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One of Hip-Hop's fore fathers dropped by a radio station recently and did some serious venting on among other things, NY's stale Hip-Hop scene, the absence of worthwhile female emcee's in the game now, cats from New York gang bangin' and the raw deal a lot of bruthas catch for choosing to be intelligent and positive rather than negative and full of crap....
Some of my favorite quotes from Melle during this interview follow:
“Rap stopped being rap after Rakim. Everything else was kinda like downhill.”
Don't know if this is true 100%, a lot of dope NY artists came after Ra did, but I feel what he means...NY hasn't had an MC like him, that had massive influence like that and managed to maintain their artistic credibility throughout the duration of their career in a minute. Then again Ra was pretty much one of a kind....
“Cats just stopped really New York rappin', being the real rapper's rapper cat, and started doing the East Coast version of West Coast shit.”
No doubt here...NY lost a good deal of it's true identity chasing trends...They used to set em', but now they follow the leader and it's gettin cornier and cornier by the day...seriously, who really thinks that the guy from the Bronx who speaks like he's from down south, dresses like he's from the suburbs and behaves like a middle aged white woman is cool? Riiiight....
“That's not lady-like. Let a woman rap about having kids or say something that all women can relate to. All women can't relate to sticking a fuckin soda can in their mouth and all that ole weird shit. That transformed women and how men relate to women and women relating themselves into something else.”
Word...It's long been debated that we don't love our femcees enough in Hip-Hop, and if the saying you never miss a good thing til' it's gone ever rang true it does so here--what I wouldn't do for a new school version of MC Lyte, Heather B, Lauryn Hill, Roxanne Shante or Queen Latifah...Instead we got an unrecognizable, surgery maimed Lil' Kim, Nikki whatever who is basically a video girl with a mic in her hand and Trina...SMH...
“The main problem with Hip-Hop is that it took Black people away from ourselves. We ain't even who we used to be anymore…We chasin' money. Niggas wanna get designer shit, like wearing $1,000 worth of shit, and they look like they wanna rob a liquor store. They wear Timberlands and you not gonna climb a mountain. It took us out of ourselves.”
I love my Timbs, but this is pure truth....I know a few people who stay rockin brand new Jordans but ain't taking care of they seeds...Stay with a sack of tress but don't have a job. It's sad and it shows that in some fashion we have lost perspective. The music is a reflection of that too. All these kids are just so enthralled with the accumulation of things man...They don't care about the culture, it's just another way to make or take money.
Sadly, mostly what I see within these new children is an attitude that screams they feel badly alienated and left out. Thus, they don't much care for this thing of ours and don't care if a walkin, talking, living, breathing legend is on the radio giving them the blueprint for longevity and respect. Melle Mel is just some "old nigga" to them. His views are irrelevant compared to what clothes Lil' Wayne was rocking on his walk into court...SMH...and that's why we have all of these horrible, dumb, ig'nant, and silly trends pervading through Hip-Hop now. This new generation doesn't wanna learn, doesn't wanna stand up or get down, they just wanna zone out in front of Myspace, scheme on how to come up with the dough to buy some gaudy jewelry, download a Young Jeezy or Gucci Man single off iTunes and downright just let huge corporations dictate to them what's cool. There aren't many true Hip-Hoppers left anymore, we've been replaced by the Hipsters and the "Youngs" and the "goons"...the fake trappers and women who are just fine being objects rather than people.
Lawd help us...
-BIG D O
5 comments:
I feel what Mel is saying. But there were several great innovative MC's after Rakim. Songs like Nas' "One Love" or Wu-Tang's "CREAM" used what Mel was spitting on "The Message" or what Ra was saying on "Ghetto" as a blueprint to speak on what they saw in there communities and took it to the next level. I'd argue that not even Slick Rick was as vivid as Ghostface or Biggie at their best. Again that doesn't make them better than Rick, but they definately took what he did to another level.
I'd also feel that Nas was just as influencial as Rakim. "Name a rapper that I ain't influence" was mabe the realest thing he said in ether. While Jay-Z changed the way people approached the industry, I think Nas changed the way people approached writing.
And regarding Gucci Mane, I disagree that the industry is forcing him on people. His movement in ATL is just as organic as Wu-Tang's or 50 Cent's. Now Drake is another story. When the south was actually spitting something real (OutKast, Goodie Mob, Geto Boys, UGK, Eightball & MJG) the hiphop publications and award shows never accepted them as equals to NY MC's. In 1994 you just couldn't compare Andre Benjamin to O.C. and be taken seriously. Back then I feel southern artists were competing with east coast artists to prove they belong. But even if they sold records, among critics with a voice they were losing. Fast forward to 2009 and the artists from that region in large part dont care if people think they can rhyme or not. They just want to sell records. I think if the industry would have embraced the artists in the south that were really putting it down, it could have lead to others following in that tradition of actually having something to say.
For the most part I agree with Mel's main points though. Props for actually digging something up on worldstar that doesn't make black people look like idiots.
The more I think about it, this reminds me of something NY Oil said regarding Ice T and Soulja Boy (I'm actually not a fan of NY Oil or do I agree with most of what he says, but this was on point). He said something to the effect of how Ice T is an OG, but he's like a dead beat dad trying to play a father figure after his kid has already grown up. He also went on to say that Soulja Boy didn't know he was a wack MC. Where was Mel the past 25 years since he made his mark? He's like generations removed. These new artists don't even know why he's relevent. Joe Budden didn't even know why Cowboy should be on a greatest MC list. Mabey if Mel was more visible and vocal during the time that hiphop took some of these drastic changes the game would be in better shape.
indeed hl, indeed....
I would agree w/ most of what you said except Ghost and Biggie being as vivid as Ricky with the storytelling and Melle being irrelevant due to an absence throughout the game...
Mel always has been around, he's steady ben releasing music and he's accessible....he's been here all this time man, all this time...
BIG DO, mabey the internet can allow Melle Mel to have his voice out there more so. I don't remember Mel being out there like that. My bad if he was I definately wasn't aware of it. I thought it was cool he was at that Raekwon album release party though.
I'm not taking anything away from Rick. He's Incredible. Even the recent stuff he's done with Mos and Rae is crazy. They were obviously influeced by him. But do you really not think songs like "Warning" and "Shakey Dog" aren't taking Slick Rick's formula to another level?
Melle Mel has been available bruh, I mean he has a life and has to pay bills but I bet the people that knwo him would vouch for the fact that he's a real dude and never was on no Hollywood stuff...
I am not saying that Ghost isn't great, and maybe the fact that Ricky has taken a back seat in his out over the years has definitely allowed for Starks to catch up with him in certain areas, but overall, Ricky is still the king...no one has done it better yet IMO...of course there's some guys nipping at his heels, but no one catchin' him yet...
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