I never sleep, "cause sleep is the cousin of death.
Nas, New York State of Mind
Hip-Hop is a memory. The music that operates under its name today speaks to millions but has no sense of origin or responsibility to the preservation of culture and history.
In attempts to resurrect the culture and honor hip-hop"s heritage VH1 produces the annual Hip-Hop Honors while Black Entertainment Television, the network most affiliated with hip-hop, features the programs Beef: The Series and American Gangster.
As a representation of the lives of disenfranchised blacks, hip-hop once spoke accurately on behalf of those who spent their days honing emcee skills and bouncing from house party to party. The afro-centric calls for unity and even the ultra-violent content of gangsta rap rang true in the ears of portions of the disenfranchised population. Today that population is alienated by content centered almost exclusively on consuming extravagant luxuries.
We have become irresponsible consumers; of luxuries and of music. We buy the formulaic, uninspired products that record companies supply instead of demanding quality. We allow rappers too absorbed in their public images and private wealth to dictate trends instead of requiring innovation for our dollars and support. When did we stop controlling our music?
Wasn't hip-hop supposed to be a reflection of its audience? Does hip-hop still know to whom it speaks?
As listeners and more importantly as consumers, we must demand a creative surge in the hip-hop craft in exchange for our money. We cannot mistake trends for innovation any longer if we want the spirit of the culture to thrive. Creativity cannot be emulated and a constant influx of the unique would ensure the prosperity of the music and culture.
Hip-Hop is too stagnant to thrive today and we can only hold ourselves responsible. It can never go back to the way it was and we should not want it to. Originality is the only resuscitator of the music, the narrator of the culture.
So then, perhaps hip-hop has not died just yet, despite Nas' prophetic decree. Maybe there is a bit of creativity left in a few emcees. Perhaps hip-hop still breathes and is only asleep, awaiting an affecting feat of musical genius to stir us, its people out of apathy.
MO