why do people think hip hop is dead?

yea i agree, hip hop hasnt died it has evolved, and i guess thats what the true hip hop heads dont like,

the 5 elements of the culture seem to have been replaced. and the south blowing up has changed the music as we know it, no longer clever intricate lyrics and boom bap beats, its now chanting and ringtone instrumentals.
also the mixtape game seems to have had a bad affect on the industry as a whole, and downloads mean that the true artists album no longer sells.

so yea hip hop hasnt died, its evolving (and i for one dont like what it has become) the creativity generally has been lost, as anything that sells is reproduced over n over til every penny can be gained.

V.V.

Seanza aka The Beast wrote:

Mobb Deep & M.O.P are possibly 2 of the greatest ever acts in Hip-Hop since it started.

Erm, I think not…

think that quote might come back to bite u in the ass seanza., lol

as good as both mobb deep and mop are, they are in no way some of the best acts out there. infact id go so far to say that mobb deep sold out moving to gunit. their old sound was dark grimy and gutter and thats how it shoulkd have been… without 50 cent (who seems to be the new puffy, getting his face in all the artists videos.. u wait, itll be shiny suits and dancing next,,, my prediction for the new year) but yea havoc is great on the beats, but i could go on all afternoon listing better acts out there!

as for mop, well thats one album that wont ever see the light of day. non comercial, and wont sell, so 50 wont be pushing for them to bring back his empire,

anyways i am going off topic here, so ill stop, everyone has their own opinions i guess, but cant see any reason for labelling them the greatest acts.
oh and i think your spot on with your anology of 50, i think he is good for hip hop, but i do think that what he does is a "part of" hip hop and not the embodiment of what hip hop is… we should also embrace other artists talking about other subjects than guns drugs bitches, because that is what holds hip hop back.

V.V.

not that I have a massively extensive knowledge of hip-hop, i mean limp bizkit, beastie boys, insane clown posse and cypress hill…do they even count?

anyways, this reminds me of all the sociology books i read about the punk movement and its death. True enough punk did die, but it had to ‘die’ so it could live, punk became so commercial and removed from what it was supposed to be about it died so it could live, real punks know what ‘real’ punk music is, it doesn’t have to be paraded around in safety pins, bondage trousers and mohawks, it’s not about the image but about keeping the original spirit alive.

could the same/something similar be said for hip-hop?

[quote quote="vice verses":34isgpsh]think that quote might come back to bite u in the ass seanza., lol

as good as both mobb deep and mop are, they are in no way some of the best acts out there. infact id go so far to say that mobb deep sold out moving to gunit.[/quote:34isgpsh]

Argh dude, you misunderstood. Yes they totally sold out moving to G Unit, I couldn’t agree more. My point was, they’ve stepped into a commercial area, more people know who they are, I bet about a million fans of Moob Deep now, didn’t even know who they were back in ’94 & whatnot, but they might find out Mobb’s history, find the albums like Murda Muzik, The Infamous etc etc etc…

And when I said 2 of the greatest acts, doesn’t mean I meant they’re the best! Just means they’re up there, and look back at their catalogue and you’ll agree man.

[quote quote="Seanza aka The Beast":2kkaoyt3][quote quote="vice verses":2kkaoyt3]think that quote might come back to bite u in the ass seanza., lol

as good as both mobb deep and mop are, they are in no way some of the best acts out there. infact id go so far to say that mobb deep sold out moving to gunit.[/quote:2kkaoyt3]

Argh dude, you misunderstood. Yes they totally sold out moving to G Unit, I couldn’t agree more. My point was, they’ve stepped into a commercial area, more people know who they are, I bet about a million fans of Moob Deep now, didn’t even know who they were back in ’94 & whatnot, but they might find out Mobb’s history, find the albums like Murda Muzik, The Infamous etc etc etc…

And when I said 2 of the greatest acts, doesn’t mean I meant they’re the best! Just means they’re up there, and look back at their catalogue and you’ll agree man.[/quote:2kkaoyt3]

im with yer,
must have got the wrong end of the stick!

some good points been made in this discussion by everyone though….
maybe its time that we had sub genres to hip hop, rather than labelling anything urban as hip hop (like hmv rather annoyingly do!!) although i guess a lot of it does have its own name ,,, (horrorcore / crunk etc)

V.V.

[quote quote="vice verses":2jmwywlx]
maybe its time that we had sub genres to hip hop, rather than labelling anything urban as hip hop (like hmv rather annoyingly do!!) although i guess a lot of it does have its own name ,,, (horrorcore / crunk etc)

V.V.[/quote:2jmwywlx]Well, Hip Hop’s not really a genre, anyway. It’s been named that as the music is part of the Hip Hop lifestyle. It does seem a little odd putting 50 Cent and NWA in the same genre.

It’s all good … at least someone thinks so.

No matter how bad one may think a given artist is, the fact remains that enough people like his or her stuff that the rest of us even know they exist.

Are you following me?

Justin Timberlake comes instantly to mind when thinking about wanna-be hip hop stars that make me want to excuse myself to barf in private and yet, he’s sold a whole lot more records than any of us have.

Hip Hop is alive and kickin’!

It’s evolved a bit, but it’s surviving!

I agree, just pulled him out of the air to make a point.

An new genre … hmmm … hip pop? Hep hop?

Or perhaps a sub-genre … alt hip hop?

And yes, I agree there is a decided lack of integrity prevelant in the genre. It’s more about the money and ‘look at me’ than about life lately.

its definitely not dead…but real hip hop (for the most part) as far as mainstream music goes is dead.

Well I agree with some people here that Hip Hop has evolved. But its hard to compare Old school and Nu school of hip hop, since there are two different times here. Main difference here is that in the old school they were talking about life in the streets and anything connected with real life, while now they are talking about getting paid and why are they hot lol.

I think beats/instrumentals have evolved very good but lyrics didnt. Still you have some good artists here but not something we will talk about in next few years.

If you look closely you`ll see that we are talking mainly about few artists that really did something in the industry which I think these new artists wont do in their life time. Mainly cause that era is gone.

Biggie, 2Pac, Jay-z, Nas, Mos Def, Mobb Deep, 50, Game, Dre, Snoop, Dj Premier, Timbaland and some others are main topic here, and there are many other artists that are out there that we dont even discuss.

Now whether Hip-Hop is alive or dead I cant really say. Some like old school vibe some like nu school vibe.

To me its not as good as it was from lyrical point of view, but I do like a lot of new instrumentals that came out.

to many people are making it look like u dont talent on a basic answer

DJ Bobby V wrote:

look what they are passing off as Rock-n-roll.

Oh, now you did it … you dusted off the ol’ soapbox and I’m about to climb aboard …

Rock has become so splintered that it’s hard to define it anymore. Back in the day rock was easier to recognize ‘cuz there were fewer genres to contend with … jazz, rock, c&w and big band. Now, after several decades of fat-cats who couldn’t tell the difference between a tune and a can of tuna calling the shots the definition of rock has become "it’s got 4/4 rhythm and makes my parents nervous ‘cuz they don’t understand it."

Hip hop has started doing the same thing … splintering off into various sub-genres as the result of fat cats tellin’ the artists what makes money and those artists listening to ’em.

Money may not be the root of all evil, but it sure is a close second. The sad part is, you can make money off your music without losing artistic integrity, but that takes work and dedication and being human, most artists want the fast and easy track laid out for ’em by the execs.

No, hip hop ain’t dead, but it is choking on its own vomit and only the fans can change that. Stop buying the crap and start demanding a return to the values.

Yeah, like that’s going to happen.