digg

Facebook Connect Join Digg About
See the original image at news.bbc.co.uk

Has Hip-Hop Grown Up?

news.bbc.co.uk — Thirty years after the first mainstream rap song hit the US charts, what effect has hip-hop had on New York and wider US society?

Who dugg this? Made popular Oct 13, 2009

Digg DudeWhat is Digg?

Digg is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web. Digg surfaces the best stuff as submitted and voted on by the community. Take the Tour to learn more.

115 Comments

show profanity settings
expand all
  • thekronz, on 10/13/2009, -3/+113No. We went from:
    I see no changes all I see is racist faces
    misplaced hate makes disgrace to races
    We under I wonder what it takes to make this
    one better place, let's erase the wasted
    Take the evil out the people they'll be acting right
    'cause both black and white is smokin' crack tonight
    and only time we chill is when we kill each other
    it takes skill to be real, time to heal each other

    To:
    I gotta feeling that tonight’s gonna be a good night
    that tonight’s gonna be a good night
    that tonight’s gonna be a good good night
    I gotta feeling that tonight’s gonna be a good night
    that tonight’s gonna be a good night
    that tonight’s gonna be a good good night
    I gotta feeling that tonight’s gonna be a good night
    that tonight’s gonna be a good night
    that tonight’s gonna be a good good night
    I gotta feeling that tonight’s gonna be a good night
    that tonight’s gonna be a good night
    that tonight’s gonna be a good good night


    It went from awesome to awful.
  • penskematerial, on 10/13/2009, -4/+68The stuff produced by the legends was art, now we have obnoxious glittering douchebags like Soulja Boy and Bow Wow. Grown down I say.
  • dystra, on 10/13/2009, -1/+45
    "Mainstream" rap, the stuff you hear on the radio, movies, tv, etc is whats degraded. There is a lot of good rap out there your just not hearing it in the mass media.

  • teamr, on 10/13/2009, -2/+36OK. Obviously a bunch of non hip-hop fans replying in here.

    Yes, the brand of hip-hop/rap getting the most airplay involves bitches, hoes, money etc.
    No, that does not represent the majority of hip-hop. It's just a group of people appealing to the masses. If people weren't buying it, there wouldn't be any. So blame the white suburban kids that account for the majority of rap sales before you blame the entire genre.

    Also, if you put a tiny bit of effort you can find TONS of more positive/talented rappers. Nas, Common, Royce da 5'9", Talib Kwalei, Mos Def, Immortal Technique, J Dilla(rip), etc etc etc....the list goes on and on.

    Hip-Hop != Soulja Boy and Black Eyed peas
  • enozten, on 10/13/2009, -0/+19lupe fiasco and nas are still good

    the other stuff... not so much
  • ImYourRealDad, on 10/13/2009, -0/+19Judging hip hop based on the top 40 lists of the past 10 years is a terrible thing to do, and you'd be depriving yourself of enjoying one of the most creative and influential music genres of the past hundred years. Do we all remember what the 80's had done to hard rock and metal? Exploiting popular music for financial gains will always cheapen the value of the music to enthusiasts. What the majority of people don't hear is the vastly huge underground scene hip hop has amassed in the past fifteen years where a majority of the best records are released. Most people (including most of you Diggers!) are just too lazy to dig around and find those underground artists so they form their opinions from the musical debauchery we refer to as "commercial hip hop." Sad!
  • sunburner, on 10/13/2009, -3/+20I used to produce hip hop a few years ago. Too much negativity in that genre for me. The stuff that's positive, smart and inspiring like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIGJ1lekcMg

    Gets overshadowed by ***** like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6y2D19faMM

    As a result there's a lot of fake people who are more like idiot socialites than inspiring musicians.

    ***** ClearChannel.
  • inactive, on 10/13/2009, -2/+18No, in fact it's "grown" the same way Benjamin Button has grown, from mature and intelligent to ***** stupid *****.
  • SEANWOOKIE, on 10/13/2009, -0/+13I love Saul Williams.
  • Charbanned, on 10/13/2009, -1/+14Too bad current rappers aren't as innovative as these guys. Hip Hop kinda got stuck in the 90's.
  • pathouston22, on 10/13/2009, -2/+13"Changes" should be required listening for all.
  • lothar250, on 10/13/2009, -1/+11Agreed 100%.

    I listen to Rock mainly, but I hate it, when people say that Hip Hop sucks, because of what they hear on the radio. When somebody says to you that Rock sucks when they hear a Nickelback song, he's an ignorant bastard and it's the same the other way around.
  • adamward, on 10/13/2009, -0/+10this man speaks so much truth.

    see: aesop rock, sage francis, brother ali, tribe, little brother, MF DOOM, etc.
  • DJWilsonX, on 10/13/2009, -2/+12the black eyed peas aren't hip-hop, they're really emo 30 year olds trying to do cheesy dance music and failing at it.
  • freakFlag, on 10/13/2009, -1/+10***** AUTO-TUNE!
  • selfobsessed, on 10/13/2009, -0/+9That's what usually sits on top of the charts unfortunately. I mean even Jay Z said that a lot of popular hip hop is really stagnant right now and that he wishes hip hop would more follow the lead of "indie" rock bands that pushes music in new directions.

    But if you go and look around a bit you can still find some good stuff. Mos Def's new album The Ecstatic was actually very good and dealt with adult subjects and had great beats.

    And if you want to listen to just good party hip hop The Cool Kids are where it's at as far as I'm concerned.
  • xShad0w, on 10/13/2009, -2/+11I agree with you but 2Pac to Black Eyed Peas isn't exactly the best comparison since that's rap to, well ...***** but an attempt at hip-hop.
  • aleatoric, on 10/13/2009, -0/+8Try Madvillain (MF DOOM and Madlib), El-P, Sage Francis, Non-Prophets, Edan, Buck 65, Aesop Rock, Murs, Busdriver, Atmosphere, Deltron 3030, cLOUDDEAD (which is debatable whether it is actually 'hip-hop'), Cunninlynguists, Immortal Technique, Dalek, Jedi Mind Tricks, GZA, Ghostface, Raekwon, Company Flow, Jaylib / J Dilla, Eyedea and Abilities, P.O.S., Sims, Sole, Mac Lethal.
  • Kaiosama, on 10/13/2009, -1/+9Difference between 90s hip-hop and 2000s hip-hop was that back in the 90s at least the radio was tolerable.
  • tek69, on 10/13/2009, -0/+8It's not just suburban white kids buying the *****. I know plenty of young urban black kids buying the same exact *****.
  • chedonline, on 10/13/2009, -0/+7BEP were the definition of hip hop before Fergie. Then they got old and couldn't breakdance anymore.
  • Leviathan433, on 10/13/2009, -0/+7as opposed to figuratively having a conversation...
  • acidicjazzhead, on 10/13/2009, -1/+8The Black Eyed Peas used to be good until Fergie came along and ruined them. Check out their first two albums Behind the Front and Bridging the Gap.
  • acidicjazzhead, on 10/13/2009, -0/+6There's some nice stuff coming from Okayplayer, Anticon, Definitive Jux and the Rhymesayers. But they get overlooked by Lil' Wayne, Soulja Boy, and Young Jeezy. ***** mainstream radio!
  • livestradamus, on 10/13/2009, -0/+6Black Eyed Peas were actually great hiphop, pre- the girl joining. Check their first 2 albums
  • J0hnnyBlaze, on 10/13/2009, -1/+7so you're comparing one of the most prolific verses pac ever wrote to the chorus of a nightclub pop song that you think is hip hop because there's black people in the band.
    and that's your support of the decline?

  • Kaiosama, on 10/13/2009, -1/+6Thank the southern black equivalent of white hicks for killing hip-hop.

    Also a major thanks should go to 50 for dumbing down east-coast rap, and T-pain for infecting the rest of the industry with his cancer.
  • jerrolds, on 10/13/2009, -2/+7To whoever murdered 2-Pac and Biggie Smalls:

    ***** YOU.
  • inactive, on 10/13/2009, -0/+5Related and funny : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4DuIJCiusw
  • spunalot, on 10/13/2009, -0/+5Beasti Boys and Run DMC were fun. Its not fun anymore, so it must be grown up.
  • BlueSunshine, on 10/13/2009, -2/+7Something that was once the voice of a culture is now an overly milked corporate money making genre. When Hannah Montana makes a "hip hop" song about how she's no longer using Twitter, it's a clear indicator that the genre hasn't grown up at all.
  • shepstl, on 10/13/2009, -0/+5not to mention acts like CunninLynguists, tonedeff, blu and exile, chali 2na (and the whole jurassic 5 family), substantial, K-OS, etc.

    The problem is, while indie rock still gets radio play for being different, progressive hip hop does not. rock stations are prone to take more of a chance than hip hop stations. that even includes satellite. i used to expect them to play more underground artists because they didn't have to focus on advertising dollars and play "what's hot." besides the progressive hip hop show, that was wrong. You never hear anything creative and outside of the mainstream.
  • aleatoric, on 10/13/2009, -0/+5If I only listened to Top 40s pop rock, I'd probably think that was a joke of a genre, too. I'd just assume Creed and Breaking Benjamin were representative of the entire genre and push it all aside. Because that would be reasonable...
  • urbanetruth, on 10/13/2009, -0/+4Hip hop died in the mid 90s. While the UK had dance music, the U.S. got ten years of bad hip hop following this decline. It was very sad.
  • HseLoMein, on 10/13/2009, -0/+4The Bleck Eye Peas used to be good and were real hip hop artists.....welll before Kim Hill left and Fergie jumped on board. After that they are in the POP genre, not Hip Hop.
  • Kaiosama, on 10/13/2009, -2/+6The difference between now and back then was that there was so much good stuff that all you had to do was turn on the radio.

    Nowadays I turn on the radio and hear random computer sounds (before switching back to my Ipod).
  • Fleagleman, on 10/13/2009, -1/+5Has hip hop grown up? Well, there can be only one answer to that:
    "YEEEEEAHHHHH!"
  • PCPmeltsFACES, on 10/13/2009, -0/+4Hip-hop is actually an art form, comprised of:

    Rapping
    Graffiti
    Spoken Word
    Break Dancing
    DJing

    While there is plenty of garbage out there in the mainstream, underground hip-hop is the reason for the job that I have (teaching at-risk youth digital music composition) and for meeting many great people from all walks of life that are tied together through one thing: a common interest in hip-hop.

    Give a listen to some of the local talent from Minneapolis (doomtree, rhymesayers, carnage the exxxecutioner), it might change your opinion of what good rap music is all about.

  • lothar250, on 10/13/2009, -0/+4"OOWHATTTTT?"
  • ygugsa295, on 10/13/2009, -0/+4Protip for Soulja Boy: Hip hop isn't about how many designer clothes you own.
  • nepidae, on 10/13/2009, -0/+4People actually believe the new stuff is better than the old stuff?
  • inactive, on 10/13/2009, -0/+4Cool story homie.
  • pinchduck, on 10/13/2009, -0/+3Has it been taken over by corporate interests who now promote artists in a slick, polished "sell it back to the kids" fashion? If your answer is yes, then Hip Hop has indeed grown up.
  • robertisaar, on 10/13/2009, -2/+5it went from EPIC to FAIL...
  • eivi, on 10/13/2009, -0/+3The Black Eyed Peas suck, no doubt, but there were plenty of superficial pop-rap back then. You could have made the exact same point in reverse by comparing a great verse from 2009 with some crappy hit from the early 90s.
  • Dalhectar, on 10/13/2009, -1/+4Because what you call "crap" other people actually like, and there are more of them then there are of you.

    They buy albums, buy CDs, download music, go to shows, buy merchandise, etc... They buy enough of it to create a whole music industry around.

    The stuff I listen to will never reach the Billboard 200, but I don't care. A lot of rap does though, and if kids eat it up, fine, whatever.

    The good thing about hip-hop, is that it serves both the underground niche and the mainstream. Different artists cater to the respective group.

    The underground was never meant to be mainstream. It it doesn't excite 14 year olds, why the ***** should I be hurt?
  • nucleicoutfit, on 10/13/2009, -0/+3http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDWgtB_MD24
  • aleatoric, on 10/13/2009, -1/+4I wish that were the case, solid, I really do. But I actually checked when I posted this: http://www.billboard.com/charts/rock-songs
    Creed are at #8. Breaking Buttboys are at #5.
  • AgeofMastery, on 10/13/2009, -0/+3He got me interested in hip hop again. I checked him out because of the Trent Reznor connection and really liked what I heard
  • Fetching more discussions...
    Show 51 - 100 of 118 discussions

  • Add a Comment

    Login or register to comment!
    Or, sign-in super fast with your Facebook account ...


© Digg Inc. 2009 — Content created and posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain | Terms of Use Updated | Privacy Policy
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.