Through The Telescope: What is “real” Hip Hop? Part 2
Before you read the rest of this article, please read part one first. That article can be found here.
Considered by many as one of Hip Hop's "realest" tracks.
Any seasoned head will know you can’t have a proper discussion about “real” Hip Hop without bringing up the classic hit by Common: “I used to love H.E.R.” For those unaware, the song was an “ode” to Hip Hop; Its uniqueness however, lied in its metaphor of using the love of a woman in the context of Hip Hop culture. The song gives the initial impression it’s a love song, nearing the end though, Common reveals he’s talking about his love of Hip Hop and disapproval of what’s happening to it. The song brought up many questions and controversy in the eyes of many Hip Hop circles. The main idea of the song was about Commons love for the culture, but now Hip Hop’s direction – and fan base – was straying away from its conscious aspects and moving towards the rising popularity of “G-Funk”.
So this poses another question inside an already laboring one: Is “real” Hip Hop that of “conscious hip hop”? Conscious Hip Hop being more “socially aware” Hip Hop. I know that many heads, more-so backpackers would agree with this notion, seeing as this is mostly what Hip Hop came from. For those who have delved into the history of the art, you’ll know of the classic by: “Grand Master Flash And The Furious Five”, “The Message”. This classic piece in Hip Hop addresses the problems – in detail – that are happening in the groups neighborhood and homes. It’s what I consider – and many others – to be one of the first truly “conscious” pieces of Hip Hop.
Something else that would support this “possible” ideology would be the very roots of Hip Hop. If you look very far into Hip Hop’s roots – so past “The Sugar Hill Gang” and “DJ Kool Herc” – you’ll see indirect connections to Hip Hop’s early and current conceptions of the “conscious” aspect. For those who’ve heard Nas’ song: “Who Killed It”, you may remember the line: “Slave times, claims the slaves said rhymes”, which relates to how slaves would play an instrument and sing hymns, generally reflecting how they felt about their current lifestyles. Later on “Black-Panther” activist, “H. Rap Brown” had written several pieces of poetry that were in the rhythmic context of current “Hip Hop” – I do know about “The Dozens” but that’s irrelevant in context of what I’m saying – and while indirect, they do relate to the “pain” in which Hip Hop has portrayed and in some aspect, even started from.
Now I know in the previous paragraph I mentioned “in-direct”, and I stress that to a degree. While the conception of Hip Hop spawned from Kool Herc (I’ll elaborate more on that after), the two factors listed above – Including H Rap Browns considerable background as a Black Panther – eventually lead to a build up of the “Blues” factor that is apparent in old and modern Hip Hop. So in a remotely-similar context, you could say that the roots of Hip Hop deviated from “conscious” aspects.
Despite what was posted above, I have yet another conflicting argument. If you’ve looked even briefly into Hip Hop’s history you’ve probably came across or heard of the name “DJ Kool Herc”. For those unaware you’re probably saying to yourself: “So what did he contribute?”. DJ Kool Herc was a party DJ from the Bronx, he was noted for spinning his two turn tables and having a “open mic”. He started with – the goto quote for enthusiasts – “two turntables and a mic”. So what does this set up equate to? He came to the realization during his parties that it was “livest” when the breaks in the songs he was spinning came on. So he came up with the revolutionary idea of spinning two records (the same ones), focusing on the “break” in the song. In essence, looping the drum-heavy parts over and over again. This lead to him giving shout-outs to friends, and eventually his friends started rhyming over these “breaks”, in turn leading to other DJ’s building on this and spawning the idea of “rappers”.
Now, the argument that could spawn from this – and one that I’ve heard – is that Hip Hop is a “party art form”. It started from Kool Hercs parties and there is logic behind that statement, so it’s ok to assume that Hip Hop IS a party art form, no? Despite sounding ignorant, it does bear some logic. Because without Kool Herc, I doubt we’d have the Hip Hop culture — or the same style of culture, so if that’s a “starting point” in its roots one can assume that’s the true meaning, right?
Well, granted you read part one of this article, you’ll have realized that what many consider to be “real” Hip Hop contradicts one another. Back packers disagree with Mainstream heads, yet backpackers can be just as ignorant as mainstream heads. Purists in some cases can even disregard backpackers, thus making their output just as ignorant as backpackers. The ideas of conscious Hip Hop being the “real” Hip Hop based off of roots conflicts with party-bound hip hops roots. So, in essence, how does one know what “real” Hip Hop is?
I’d like to share a quote with you from an underground artist I’ve been quite fond of. The quote goes: “The best Hip Hop’s your period”, it’s by underground artist “Infinito 2017″ off of his song “No Award Shows“. When I first heard the quote above, I thought it was a “simple” line, failing to fully grasp the idea of what it truly meant. Then I listened to the song again, and thought about that line more deeply. What it means is that the best Hip Hop is the hip hop that you grew up with, so “your period”. Further, that could also mean the Hip Hop that affects you on a personal basis.
I think to truly define what “real” Hip Hop is, is like trying to define what “proper” art is. You can’t truly do it, because the diversity of styles and meanings in these styles. While some may love Nelly’s latest hits, and others may disregard them. Keep in mind, they give something to others differently then they do yourself. The purpose of all my demonstrations in these two articles was to give you a general understanding of the different attitudes towards what others consider “real” hip hop to be; so in turn you could formulate your own opinion on what “real” Hip Hop is.
While I don’t like constantly putting quotes into this article, I recall watching a Chicago-based documentary on what they thought hip hop was. While the name of the documentary, and artist slip my mind I remember the artist saying: “Hip Hop is what you want it to be, some can rap over conventional beats and you can call that hip hop. But some people can bang pots and pans together and in their eyes it’s hip hop”, and while not word for word, It made me think. Hip Hop in its truest form is a “product of it’s environment” and effects everyone differently, so in other words you shouldn’t pertain to what “real” Hip Hop is assumed to be, because you have to find out what “real” hip hop is for yourself.
Posted by LostMoniker on September 30th, 2008 :: Filed under Through The Telescope: Hip Hop and Society
Tags :: breaks, common, conscious, DJ Kool Herc, H. Rap Brown, hip hop, hymns, I used to love H.E.R., Infinito 2017, part 2, party, poetry, real hip hop, soul, through the telescope
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