Have We Outgrown Hip Hop?

Caution. Kids at Play:
Have We Outgrown Hip Hop?
                      TRUTH Minista Paul Scott

“Back in the day when I was young/I’m not kid anymore “
Back in the Day-Ahmad


When Hip Hop legend, “Knowledge B. Born,” headed to the stage to finally receive his Hip Hop Lifetime Achievement Award, he clutched in his right hand a speech written in graffiti that he had wanted to deliver for years. He planned to put the entire audience of rap superstars on blast for destroying the culture he helped create. But when he looked into the faces of a room full of rich kids half his age.who were either half asleep or busy textin’ ,he just crumbled up his notes , said “ya’ll keep doin’ your thing.” and left the stage. Leaving the crowd whispering amongst themselves, “who was that old dude....”
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Recently, when Rakim went on stage to receive his BET " I Am Hip Hop Award ," I hoped that he was gonna diss the entire front row of rappers with a fraction of his talent. I thought maybe the “microphone fiend: was gonna kick a freestyle battle rhyme and dare any one of the no talent bums to come up and snatch the mic from his mighty hand. Needless to say, it didn’t happen. Another missed opportunity in the annals of Hip Hop history. At that point, I had to face the sad reality that many of my generation have avoided.

Maybe, we have outgrown Hip Hop.

Perhaps the saddest lament over the state of Hip Hop was Common’s, “I Used to Love H.E.R.” that talked about the sad relationship between Hip Hop purists and the gangsta rap that dominated the charts at the time. However, that was almost 18 years ago and many of us who divorced ourselves from Hip Hop have kissed and made up several times since then.

But like the classic break up line says., “The problem isn't you. The problem is me.” Maybe we are just too old to be listening to the kiddie porn that is passing for Hip Hop, nowadays. At some point the thrill of sneakin’ into your Pop’s secret drawer and peepin’ his Playboy mags wears off and you want a real relationship with a real woman.

Now, I admit there are days when I want to lock myself away from the world and play video games while smackin’ on a big box of Fruit Loops, but unfortunately, I don’t have that luxury. Neither do most folks over 25. Life is moving fast and deals that will affect my life are being made every second with or without my input. So I either have to roll with them or get rolled over.

But Hip Hop, is like Neverland, where you never have to grow old and if you are not careful you can get stuck there and be a 60 year old man poppin’ Viagra while watching " 106 and Park." And this “don’ t -wanna -grow up Toys R Us Kid” mentality is reflected in the rap of today. Instead of those black and white Parental Advisory stickers, in 2012, most Hip Hop Cd's should come with big, yellow “Caution. Kids at Play “ signs.

Today the rap industry is run by spoiled little brats with a million bucks but 50 cent brains. Somebody has, indeed, spared the rod and spoiled the child.

But the question that has always plagued Hip Hop is, who do you blame ?

When confronted, many Hip Hop apologists fall back on that classic line, “Don’t Blame rap . Blame the parents. “ But does this also apply to the Fathers of Hip Hop? Maybe they have acted more like deadbeat dads than the head of the Hip Hop household? This is the only society on the planet where the children are leading the elders.

Last year, columnist Bomani Jones addressed this issue in an article , “A Look at Chuck D’s Open Letter,” where he wrote , “ it’s disingenuous for much of the older crowd now to try and ride to hip hop’s rescue after we definitely had a part in getting to where we are.” But the sad part is that many old school cats are defending rap music with the same excuses that were used 20 years ago. They are defending the lyrics of Chief Keef the same way they did Snoop Dogg in ‘92. But Snoop never grew up to convert his misogynistic lyrics into words that would uplift the community. He only produced a legion of Snoop puppies . So Chief Keef will only produce a tribe of ratchet rappers if left unchecked.

This is not entirely the fault of the rappers ,either. Society has played a major role in the ghetto man-child mentality.

My generation was bombarded with the idea that “Black men in the America would not live to see 24.” So when we reached the ripe old age of 25, we had no game plan. Even much of the now revered “message music” of the 80’s was just repeating the nihilistic predictions for Black men. Few songs actually challenged the socio-economic factors that made such a dire prophecy believable. Even the ones that did offer such an analysis are now considered “old school.”

Rapper Mista Spot on his song , “Classic, “ questioned why you never hear the term “Old School Rock “ or “Old School Country” but their songs are forever immortalized as ageless music which can be enjoyed by their grandchildren. The same should be said about some Hip hop.

But maybe Rock and Country fans respect their music more than we respect Hip Hop. What record company would dare lump Mick Jagger and Justin Bieber in the same category and throw them on a track together? Rolling Stones fans would start bombin’ radio stations.

It must be remembered that it was the wrath of rock fans that led to the demise of Disco.

In 1979, 90,000 outraged Rockers almost destroyed Comiskey Park in Chicago at the infamous , Disco Demolition Night, where some deejays decided to blow up in stack of Disco records to protest the genre. Even today you can still catch people rockin’ the “Disco Sucks” T-Shirts. Since Ratchet Rap” is the Disco music of Hip Hop, what if thousands of real Hip Hop fans started rockin’ “Ratchet Rap Sucks” T-Shirts? and destroying CDs?

At the least , it would make a rapper think twice before releasing another immature , wack Cd.

Will the Hip Hop mental midgets hit an intellectual growth spurt before the culture is totally destroyed.

I don't know. But one thing is certain.

Like the classic Quincy Jones song says, in the end ,“Everything Must Change.”

Even Hip Hop.

TRUTH Minista Paul Scott’s weekly column is “This Ain’t Hip Hop,” a column for intelligent Hip Hop headz. For more information on the No Warning Shots Fired lecture series , contact info@nowarningshotsfired.com or visit
NoWarningShotsFired.com. Follow on Twitter @truthminista

The Great Rap Debate

The Great Rap Debate: Can Real Hip Hop Still Move the Crowd? TRUTH Minista Paul Scott “Some of you been tryin' to write rhymes for years/but weak ideas irritate my ears “ Move the Crowd-Eric B and Rakin Recently, The People’s Broadcasting Service sponsored the first Hip Hop Nation presidential debate between candidates, “B. Serious” and “Roger Ratchet .” When the moderator asked B. Serious for his thoughts on violence in rap, the artist gave an eloquent analysis on the exploitation of self hatred and stereotypes by the industry . However, when the moderator asked Roger Ratchet , the rapper ,angrily, accused him of dissin’ him with a trick question and had his goons give the poor dude a vicious beat-down, thus ending the debate... Following the first presidential debate between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, many commentators said that the Prez took an L because he didn’t go hard enough . They argued that he didn't use his arsenal of intellectual weapons to drop bombs on the challenger. However, the same can be said about those who rep real Hip Hop when dealing with those who promote ratchet rap. The art of debating is a time honored tradition as, historically, many of the issues facing civilizations have been settled by verbal confrontations. The course of history has been changed by events like the debates over whether the world was flat or round ,centuries ago , and more importantly the 21st century debate over whether Kanye West’s Graduation Cd would outsell 50 Cent’s Curtis. Thanks to Youtube, some great debates have been preserved ,such as Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture) and George Lincoln Rockwell’s “Black Power vs White Power " debate, Dr Frances Cress Welsing ‘s challenge of Dr. William Shockley’s racial inferiority myth or the classic debate between Dr. John Henrik Clarke and company and Dr. Mary Lefkowitz’s crew over the validity of Afrocentricity. Hip Hop’s version of debating came in the form of rap battles, as you couldn't call yourself a real “MC” “ (Master of Ceremony”) if you couldn't move the crowd. Some of the classic battles were Busy B versus Kool Mo Dee and the Cold Crush Brothers vs Dr. Rock and the Force MD’s. But as the days of lyrics are gone, so are the days of battlin’. Today ,battles are decided by gunshots or juvenile fisticuffs at Hip Hop Award Shows. And for many , instead of elevating the consciousness of the audience, “moving the crowd” means seeing how fast people run for the exit when a fight breaks out in the club. Although, there have been hundreds of discussions about Hip Hop over the years, there has rarely been a confrontation between those who are really trying to save the culture and those who are determined to destroy it. For the most part, Hip Hop “debates” have tended to be scripted . Back in the heyday of “gangsta rap” it was easy for a Death Row artist to diss an elderly C. Delores Tucker, as the industry was glad to promote the idea that if you opposed murda music, then you were an old fogey and out of touch with the younger generation. Even when challenged by senior citizens the gangsta rappers rarely debated themselves, instead they relied on “Hip Hop intellectuals” to serve as their mouthpieces while they sat back and said “um...yeah...what he said..” But today, even the people who used to pump NWA ,24/7 , hate rap music . Also we're , obviously, not dealing with a generational but an intellectual gap as the days of the teen rap video programs have been replaced by Hip Hop reality shows about the everyday lives of rappers who are about six weeks short of a middle age crisis Unfortunately, the average supporter of ratchet rap is walking around with a confident swagga , while the fan of real Hip Hop is walking around with a “Kick Me, I’m Conscious” sign taped to his back. It's time for those who want to bring back real Hip Hop to either go hard or go home! Currently, there is a controversy over whether “real Hip Hop “ is represented best by the lyricism of legendary lyricists or the low level, lackluster, lethargic nonsense that dominates the airwaves. Therefore, the question must be posed, “ can Hip Hop still move the crowd not just physically, but mentally and spiritually? Those who appreciate real Hip hop must stand up for truth and stop accepting the big lie that people like wallowing in the cesspool of ignorance. I believe that the masses are ready for change and if it ever came down to a debate between those who want a return to powerful lyrics that touch the soul and those who love the minstrel music , the lyric lovers would win ,hands down. But those who want to save Hip Hop need to quit goin' out like suckas and get ready to rumble ! Sadly, there will always be those who insist on trying to find “beauty in the hideous,” like Talib Kweli said on the Black Star CD back in the day. For those nincompoops who defend the nonsense, the challenge is there . There are folks like me who ain't afraid to stand up for truth and won’t back down because we understand that the battle is not for a trophy or some award, but for the minds of our children. However, like EPMD said on “You Gots to Chill, “ "If you think about battlin’ you better come prepared/come with your shield and your armored gear...” TRUTH Minista Paul Scott’s weekly column is “This Ain’t Hip Hop,” a column for intelligent Hip Hop headz. For more information on the No Warning Shots Fired Lecture Series, contact info@nowarningshotsfired.com or go to NoWarningShotsFired.com Follow on Twitter @truthminista