A Rap Renaissance
Stockton Bullitt '12
Issue date: 3/25/09 Section: Distractions
2009 has not given us anything new so far. Brackets are more chalked than a srat star's nose, the Steelers decided that Cinderella should stay home early, the market has continued to decline, and Washington and Lee has continued its undying love for frats, especially Phi Psi.
Luckily, 2009 does have a silver lining. Although it hasn't fully come to fruition yet, there is a renaissance emerging in the world of rap. For too long, we have been stuck in the relative dark ages. Common's prophecy in his song, "I Used to Love H.E.R." has come true: rap has become way too commercialized. Basically, the genre has become a reality dreamed up by H.G. Wells. Like in The Time Machine, there are now two distinct species of rap music. The first race of rap is similar to the Eloi. It is the music for the base thinkers, the ones that don't want to hear audacious things like varied sentences or phrases. This subgenre is epitomized by Flo Rida and Soulja Boy Tell 'Em. These songs are great to dance to and are widely popular because they have great beats, but they are for the lay. The second race is similar to Wells' Marlocks, but instead of being predatory, they are simply overwhelmingly boring. Artists like Mos Def and Talib Kwali speak straight poetry in their verses and really make you think. Unfortunately, their beats are terrible and their lyrics are more layered than puritan undergarments. Thankfully, there is a happy medium, and it is in its infantile stage.
The movement started most likely with that previously mentioned Common song, "I Used to Love H.E.R." Released in 1994, way before this movement started, the song inspired a young Kanye West, who is unquestionably the Dante in this Renaissance movement. Kanye, especially in his first album, masterfully blended good music with somewhat insightful lyrics. While he has still tended to gravitate towards the pop genre and his focus occasionally strays, he is no doubt the beginning of the movement.
So what is this exact movement that I keep talking about? A couple of rap artists are starting to emerge with a new kind of rap that successfully blends good music with somewhat intelligent thought. They are not the thug stars that are covered by XXL, nor are they perpetuating the hip-hop-artist-for-English-majors image. They have been very well produced and use the internet far better than many other musicians, (mostly because they are made for the internet) but I'll get to that later. The best part about them though is that they are easily accessible. Their lyrics are well put together and meaningful, but they are not terribly deep. But the best part about them is that they are made for us. Not since grunge music and revisionist, simplistic early 90's rock has there been an entire subgenre of music designed to be consumed by college students. These rappers, like us, are smart enough to spit intelligent rhymes, but not nearly old enough to be delusional enough to think that what they're saying actually means something. In other words, these guys know they're good, but they also know that they're not important, which, trust me, is a nice alternative to Coldplay, Jay-Z, and U2.
Luckily, 2009 does have a silver lining. Although it hasn't fully come to fruition yet, there is a renaissance emerging in the world of rap. For too long, we have been stuck in the relative dark ages. Common's prophecy in his song, "I Used to Love H.E.R." has come true: rap has become way too commercialized. Basically, the genre has become a reality dreamed up by H.G. Wells. Like in The Time Machine, there are now two distinct species of rap music. The first race of rap is similar to the Eloi. It is the music for the base thinkers, the ones that don't want to hear audacious things like varied sentences or phrases. This subgenre is epitomized by Flo Rida and Soulja Boy Tell 'Em. These songs are great to dance to and are widely popular because they have great beats, but they are for the lay. The second race is similar to Wells' Marlocks, but instead of being predatory, they are simply overwhelmingly boring. Artists like Mos Def and Talib Kwali speak straight poetry in their verses and really make you think. Unfortunately, their beats are terrible and their lyrics are more layered than puritan undergarments. Thankfully, there is a happy medium, and it is in its infantile stage.
The movement started most likely with that previously mentioned Common song, "I Used to Love H.E.R." Released in 1994, way before this movement started, the song inspired a young Kanye West, who is unquestionably the Dante in this Renaissance movement. Kanye, especially in his first album, masterfully blended good music with somewhat insightful lyrics. While he has still tended to gravitate towards the pop genre and his focus occasionally strays, he is no doubt the beginning of the movement.
So what is this exact movement that I keep talking about? A couple of rap artists are starting to emerge with a new kind of rap that successfully blends good music with somewhat intelligent thought. They are not the thug stars that are covered by XXL, nor are they perpetuating the hip-hop-artist-for-English-majors image. They have been very well produced and use the internet far better than many other musicians, (mostly because they are made for the internet) but I'll get to that later. The best part about them though is that they are easily accessible. Their lyrics are well put together and meaningful, but they are not terribly deep. But the best part about them is that they are made for us. Not since grunge music and revisionist, simplistic early 90's rock has there been an entire subgenre of music designed to be consumed by college students. These rappers, like us, are smart enough to spit intelligent rhymes, but not nearly old enough to be delusional enough to think that what they're saying actually means something. In other words, these guys know they're good, but they also know that they're not important, which, trust me, is a nice alternative to Coldplay, Jay-Z, and U2.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
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posted 11/29/09 @ 7:38 AM EST
I agree that rap has become too commercialized
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posted 12/09/09 @ 5:57 AM EST
This Renaissance movement is great.
Eglantine
posted 5/18/10 @ 8:41 AM EST
I thick, that this movement is needful, cause now rap loses it's primal sense. It should be reborn.
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