Hip Hop is dead.

Real talk, Hip hop is dead. I don't see any more real rappers theres a few like common and immortal technique but I've never see anyone even come close to 2pacs level..nowadays the lyrics are weak even the beats.

Its not dead,its just in a lull.
It goes in cycles.
Wait a year or 2 and it will recover.

I don't see any hope for the hip hop community because these new rappers are ruining the reputation. I'm sure there will be new good lyricists but the majority is whack. And by the way I love hip hop its my favorite music but what I hear nowdays :shk: :w:

well, we can only hope.
i don't care for it and never realy did. that said, the industry as a whole is pretty much a giant turd these days.

music is very dumbed down these days...

the good stuff is old, or not mainstream and you have to go digging.

reply to post by Boondock78


I'm sorry I can only give you one star my brother!!

Hip Hop is dead.

Yay!!

Party anyone?

MonKey

My objective opinion is that hip hop has stayed around too long like disco did. It has gotten to the point that most rappers have run out of ideas. It won't ever completely go away, but just like disco went back to the clubs, became techno, or whatever, hip hop is ready for a shakedown and a reduction in popularity.

Originally posted by Boondock78


the good stuff is old, or not mainstream and you have to go digging.

I agree with you 100%, Seems like true talents are hard to find.

I'm agreeing with the above posts...
Also, today while doing a rap search for someone, we noticed how stagnant it's become, finding not much of worthy listening. It needs an unlikely spark.

[edit on 5-11-2007 by dreamingawake]

Hip hop is not dead.

Let me not play into some trendy catch phrase like the OP.


You have no idea what you're talking about. It's not dead. Every element of hip hop is still exactly where it started. Struggling people all around the world from Portland, Oregon to the West Bank can identify with most aspects of it. It's a universal music.

In a political aspect, it has seemed to take pick up where punk rock left off. Hip hop has become a political weapon in and of itself. Anybody can get a instrumental record, anybody can write, anybody can rhyme. I think hip hop, like all the music from the struggling class is a beautiful thing. And those who are responsible for it's downfall are the same people saying it's dead.

Immortal Technique and Common is all you got? Please.

Originally posted by DeadFlagBlues
Hip hop is not dead.

Let me not play into some trendy catch phrase like the OP.


You have no idea what you're talking about. It's not dead. Every element of hip hop is still exactly where it started. Struggling people all around the world from Portland, Oregon to the West Bank can identify with most aspects of it. It's a universal music.

In a political aspect, it has seemed to take pick up where punk rock left off. Hip hop has become a political weapon in and of itself. Anybody can get a instrumental record, anybody can write, anybody can rhyme. I think hip hop, like all the music from the struggling class is a beautiful thing. And those who are responsible for it's downfall are the same people saying it's dead.

Immortal Technique and Common is all you got? Please.

Sorry to rock your boat, but my title is far from a trendy catch phrase.


You say struggle does play a big part of Hip Hop, but that does not turn them into a "good" or even decent artist. Struggle is not a talent but something everyone experiences to a certain extent. The lyrics you hear in hip hop nowadays doesn't seem real to me, just sounds like many artists are sell outs(their more like actors with a mic). Also, I am talking about the music here in America, and not the rest of the world. I admire some rap from Europe too, since I have lived there half of my life.


I've been a fan for hip hop for many years now; I still listen to it. I am just a messenger, so why bother killing me? and blaming its downfall on me. I am enjoying it just as much as you are. Now, can you give me an example of what you consider a "beautiful thing" ? instead of ranting about its political aspect.

And don't insult me by saying "all you got" when I am a fan of Tupac, Bone thugz, 50 cent, Outlawz, Jedi mind tricks, Atmosphere, Cypress hill, Geto boys, Juelz santana, Havoc, Mobb deep, Jay z, Lil wayne, Biggie, Snoop dogg, Dr. dre, Eminem, T-rock, Twista, Kanye west and should I continue?

All of these artists have been around for quite some years and the new rap I hear nowadays is nothing compared to them. To me Hip Hop is dead as of 2007. But who says we can't enjoy listening to the good stuff. ( OLD HIP HOP)

[edit on 5-11-2007 by ready4whatever]

here is an example of an old song called "Hellrazor by Tupac"

Tell me Lord can ya feel me, show a sign
Damn near running outta time, everybody's dyin
Mama raised a hellrazor, can't figure
Why you let the police beat down niggaz
I'm startin to think all the rich in the world is safe
While the po' babies restin in the early graves
God come save the youth
Ain't nothin else to do but have faith in you
Dear Lord I live the life of a Thug, hope you understand
Forgive me for my mistakes, I gotta play my hand
And my hand's on the sixteen-shot, semi-automatic
crooked cop killin Glock, tell me Lord
Can ya feel me? Show a way
I'm prayin but my enemies won't go away
And everywhere I turn I see niggaz burn
Every nigga that I know's on death row
My younger homie's seventeen and he paid a price
Little young boy doin triple life
Though I tell him in his letters, it's gettin better
If my nigga knew the truth he'd hit the roof
Just heard ya baby's mama was smoked out, # the drama
Wanna break my Loc out, smokin blunts
Gettin drunk off that Tanqueray gin
Bout to break my nigga out the #in pen
Mama raised a hellrazor

you can feel the emotion, hes expressing the world from hes point of view. The hip hop I hear now is nothing this deep.

reply to post by ready4whatever

Sorry to rock your boat, but my title is far from a trendy catch phrase.

Yeah, okay Nas, and every white kid I've seen at the mall wearing 'hip hop is dead" shirts..........................................

You say struggle does play a big part of Hip Hop, but that does not turn them into a "good" or even decent artist. Struggle is not a talent but something everyone experiences to a certain extent. The lyrics you hear in hip hop nowadays doesn't seem real to me, just sounds like many artists are sell outs(their more like actors with a mic). Also, I am talking about the music here in America, and not the rest of the world. I admire some rap from Europe too, since I have lived there half of my life.

I never said struggle = talent. Although, it is the very reason for most talent. My point was that if there is struggle, there will always be hip hop. It's natural to write your thoughts down, especially when things are rough. This is the evolution of that. You have white kids rapping about how they're pissed about the government, black dudes talking about the projects and crazy murder rates, Palestinian men and WOMEN spitting about the turmoil of their everyday life.. There's no way "hip hop" is dead, because there is too much struggle and hip hop is rapidly spreading to areas that some kids in New York never knew existed.

I've been a fan for hip hop for many years now; I still listen to it. I am just a messenger, so why bother killing me? and blaming its downfall on me. I am enjoying it just as much as you are. Now, can you give me an example of what you consider a "beautiful thing" ? instead of ranting about its political aspect.

You're just contributing to the negativity. Why would you hate on something you love? Hip hop in general has a real self defeatist attitude going on right now, and I'm really, really not into it..

What's beautiful? Kidding me? Music is an international language and hip hop is on the rise everywhere. This music is giving people inspiration, hope, and most of all a voice. If you don't understand the beauty of something as powerful as this music than I don't understand how you can be a true "fan."

And don't insult me by saying "all you got" when I am a fan of Tupac, Bone thugz, 50 cent, Outlawz, Jedi mind tricks, Atmosphere, Cypress hill, Geto boys, Juelz santana, Havoc, Mobb deep, Jay z, Lil wayne, Biggie, Snoop dogg, Dr. dre, Eminem, T-rock, Twista, Kanye west and should I continue?

No wonder you feel "hip hop is dead." Look at all the lames you just posted. I would probably feel the same way if I rocked the majority of that stuff. And respect for the music comes from many different angles. In wordplay alone hip hop is alive and kicking. Sage Francis, Vast aire and Vordul Mega, MF, Aesop, Canibus, Madlib, Sabac... I could go on forever. Even the "spirit" of hip hop is still around with dudes like Rugged man and Sean Price. Still talking about how much money they don't have.. haha..

Hip hop is flourishing on ever continent on this earth... If you call that "dead," you should go hit up a dictionary.

All of these artists have been around for quite some years and the new rap I hear nowadays is nothing compared to them. To me Hip Hop is dead as of 2007. But who says we can't enjoy listening to the good stuff. ( OLD HIP HOP )

There's so much new stuff coming out it's ridiculous. I can't keep up with it all. Hip Hop isn't dead, you're just not trying hard enough.. And I don't see how you can't.

Go to Last.FM and set up an account. Do what it says to do and you'll be blown away by the amount of hip hop you've never heard before. Hip hop is infinite.

reply to post by ready4whatever


Oh, Tupac.. The real OG that went to a private school for dance? Yeah.. He spits real talk, huh?

Mommy, I'm sorry if my first letter made you cry
To be honest with you, I don't think that I want to die
Sometimes I feel like that I'm cancerous in other's lives
That's probably why I drink at night and sleep 'til four or five
It's kind of hard walkin' through life with my distorted eyes
When I was younger, I was stupid and I thought I'd thrive
I thought a lot about everything I said in the letter
And questioned whether or not if I was dead, you'd be better
You think my shorty would be happy if I never met her?
It's too late now, mommy, I could never forget her
Could never forget how she taught me to love
'Cause my father and my grandmother is always above
It's glory above, you know that daddy taught me to thug
And every time we was with nanny she'd bombard me with hugs
Damn, I miss her, mommy, and it's hard to believe
That I'm grown and I don't understand it, why did they leave?

- Vinny Paz

There's an endless amount of songs that express the entire range of emotion in hip hop. If you think hip hop died with Pac, you're misinformed.


Oh yeah... Big > Pac in a big big way.

Hip Hop = the 4 elements:

the 4 elements:

MCing
DJing
Breaking/BBoy
Graffiti/Tagging/

so hip hop in America is pretty much dead, in other countries it's alive and thriving. what you're talking about is the rap music industry, which is pretty much dying, and good thing too. like all things money corrupts the essence of any art form.

rap is just like any other music trend that becomes popular with the youth, gets corrupted by industry, and the kids grow up to have kids to start the cycle all over again.

reply to post by Lemarchand


ARE YOU JOKING ME? I used to do graffiti when I was younger.. In the past 3 years since I gave it up, it's EXPLODED! I can't keep up with the writers in my city. Graffiti is huge right now.

Also, all the other stuff? Are you joking? We have underground hip hop DJs doing HUGE things.

Bboying isn't what it used to be but it's still around. I work at a club/bar and in my lounge there's bboys out there every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday night.


Lastly, MC'ing.... not only has MC'ing evolved, it's BLOW UP as far as skill level and word play.


You guys need to get out of the house. Seriously.
:shk::shk::shk::shk:

hip-hop isn't going anywhere soon

and if you don't like it why post about it?

Originally posted by ready4whatever
Real talk, Hip hop is dead. I don't see any more real rappers theres a few like common and immortal technique but I've never see anyone even come close to 2pacs level..nowadays the lyrics are weak even the beats.

What!? Youre kidding right? There are plenty of REAL rappers out nowadays, they just dont get enough attention from the mainstream. If you can honestly tell me that people like Talib Kweli, Nas, Mos Def, The Roots, Little Brother, etc (the list goes on and on) are not real with regard to hip-hop, then I think that we are listening to two different types of music...or maybe the rock you have been living under doesnt push that kind of music.

Regardless, hip-hop is NOT dead, it is just being ecliped by the crap that is pushed to us all through the usual outlets that we know. It doesnt get enough attention because "they" want everyone to think that hip-hop is still on par with gangster rap of the 90's. In my humble opinion, for you to make a statement like in the OP, it is just plain ignorant.

How acan you even put Pac and immortal technique in the same sentence? That is just hip-hop blasphemy. Pac is one of my all time favorites, and immortal is real nice, but to just use those two as a base is whack. And what do you mean "even the beats are weak"? Are you not listening to the music? Kanyes beats are sickening, from past to present. have you heard 9th wonder, Kev Brown, Just Blaze, Timbo? If you think that the majority of the beats that these powerhouses create are weak, then your opinion of good beats must be crazily skewed. I am truely shocked by that one.

Hip hop will always be around, and if you dont see it in front of your face, you just have to look in the right places and you will surely find it.

Open your eyes yo!:shk:

[edit on 11/5/07 by Don Wahn]

Hip-Hop is not dead. You just have to do a lot of searching to find the true producers, lyricists, whatever. It's not hard though.

You should rename your title to:

MAINSTREAM Hip-Hop is dead.

Hip-hop isn't dead, and there's still good stuff out there.

Nobody else here but me seems to like k-os, but I'm pretty impressed with what he has done. He doesn't rap about guns, drugs, thug life, etc which is probably why he doesn't get the attention he deserves. I have to applaud any artist who takes time off because they think their music has become 'pretentious and derivative'. Most of them keep pumping it out for the $$$.

A small sample from B-Boy Stance:

Elevate, meditate, eliminate
Thoughts from my past keep knockin up on my gate
Should I let em in
the answer's not to debate
But to observe to debating
and then we can all escape
Yo
Party people listen up
At the drop of a dime
They took cameras to Africa
For pictures to rhyme over
oh, yes the great pretenders
Religious entertainers that wanna be lifesavers
Damn, another diamond from the mine
Another cold secret they grope for but can't find
Can't copy sketches of pictures with no lines
I guess it's just a case of the blind leading the blind

Source - My Brain

reply to post by Duzey


I dig K-os. I was really surprised to hear he was from Canada. I prefer his old stuff, but the newer stuff is okay. Just a little less rhyming substance, but I'm all about evolution through the music. Kind of reminds me of Mos Def's musical evolution and experimentation.



"Hip hop is dead." So lame.