Commercialized Hip Hop

by Jerrica Rucker

The more aware one becomes of the origins of hip hop, the more modern day hip hop’s credibility can be questioned.   Compared to the often shunned era of contemporary rap, the innate sophistication of the early eras of hip hop seemed more meaningful and more respected.    Early hip hop not only gave less fortunate communities a voice, but it also gave them an outlet. Hip hop became an oasis that they could call their own. Hip hop allowed them to make political statements as well as end gang feuds. Hip hop is no longer a movement. It’s become an industry.

Could the commercialization of hip hop be blamed for hip hop’s current state? It was stated in the article we were assigned to read that rap music was “an anthem for a new generation of African American youth (Collison 1990)”.  Upon reading about Afrikaa Bambaataa, and the uses of nommo in hip hop, I began to wonder if mainstream hip hop has become more concerned with the market than the message it portrays. I can’t think of a hip hop song that has come out in the past five years that had the potential to inspire young people the way hip hop did in the past which feeds into my search for the answer of the most asked question amongst the modern hip hop community: Is hip hop dead?

  Artist Lupe Fiasco is known for his controversial lyrics. His metaphorical songs often allude to political or common social issues. However, marketing teams and record labels give him a hard time because they feel that his songs aren’t marketable. His last project took years after its completion to be released because Lupe and his record label couldn’t reach an agreement that would benefit the label without Lupe sacrificing himself in the process.  Lupe uses the characteristic of nommo –indirection—in his album’s song entitled Words I Never Said. Although there isn’t a definite explanation of the song’s meaning, Lupe attacks communication on both a personal level and within the American society in general. Some concluded that he was speaking out about how Americans no longer question or discuss the things that should be addressed. They just accept what they hear. Whatever the interpretation may be, Lupe indirectly voices his disgust with America’s consumption of frivolous things and ignorance of the things that matter most. This is one of the examples of how the primitive concept of hip hop culture, nommo, is used in modern music. Lupe being the only example I could think of led me to question the current quality of modern hip hop itself.

I’ve added this to my list of potential paper topics. I’m leaning more towards exploring the concept of hip hop being dead as my area of focus. Learning about how complex the models on which hip hop were founded were makes me realize that hip hop is more than just a music genre or a type of dance. I see how misconstrued the ideas associated with hip hop really is and all of this leads me to wonder if hip hop has really fallen off. Many artists swear it hasn’t, but I’m not so convinced. Hip hop has definitely changed, but has it changed for better or for worse?