beat boxing. Breaking. Scratching records and spray painting but its not what it used to be. And it dont sell.
We used to get together in the parks, in the projects, with 2 technique 1200's, a crate of records, an amp, big speakers, a 2 channel with mixer with a cross fader and mike and get down. It was something to do and it was ours. Beatboxing contests. Battle DJing contests. Break dancing. Hell, rapping wasnt even that big a thing until Kool Moe Dee changed the way it was done and invented the modern battle rap.
Hip Hop is dead. Theres no "hip-hop" music. Rapping over a DJ or beatbox was hip hop. Mixing break beats over an EmCee was hip hop. 6 second samplers looping the breaks was hip hop. TR 808's,.. sp12's. The MPC60 was ground breaking and primo mastered it.
All that is dead. Main stream pop took rap, and dumped the rest. Then took away the street roots, the free style, added hooks and singing, watered down the lyricism and made a profitable genre. Every once in awhile you'll hear something thats a bit more authentic but its usually "for promotional use only" passed out in the streets on cheaply made mix tapes with no real DJing and used to sell the mainstream record that wont even contain those songs. Aint no hip hop music. It was hip hop culture. We invented it. It got taken. Now talented dudes where I come from dont even get a chance anymore.

Never underestimate the strength of knowledge.
Bring back the physical game and send the softies home.