By D. Johnson
DMC of the famed and truly groundbreaking hip hop group Run DMC is making headlines with his analysis of hip hop’s current landscape.
Today’s formula of popular mass marketed hip hop seems to be the glorification of violence, guns, misogyny of women, drug culture, prison culture, and excessive materialism. It is almost as if hip hop has become a one dimensional genre whereas once before it was multi-dimensional.
This dominant form of hip hop has been controlled by corporations and receives vigorous marketing. Because there are limited choices that are easily available to the hip hop subscriber, whatever songs are in heavy rotation on the radio becomes popular.
DMC (aka Darryl McDaniels) has stated, “It was inevitable that hip-hop became commercialized but along the way our power got taken away. Now you got the same 12 records on radio being played over and over again. Lil Wayne, Jay Z ain’t hot, it’s just they’re programmed so many times people are brainwashed.”
DMC said that his generation of hip hop which is sometimes referred to the golden era of hip hop had something to say. He believed that artists like KRS1, A Tribe Called Quest, and De La Soul were significant in the genre because of their ability to make being positive a cool thing that young people wanted to listen to and be a apart of. “We took positivity and made it gangsta. We didn’t want an endorsement; we never knew we would do something historic.”
He admits that the hip hop artists of his era were materialistic. He also explained that they took certain components of the negative drug culture and made it positive. DMC said, “people associated fresh sneakers with drug dealers and black stereotypes. So we sat on stage at Live Aid and showed the world something positive.”
Has hip hop lost its artistry? Has it lost its way? Is the current state of hip hop a part of a natural progression or has it been high jacked by corporations?
Posted By: DAVID JOHNSON
Monday, August 5th 2013 at 10:36PM
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