No More Glory?

In the mid-nineties the southeastern United States, (namely Atlanta), experienced a cultural hip-hop renaissance with artists such as Outkast and Goodie Mob pushing the envelope of what is hip-hop music, style and poetry. In Port-Arthur, Texas a group by the name of UGK took the swagger from Compton super-group N.W.A. and gave it a southern playalistic twist with blues influenced beats and pimpology riddled lyrics. In Memphis, Tennessee 8ball and MJG created cryptic rap music, greatly inspired by the Memphis blues, filled with elaborate story-telling and the use of pimpn’ as a metaphor for life. These artists, and others alike, may not have sounded like the orthodox LA or NY rap music of the time but they shared the essential attitude and message of all these other regions, if you don’t like what were doing “fuck you were getting paid either way!”

It’s this punk-rock mentality in hip-hop that has seemed to have been lost with the emergence of hip-hop as America’s premier form of pop music, naturally evolving it into a conforming genre.

Fast forward to 2008, no longer is the dirty-south dirty, no longer is rap music from the south considered trivial or the Scottie Pippen to rap’s Jordans (LA, NY). Today southern rap artists are more concerned with creating a new dance craze or semi-moronic catch phrase that will be repeated in private schools all over the country from Dunwoody, GA to Encino, CA.

What’s the cause of this artistic stagnation? Money, success and the powers that be. You see, the American public seemed to miss the boat on what artists like Bun-B and Andre were trying to get across in their music. They weren’t attempting to glorify the hustler lifestyle or the tribulations of growing up in the deeply impoverished south. They were bringing awareness to a culturally rich region of America that is the birthplace to ALL American music from Jazz, RnB, Rock and Roll, Country, and some would even argue, the roots to Hip-Hop (rapping to be specific) music. Instead the labels saw that they could make money off pushing a form of rap music that rivaled early twentieth century minstrel shows with their exaggeration and perversion of black culture. There is no intellectual or poetic depth in southern rap anymore, no longer are there songs like Goodie Mob’s The Experience or Cell Therapy. No, instead we have Flo Rida’s Low and Soulja Boy’s Yah Bitch Yah!

So, again, to the real heads out there keep pushing along. To the others, quit faking the funk!

Peace, love and happiness:
Pops