Is Hip Hop Dead?

(http://www.cratekings.com/official-top-11-reasons-why-hip-hop-is-dead-dj-trends/)

Many people who are fans of classic hip hop say yes, hip hop is dead.  These are usually the same people that grew up listening to the Notorious B.I.G., Tupac, Nas, Jay-Z, Eminem, Big L, and Dr. Dre, just to name a few  What makes all of these rappers similar is the fact that they are all very lyrical rappers that were prevalent during the era of gangsta rap.  Their style of music relied heavily on complex rhyme schemes and less on complex beats littered with a heavy bass.  Their music had much more of a shock factor and was not produced to be played on the radio.

At the turn of the 21st century rap music began to morph.  It became less negatively stigmatized and radio stations began to play it publicly on one condition.  It had to be enjoyable and appropriate for the public to listen to, and the audience had to be able to relate.  The birth of pop rap emerged and artists began to use less lyrical complexity and more catchy beats and hooks.  The kids forgot all about the pioneers of rap music and started listening to the next best thing.  If they could dance to it then it was an instant hit.

Individual artists will continue to push their fame to the limits by trying new things and experimenting with their music.  In the case of Lil Wayne, Kid Cudi, Wiz Khalifa, and Meek Mill this tendency can be seen easily.  In the end it really just matters what means more to the rap artist.  If you have to tweak yourself to become more famous then is it really worth losing your fans in the process?  Even of those fans are the very reason that you gained your fame in the first place? 

To the critics of rap music, hip hop is not dead.  There are still rap artists out there that imitate the classics.  Listen to rappers like Jon Connor, Odd Future, Kendrick Lamar, Yelawolf, and Nipsey Hussle to name a few.  They make music to show off their ability to manipulate words and make them rhyme together in ways that literally blow your mind.  They have that shock factor that is reminiscent of the rappers that were prevalent from the '90s.  Since the radio doesn't give them any play, it just makes it that much harder to find the quality rappers in the mess of one-hit-wonders.

Meek Mill: The Effect of Going Mainstream

(http://pcradiolive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/profile-meek.jpg)

Meek Mill is probably my most favorite Philly rapper.  Although he is not the most lyrical, his songs really bump.  This makes them perfect to put on a party playlist or to listen to in the car.  Like most underground rappers, Meek's music was distributed primarily through free mixtapes.  His best mixtapes were the Flamers Trilogy which were made up of the Flamers, the Flamers 2, and the Flamers 3.  Every single song on those mixtapes was enjoyable to listen to because the beats were so complex that they caught your ear.  Meek Mill's music really pumps you up.

However now that Meek Mill is a member of the rap group Maybach Music, headed by Rick Ross, his music has toned down as a result.  Though his beats are still heavy, complex, and ear catching, Meek just does not rap the same.  He raps a little bit slower and is quieter when it comes to the delivery of his bars. A criticism that many had of Meek Mill prior to going mainstream is that he yelled his lyrics rather than rapped them.  But honestly that's just who Meek Mill is.  It's what got you so pumped up when listening to his songs because you would literally yell his lyrics with him.

In no way is the music Meek Mill makes now bad or not enjoyable to listen to.  He still raps over complex beats with a heavy bass, and he still makes bangers that can be bumped for days in your Toyota.  It's just upsetting that going mainstream has caused him to shift his rapping style.  This is just the sad fact associated with going mainstream as a rap artist: If you can't get played on the radio then you have to change.

Kid Cudi: Don't Change What Ain't Broke

(http://benzandabackpack.com/tag/kid-cudi/)

Kid Cudi, a rap artist that appeared seemingly out of nowhere in 2009 with his hit single Day'N'Night, is an alternative hip hop artist.  Alternative hip hop is rap that does not conform to the typical stereotypes associated with rap (i.e gangsta-rap).  

Kid Cudi's rap songs in particular have a jazzy, funk kind of sound. Simply, his rap music is something you can listen to at anytime, anywhere, and anyplace.  It is soothing yet it can pump you up.  Kid Cudi's voice is also very unique sounding.  It goes perfectly with the jazzy sounding rap beats that he makes.  The production, his voice, his lyrics, and the beats come together to make a smooth sound that you can vibe to.

However on February 28th, 2012 Kid Cudi released the album WZRD.  This was his attempt at a rock album that just did not have the it factor that made other fans, and myself, love his music.  Similar to Lil Wayne's attempt at rock music, this fell very short of the mark.  Kid Cudi is not a rocker, he is a rapper.  Though he does sing in some of his rap songs, singing in a rock song requires actual singing talent which he does not have.  The album's songs contained mixtures of electronic instruments and a drum kit that made it lack authenticity as a rock album.  It was just not an enjoyable album from beginning to end.

I do not understand why Kid Cudi decided to switch genres out of the blue when everybody fell in love with his rap music.  Unlike Lil Wayne, Kid Cudi does not have they years of experience to pull this off.  He was in the prime of his rap music career and this experiment can possibly knock off a good portion of his fan base.

Where did Slim Shady Go?

(http://justshady.com/eminem/pictures/photo-shoots/v/eminem-the-pope-smokes-dope-03-slim-shady.html)

And it has us all saying the same thing: "Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?"  As of late Slim Shady has been M.I.A (missing in action).  Slim Shady, which is the raping, killing, crazy alter ego of Eminem, had been rumored to be killed off by Eminem himself.  It is an Eminem fan's worst nightmare because Slim Shady's controversial lyrics were what made people become fans in the first place.

In Eminem's most recent album, Recovery, the insanity that is Slim Shady was completely absent.  This has led many fans to fear that Eminem killed his own alter ego, and this led to the assumption that the drug riddled side of the rapper WAS Slim Shady.  Now that Eminem is off drugs does that mean that Slim Shady will cease to exist?

Much to the relief of Eminem fans, Slim Shady is not dead and buried.  In an interview conducted right before the release of Recovery, he stated that his alter ego was not gone forever, but that Shady just did not fit with the mood of the album.   Thank goodness!  Now we can look forward to hearing Slim Shady rap more about killing his mother, his ex-wife, his secretary, the woman that cut him off on the highway, the rude barista, the teller at the bank....

*Parental Advisory: The song below is a classic Slim Shady song, but it is suggestive and has very explicit content

A Changed Man

(Retrieved from: http://www.2dopeboyz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/20090428-emvibe1.jpg)

Slim Shady, Eminem, Marshall Mathers.  Three names for one person.  Marshall Mathers is his given name, Slim Shady is his evil persona, and Eminem is his comedic persona that is commonly known for making fun of popular celebs.  When first releasing his album "The Slim Shady LP" in 1999, it was historic.  He was one of the very first white rappers to make music in a primarily black-dominated industry.

During the first half of Eminem's career he was known for his shocking, controversial lyrics.  He was not accepting of anyone and anything that was "different" from societal norms, consistently took stabs at homosexuality and women, and received major backlash for expressing his opinions so freely.  Eminem maintained that all rap contains such vulgarity and it is simply because he is a white rapper that he was getting more heat.

Eminem released "Encore" in 2004 as a sequel to "The Eminem Show" (2002).  It did not live up to the expectations that Eminem fans held for him because the rhymes and delivery were weak and predictable.  This is mostly in part to the fact that Eminem was coping with drug addiction to sleeping aids and pain killers.

In 2006 one of Eminem's lifelong friends Deshaun "Proof" Holton passed away after being shot outside of a club in Detroit.  This was when Eminem's drug use got even worse.  From 2005-2008 Eminem was absent from the music industry due to being in-and-out of rehab.

In 2009 he released the album "Relapse" and this was his first album where he rapped completely sober.  It was highly criticized because he rapped with a middle eastern accent for some reason.  He nixed the accent when he released his most recent album to date, "Recovery"in 2010.  The lyrics in every song on this album were explosive.  He used complicated rhyme schemes, beats with catchy hooks, and honest lyrics explaining all that he'd been through since going on his three year sabbatical from music.  It satisfied Eminem fans because it resembled his music from the early 2000s.

Eminem is not making as much music as he used to because he has been focused on producing, however he maintains his drug free lifestyle.  His drug use almost resulted in his death and coming back from that has encouraged him to look at life in a completely new way.  He is now much more artistic with his songs. He paints pictures with his lyrics which make the situations he talks about much more vivid, and he still has that same fast paced delivery that every fan loves.

Lil Wayne Goes...Rock?

(Retrieved from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/6f/LilWayneRebirth.jpg/220px-LilWayneRebirth.jpg)

Lil Wayne, while sitting on top of the music world, decided to do something different back in 2010.  He wanted to release a rock album, but since Lil Wayne is neither a singer nor a guitar player the task seemed daunting.  It also stumped a lot of his fans, and expectations for him to be successful were relatively low.

To everyone's disbelief, "Rebirth" was even worse than anyone expected.  It was not a rock album because there was nothing rock about it.  Spastic guitar and drum sounds mixed with Lil Wayne's auto tuned voice to make it sound like he was singing on key made this album unlike any other Lil Wayne's produced before.  The only bright side to his experimentation in the rock genre was that it showed he is willing to try new things.

Fans everywhere agree that Lil Wayne needs to stick to rap because that is what he excels at.

Lil Wayne: Gangsta Rapper to Pop Rapper

(Retrieved from: http://www.xxlmag.com/magazine/2007/11/preview-xxls-triple-lil-wayne-covers/)

Lil Wayne started out as a 9 year old gangsta rapper from New Orleans and was signed to Cash Money records at around the age of 15.  He was a member of the gangsta rap group Hot Boy$, and when they split he started making records of his own.

"Tha Carter" (2004) and "Tha Carter II" (2005) showed Lil Wayne's improvement in lyrics and style. When he was a part of the Hot Boy$, he would talk about guns and hood life.  However the songs on "Tha Carter" and "Tha Carter II" had faster, more complex beats that allowed Lil Wayne to spit more rapidly.  His lyrics became much more intricate and intelligent.  Quite simply, Lil Wayne was poetic with his music because of the skilled way he was able to put lyrics together.  

Lil Wayne became a pop rapper when he started to get radio play.  His most popular single prior to the release of "Tha Carter III" (2008) was the song "Fireman" which was released on "Tha Carter II".  When he released "Tha Carter III", his flow changed drastically.  He started rapping at a slower pace and used beats that had a catchy hook and a heavy bass.

People who did not typically listen to rap started to love Lil Wayne because they could remember his lyrics since he was rapping more slowly.  Since becoming a pop rapper Lil Wayne has become a household name, and thus turned into one of the highest paid rappers/entertainers ever.  Since the release of "Tha Carter III" Lil Wayne has released three other albums: "Rebirth" (2010), "I Am Not A Human Being" (2010), and "Tha Carter IV" (2011).

Lil Wayne: A Thug to a Skaterboy

(http://www.buzzfeed.com/gabb/lil-waynes-fashion-1998-vs-2011-1d9g)

Lil Wayne entered the rap game in the late '90s, and has been relevant ever since. He has managed to stay popular for over a decade because he has gone through multiple changes both in his art and his fashion style.  For this post I am strictly going to talk about how Lil Wayne's fashion style has changed so drastically.

Lil Wayne used to be a straight thug.  He dressed in baggy clothes, wore multiple chains, and a bandana.  His notorious dreadlocks that are hanging down his back today merely reached the bottoms of his ears back in the day.  A major factor that plays into this style of dress is the fact that the '90s were the decade of gangsta rap.  This would explain why Lil Wayne dressed like a thug: it simply was the style.

Today in the age of frat rap (white-boy fraternity music) and pop/radio rap (rap that has a nice beat but no deep lyrical content) Lil Wayne has shifted his style to match the popular trend associated with this kind of rap, which is "skater".  The skater style is extremely in right now, and as a result Lil Wayne now dresses in tight pants, colorful tees, and has created his own skater brand called Trukfit.  He is currently learning how to skateboard, and in an interview when asked about skateboarding he said that he picked it up because he never truly had a childhood since he started rapping at an early age.

Lil Wayne simply is trying to stay keep up with changes in the rap industry, and he has lost and gained fans as a result.

The Persona of Wiz

(http://www.wizkhalifa.com/sites/wizkhalifa.wmg-gardens.com/files/affac14409dd39d6625b792dec1d2a1a.jpg)

Every rap artist has a persona.  The development of the persona does not occur overnight, but as a rapper gains more popularity they stick with the persona that their fans love.  Wiz has developed into a "weed" rapper which has drastically changed his flow over time.  Flow is the combination of rhythm and lyrics in a rap song.

Wiz originally rapped to beats that were upbeat, had a heavy, frequent bass, and this encouraged him to spit his lyrics much more rapidly.  The lyrical content was different early on as well because his lyrics were much more thug-like, rapping about money, guns, cars, and the like.  Wiz now raps solely about his lifestyle of smoking weed and drinking gin.  In turn his beats are much slower, relaxed, and have a cloudier feel to them, almost as if the track was laced with marijuana smoke.   He even sings in his songs now giving it a much more soulful quality.

Wiz Khalifa's persona is one-of-a-kind, and that is part of what makes him so popular to kids today.

(2006)

(2012)

Wiz Khalifa-Rising Stardom

(Photo: http://www.xxlmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/wiz-khalifa-2010-feat.jpg)

As 2009 turned into 2010, Wiz Khalifa started putting out more and more music to satisfy his growing fan base.  As I mentioned, the term "Taylor Gang" was born and he used it as a reference to both a certain lifestyle (smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol) and it was also the name coined for his loyal fans.  2009, in my opinion, was the release of Wiz Khalifa's best mixtape to date and that was "Flight School".  I had a much similar reaction to this mixtape as I did to the first Wiz Khalifa song that I ever heard.  Every single song I loved, which is rare for me.  I tend to be picky when it comes to rap and rarely do I hear an artist use a great beat paired with some great lyrics.  To date this is still my go-to mixtape if I want to listen to Wiz Khalifa.  Around this time he also released another quality mixtape called "Star Power".  Although I didn't love every song like I did "Flight School", there were still some quality songs that showed how "hungry" Wiz was for that fame.  For example in his song "Star Power" on the mixtape, the chorus talks about how he has put in a ton of work and is finally seeing it pay off, both literally and figuratively.  

His songs started to show more and more how important marijuana is in his life because every song basically talked about it.  For example in his song "Dreamer" off of the "Flight School" mixtape, the first line of the first verse says how he "wakes up every mornin' to a fat blunt". But even as a non-user I could still vibe out to these songs and appreciate the fact that this was a man who loved music and was finally seeing fame.  Another great thing about Wiz is that he kept up a youtube page and would occasionally  put out videos titled "Day Today".  This allowed fans to get an inside look at Wiz from when he had nothing and was traveling around in a sedan with his friends as a way to get to and from performances, to now when he is staying in penthouse suites, with a trophy girlfriend, and traveling in a tour bus.  Check out Wiz on youtube to see videos that date back to over three years ago.  As a sneak peak to my next post, here is a perfect example of showing how Wiz has changed.  

(From Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZSHmRDHO08&feature=plcp&context=C3776188UAOEgsToPDskLd8ldNunVWYWvHkB_HldhV)

(From Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nbe-BWmKw60&feature=plcp&context=C37a108cUDOEgsToPDskIpJRHmJ3FtjnA7wSNLAeTV)

Wiz Khalifa-The Beginning

(Photo: http://hiphop.hypeeater.com/wiz-khalifa-say-yeah-lisen-to-lyrics-and-mp3/)

Cameron Jabril Thomaz, or better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an artist that has just emerged into the limelight.  He has songs played on the radio, he sells out concerts, and he even has his own hand gesture.  Taylor gang had absolutely no meaning before Wiz Khalifa came onto the scene.  However before his fan following Wiz Khalifa was an underground rapper from Pittsburgh who was passionate about music.  As an avid rap-music listener, I remember a time when I would mention Wiz Khalifa's name and people would have no idea who I was talking about.  I first started listening to Wiz when he came out with his iTunes single back in the summer of 2008.  I stumbled upon his name on accident because I was just looking for something new for my iPod.  The name of that single is called "Say Yeah" and I fell in love with it.  Yeah, he talked about the typical material things that rappers tend to talk about but his flow and delivery were on point.  I never grew tired of that song, and I thought it was so cool that the beat was made out of the Alice Deejay song "Better Off Alone".  This encouraged me to look at some of his older stuff such as his debut album "Show and Prove" and some of his mixtapes like "Prince of the City-Welcome to Pistolvania", "Grow Season", and "Prince of the City 2".  I fell in love with his music not because I could relate, but because I could listen to it anywhere and it was perfect for any situation.  His music was perfect and I could tell he would have a bright future ahead.