For just once, I would like to see a “hip hop” artist that can have a music career without flashing a lot of “bling” or “pimp-ass [insert item of choice here]”. I don’t care if it’s all apart of the so called lifestyle, but why the need to show a shot of some rapper flashing a wad of cash to the camera? The mandatory shot of the tripped out SUV’s. Women in clothes either too tight or too tiny. I realize that I sound old or like a prude, but that’s not what I’m getting at.
It’s almost as if there is just this set formula of a hip hop video that has subtle changes to allow for some sense of “creative flare” and “uniqueness.” It just all seems to be one of the same. Just add or subtract various and extravagant elements, mix and match exotic locations, blue screen anywhere else you can’t be, designer brand clothes, what can’t be done with designer brand clothes can be compensated in expensive accessories, a posse, hand gestures toward the camera, and a sense that you are the richest and greatest entertainer in the business.
Why can’t a good hip hop artist just put this aside and consider the music? Sure, it’s all about making money and raking in a big fat check, but I’d just like to see it for once. A rapper who rises to the top without giving into this formulaic dribble. Truly there is a part of me that likes hip hop just like I used to like Oasis back in the day. The music is pretty alright until you get to know about the people who make it.
Dude, Blackalicious. And the Roots, Talib Kweli (though don’t grab his latest album. Cause it’s just not very good), Mos Def, Common, Jurassic 5, Dilated Peoples, even Kanye West to a degree.
It’s easy though to list off artists that aren’t “X Y or Z.” The broader answer is don’t listen to crappy commercial music-hip-hop or otherwise. It’s never going to be satisfying or enlightening. As for the braggadocio, that’s part of hip-hop and MC’ing. It goes back to reggae. It’s a genre trope and in that context it’s certainly an up-or-down issue, you like it or you don’t. Also though, as a trope, it becomes an issue of how the artist relies upon or trancends it. One of the things I really enjoy about hip-hop is the wordplay-the snaps, the bragging, the entire attitude put to words. They are, in their own way, puns. Most puns are groaners but good ones are pretty fantastic and the same is true of hip-hop pretentions.
As for the scantily-clad women, I can’t say much about that. It’s the deeper issue of videos being dumbed down to a “screw and strut” visual formula-hip-hop or not (don’t forget the videos of the Mickey Mouse Club set). I will say that hip-hop is dance music and dance videos have always had what could be described diplomatically as “unique” costume choices (Love is a Battlefield? Seriously, wtf?). That goes back to the much older question of why female dancers wear cringinly small leotards while the men wear full body stockings.
But this is an unforgivably long ramble. I’m listening to Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles best of collections right now. So freaking good! But you can hear some musical tropes that have continued through to hip-hop-monolithic beat, minimal instrumentation, and lyrics. I even heard it in an old episode of the Muppet show. They did a bit where they sang a song (I forget which song, a 60’s-era folk-pop cut). It was a bass, rhythm guitar, saxophone interjections and vocals-percussion, embellishment and lyrics-hip-hop. It was amazing to me that all the melodic work was being done in the vocals-specifically the rhythm and flow of them. And this wasn’t a soul/funk/groove tune in any way. This was a pop song but it was constructed the same way a hip-hop track is. It was kinda neat.