Hip hop's not dead, just misrepresented

In response to Lamarama’s post from aaaaages ago (last Saturday): sorry it’s long. I got carried away!

Firstly, I think it’s really important to acknowledge that “hip hop” is generally considered as a lot more than just rap -be it conscious, gangsta or other So, it’s problematic to use the two words (“hip hop” and “rap”) interchangeably, which I feel Lamarama has done. The common idea that separates the two is expressed in the much used KRS-One quote (so much so I can‘t even remember when/where I first heard it!): “hip hop is something you live, rap is something you do.” I guess what I’m getting at therefore, is that to most true hip hop heads it’s an ethic, much similar to a religion that informs their everyday lives.

I agree that yes, rap is integral to hip hop and pivotal to the maintenance of hip hop as a site for counter mainstream expression. However I think it’s worth remembering that the street culture is commonly discussed as consisting of, and being represented through, three other elements- b-boying/break dancing, graffiti art and DJing. These elements I feel also contribute to Hip Hop as a whole and thus in relation, effect rap and vice versa. I also feel because of the fluid nature of the four elements that they can lead in to each other and have a positive flow on effect. For example, I remember how at high school some of my friends were the clichéd loud mouth Maori girls, always getting into trouble. They listened to what I considered bad, mainstream gangsta rap. But through it, discovered hip hop culture: they started break dancing, got into graffiti art etc. It got to the point where they were spending so much time on these activities that they weren’t getting into trouble. In fact, they actually started up a company, printing their own bombings onto t-shirts. I think this shows that despite the skewed nature of gangsta rap, that it hasn’t killed hip hop.

Perhaps it’s largely due to the representation of hip hop culture in mainstream media that’s to blame for the terrible assertion that “hip hop is dead“. From Lamarama’s comments it seems that because of the focus on gangsta rap in mainstream media and the subsequent proliferation of disparaging images, rap has mutated and taken on a single, negative “new meaning”. This new meaning can easily be typified as: the obsession with wealth, drugs, violence and sex. It appears that along the way, rap diverged into many facets, which weren’t publicised equally and consequently some (such as gangsta rap) have garnered much more media attention then others due to their controversial content. I perceive this as really negligent reporting because as Lamarama points out and I have mentioned, there are other genres of rap that are more tied to the subversive nature of hip hop. Yet through media attention it has been gangsta rap which has been held up as the main or even sole representative of rap and in turn, hip hop. However, in reality the intense focus on gangsta rap and it’s relation to hip hop culture is really ill-conceived because in reality their ideologies differ so extremely.

I do think however that the skewed and misrepresentative way that the sub culture of hip hop has been addressed in mainstream media has in turn paradoxically, had a positive effect on it. For it seems to have been pushed back to the underground, having to continue to evolve and as a result, so too has its modes of expressions. In terms of rap, this can be recognised in the underground advent and flourishing of the sub genres “nerdcore” and “geeksta rap“. This comprises of self confessed geeks and nerds using the medium of rap to tackle favourite topics such as science fiction. Money, drugs and sexual prowess maybe impressive in gangsta rap but in nerd core, the paradigm is subverted and instead one’s credibility is measured by their ownership of software and computer prowess. Thus, much like their rap forebears did, these geeks and nerds are employing rap to express voices usually unheard or ignored, exemplifying an undeniable counter-culture hip hop spirit.

Nerdcore is but one example of a minority group, using rap to express and validate their views. I think popular artists such as Kanye West and Nas however, take it a step further, self reflexively ruminating over the way rap is presented in the media and the ethics and politics involved in such representations. A prime example is Kanye West’s “Diamonds Are Forever” song and video clip. In parts he reflects over his awareness of blood diamonds in Sierra Leone and his conflicting love for them, which of course comes from gangsta culture. I think such self reflexivity is incredibly healthy and by such a popular rapper such as Kanye West exhibiting it, there is definitely hope for rap’s future and even more importantly, hip hop’s future.