Poisonous Dart said:
Hip hop DID start with the party rhymes, and it was party music...lyrics weren't taken seriously except for a few artists that were starting to focus on lyrics and content (Grandmaster Caz, Grandmaster Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee, etc.) but the IMPORTANCE was placed on who could rock the party....Then came the first hip hop record,,,and then came interest from record labels...then came the money.
When "The Message" dropped, it forever changed the face of hip hop music...it had CONTENT and it sold mad units. Then came "White Lines", the party records still reigned supreme...until two major things happened in 1986. First, crack started ravaging the inner cities of America and it forever affected the content of the music as songs were either about selling drugs, drug abusers (crackheads), or anti drug songs.
The second change was a 17 year old emcee from Long Island that helped to usher in what was to be called "The Next School" (acts like Whodini, Run DMC, and Kurtis Blow were known as "New School"). These emcees were far more versatile and lyrical than the previous party era emcees and their production took advantage of quickly advancing technology and the new and quick evolution/utilization of sampling in Hip Hop music. Emcees like Rakim, KRS One, Just Ice, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap, King Sun, Percee P, Kool Keith, Ced Gee, Tragedy, Slick Rick, Ice T, etc. changed hip hop from being 80% rocking the party and 20% showcasing lyrical skill/creativity and great production to 80% showcasing lyrical skill/creativity and 20% rocking the party....this era 1986-1989 is reagrded as the 1st Golden Age Of Hip Hop and the aesthetic for "classic material" as far as Hip Hop/Rap music is concerned was set in this time.
I grew up listening to groups like Brand Nubian, Public Enemy, Poor Righteous Teachers, KMD, X Clan, etc. ALONG with Ice T, Schooly D, N.W.A. and other groups of that nature...I just never was impressed by what could be termed straight up "party music" (although I was a big Kwame, Kid N' Play, Redhead Kingpin & The F.B.I. and Heavy D & The Boyz fan (?)) like 2 Live Crew or groups of that nature...There will AND SHOULD ALWAYS BE a place for dance and party music (that's why it's what ACTUALLY sells)...I just prefer the more serious, lyric based stuff...but what do I know...the overwhelming majority of albums/songs that I think are "classic material" RARELY sell well and never get coverage/spins on radio or video stations...thank God for the internet!
Never mind the bitter "Golden Age/Serious/Conscious Hip Hop" fan...we're a dying breed that have been slowly phased out by the prevailing music of the day. One.
dude, i suspect i'm about as old as you are,
and have likely listened to hiphop for about
as long.
while i've lived in nyc,
i was born and dwell in the deep south.
grew up in miami, thus most of my childhood
was accompanied by 808 bass and motherfuckers
rapping badly about their dicks.
thought of myself as a techno dj for more
than a decade, though i've spun the music
you claim to love in parts of the planet
you can't spell.
did crunk in strip clubs for
years, count cats you admire as
friends, and make retarded
beats daily, besides.
for better or for worse,
acts like three six or
lil jon or whomever
speak to people
where i live.
these people,
these BLACK
people,
do not give one
single motherfucking shit
about what it is you call
hiphop.
they enjoy the nelly,
and the lil wayne, and
the jay zee because
they relate to it,
because it makes
makes them
FEEL GOOD.
has anticon ever
made anyone feel
good?
i do not believe this
is so.
while i'd love to be able
to go out and hear
cannibal ox in a club,
this shit will never
happen here.
despite this fact, i meet
as many people equipped
to talk to me about semantics
or drum machines at
any given rap night than
i ever have a noise show.
do with that what you will...
oh, and by the way, ending your
posts with ONE makes you look
mad foolish, son.
seriously, who the fuck does that?
ps- is loren mazzacane more of a bluesman
than leadbelly? i'd really like to know...