Laying Rap To Rest

Inspired by an email from a friend, and a recent blog post on the Guardian website, I thought I may as well throw in my tuppence worth on the death of hip hop...or should it be rap?

It may seem pedantic and oozing of fan-boy slime, but some mishaps stand out from the blog - like constantly referring to death of rap and hip hop. So hold on, which one is dead? I see rap floating away on some glimmering pop flying saucer, joining the fleet of dance pulse-heavy beats in the pop charts, but hip hop? You all know where I'm going with this, as KRS stated, hip hop is a culture, a way of life: rap is what we hear on the radio. Now, I don't see such a sharp decline in hip hop fashion, hip hop art and hip hop culture as there was at the end of the punk or disco era (all be it only we're only five years into it's reported death). Hip hop culture gobbles up life around it and utilizes it for itself, just like the foundations of its music. With shows like The Wire, punchy noughties comedy from Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle, Obey fashion and even skinny jeans going hand in hand with a mic (thanks to the previous blog from a friend) the message and ideology of hip hop culture is still being translated just as much as other music genres.

Also, pointing out that rap (not hip hop) isn't coming out with compelling personalities anymore, I have to ask - which music genre is exactly? The likes of Lady Gaga, Fever Ray and Empire Of The Sun may dress funny, but that indicates their exact lack of personality. And if we're talking about dressing funny, DOOM anyone? I may not be the most schooled on guitar based music, but the likes of Radiohead, Animal Collective, The xx and Fleet Foxes don't come across as the most entertaining people in the room, but their music speaks volumes. And none have put themselves in the cross hairs of public opinion, look like a slight arse when they do so, but then have the balls to come out with one of the albums of the year.

The blog post in question relies heavily on references to Kanye West, Lil' Wayne and Jay Z - which, if you were to single them out, are breathing flesh bags that indicate that rap has indeed moved into a more European sensibility. But if we were to focus on the best selling artists in the 1990's of hip hop, we'd only ever talk about Deathrow and Bad Boy - hardly the boundary pushing record labels of the genre. They sold records, but did they truly state the vigour and invention of the whole genre? Hip hop heads would point to labels like Rawkus, Violator and even Columbia for pushing the invention of new sounds and lyrics.

On another side note, the references to indie rap (or undie rap) not rising to the top and becoming something you have to seek out has been that way for decades. Hip hop started in mixtape format, then rap came along and showed the masses what hip hop is all about - so in that sense, rap is still dominating radio channels and MTV. All you hear now on the radio are the artists mentioned in this blog, and it'll stay that way for some time - but with solid hip hop albums coming out this year, hip hop heads are still catered for.

(As a side note, the blog I'm discussing doesn't reek of in-depth research, as none of these albums have even been mentioned).

I almost split my own wig when I read that in the 90's, the rap on TV and mainstream radio was the most innovate...what bollocks! As hip hop heads we had to search for the Wu and Pharaoe albums, especially when you live in a small Yorkshire village where on all sides you're getting hit by Nirvana grunge or Britpop wankers! On a smaller scale, it's the same now - we still have to search out the best albums, as blogs and radio stations only mention the players who shift units.

What I do agree with, is that the last half of the noughties has indeed laid to rest rap as we knew it - it's not fresh, the new acts come with less impact and topics are stale. But no music genre can say any different, especially 20-30 years in deep. What we have is a thriving and growing hip hop culture - if one out of a hundred of Lil' Wayne fans are digging in their crates in search of the best hip hop albums ever, then that's worth it.

My god, after a

recent GZA show where he performed all of Liquid Swords, I was put to shame by a crowd of 16 year old white English blokes who knew every lyric to every song!

Genres of music are a dime a dozen, and rap has had to adapt (look at Timbaland and his house music) to sell records. But doesn't all music?