HIP HOP is in a Coma by Almighty STAR

written by STAR ALMIGHTY-

There are many opinions surrounding the current state of HIP HOP music. Some people think Hip Hop is dead, some think it is alive and kicking. Others think it's on life support. Wether or not one chooses to acknowlegde it, the fact is, anything that lacks consciousness is either unconscious or dead. Hip Hop has very little conscious nowadays. So the comparison of the state of rap music to a person barely conscious on life-support would be an accurate analogy. HIP HOP IS IN A COMA!

I believe there are several distinct factors contributing to Hip Hops crumbling state. Lack of Historic appreciation, Demographic segregation, and the internet are just a few of the reasons. Follow along as we dig further into this serious matter.

Some experts say that "90's babies" are a big part of the problems facing the health of this music genre, that once described and entire culture. In every other form of music, when people mention their infuluences, they speak of the great artists of it's past. Neo soul singers will mension Lou Rawls, Marvin gaye, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and other legendary artists.

Hip Hop used to be no different. The late Tupak Shakur spoke of Rakim, Big daddy Kane, and LL Kool Jay as being his great influences. Their styles and emotions were very evident in his music and his ryhme structure. Currently I don't believe that the top artists of our time are honest about their inspirations. T.I had once mensioned that he wasn't a real Outkast fan, nor did he listen to much up north music. However when I listen to his first CD, I clearly hear Tupac, Q-tip, Andre 3000, and Biggie Smalls influences.

As time passed in his career, his ryhme style simplified themselves, and I heard more of a southern style take presidence with similarities to Oomp Camp and 3-6 Mafia, etc. He seems to have immulated attributes of artists that immulate him, such as Young Jeezy, Rick Ross, Plies, etc.

Now if you listen to many interviews of todays popular rap artists, perticularly southern rap artists, they all seem to have a common fear of being intelligent and knowledgeable of the world, and of the history of Hip Hop.

Like Krsone said in his one his classic hits "WHY IS THAT?"

Ask yourselves this question-

What happened to the days of the past, when we admired the emcees for their intelligence?

Heres Another problem Hip Hop faces; It is the only form of music where we stereotype artists by their regions. This type of pigeonholing places limits on the artists and limits our own boundaries and imaginations. I honestly believe this problem came from the up north region's beliefs that they owned Hip Hop, and that no other regions contributions to rap were good enough or valid!

I feel this MIND-SET is DESTRUCTIVE and DOWN RIGHT SILLY to me, and an overall HENDERENCE to us as a people. See if it wasn't for Blues, Jazz, Scatting, Playing the Dozens, and other musical adaptations, from all over, THERE WOULD BE NO HIP HOP AT ALL!

I wonder what rap music would be like today if NEW YORK had embraced the West coast and Southern Hip Hop movements? What would the rap artists be like, and what would they rap about?? hmmm....

The internet is a two-edged sword, therefore it is a gift and a curse to the artform that was born in the "Boogie Down Bronx." If it wasn't for the web, I wouldn't have any knowledge of all the Undreground talent that is circulating around the country.

However the ability to freely download artists music, takes away from the profitability of records sales, and the artists themselves. This causes the big record labels to restructure the way they do business.

Artist development just isn't worth SQUAT for rap artists if Radio floods the airwaves with negative rap music, and TV viewing is saturated with negative images of blacks, and legitimized crap that companies promote on a daily basis. What we ACCEPT and LISTEN to has to CHANGE! This is a SIMPLE music for a SIMPLE GENERATION. They sell a rappers image through television commercials, ring tones, and give the atists gimmicky merchandise, they then sell this image to our materialistic youth.

They ride out the artists short career, then replace him by the next fiscal quarter with a slightly different version of himself.

Talk about "MILKING THE COW FOR ALL IT'S WORTH"

Young Up and coming rappers, see their peers apparent success, or what it's so called, and mindlessly follow this pipe-dream like lambs to the slaughter. This gives these life sucking brain washing money making machines a fresh supply of of nieve artists to (in a manner of speaking) chop into dollars!

There is a serious need to reform these conditions. Not only to save rap music, but to salvage the minds of our children. We as fans of this music, both male and female, man, women and child, must take a strict stand on what we watch, and listen to. Artists must stop selling out for a buck, and become uncomprimising in their freedom of self expression. Only then can Hip Hop as a culture truly change for the better!

This can happen as a result of us UNIFYING as one people, and CHANGING our traditional bad habits, and UPLIFTING ourselves. For if we don't CHANGE, our music will not CHANGE, and HIP HOP WILL STAY IN A COMA!

STAR THE ALMIGHTY-