If you were to scroll through the music on my iPod, a lot of you wouldn’t recognize most of the hip-hop artists who fill my playlists. Soulful and fun lyrics from emcees such as Mos Def, Nas, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and Common often bounce off the walls of my room.
First off, when I say I listen to hip-hop I’m talking about the classics, the old school, the good ol’ 90’s hip-hop with songs about mothers and afros—not modern day “hip-hop” songs with profanity-filled lyrics about wads of money, alcohol and strippers. Words describing the pain of poverty and in contrast, the blissful appreciation of life, success and God define classic hip-hop.
Due to the deterioration of hip-hop, I really do not listen to popular songs that fill the air waves nowadays. However, judging from the way my peers blissfully react to the songs like “Birthday Song” by 2 Chainz, I have tragically realized my assumptions are true—the once classy and enlightening world of hip-hop has hit rock bottom due to the newer generation of what some people call music. To begin with, the lyrics of “Birthday Song” are hilarious to me, and not in a comedic way—the song is purely pathetic. And just like other songs from this newer generation, the lyrics explicitly discuss women in a disrespectful way and for the most part, do not make any sense whatsoever. I’m not saying artists should use SAT vocabulary words in their rhymes; however, it’s quite upsetting when you realize the most complex word 2 Chainz uses is pedestrian.
Now let’s run through the lyrics of “Jazz (We’ve Got)” by A Tribe Called Quest. This classic song, released in 1991, illustrates a laid-back tale of one of the emcee’s journey through a day. Opening with the line “the aim is to succeed and achieve at 21,” ambition shines through, giving the song more purpose than just a rap about big booty women. Throughout the song, the emcees use a wide variety of imagery, reference to the common life and use a wider array of rhyming words such as: astound, profound, squire, attire and mire. The song is easy to listen to and includes soothing jazz samples from Lucky Thompson’s quartet.
All I’m saying is that hip-hop is nowhere near the level it used to be, it has deteriorated to songs all about money, women and getting drunk. I am 17 years old and I am not ashamed to say I would much rather listen to songs released in the 80’s and 90’s than the trash that brainwashes the minds of my peers into thinking a pot of steaming wealth and success lies within the depths of a strip club. That’s not the motto, bro.