Sex, Drugs and Hip-Hop

Hip-Hop is the new Rock and Roll. My title is a little abrasive, the comparison goes way beyond the sexual expression and drug use present in the Rock scene in the 70's. I want to explore just how deep the comparison goes because let's face it, Rock is a spineless, soft, watered-down version of the creative nebula that encompassed the true "scene" in the 70's.

What is a music "scene" anyway? You have a core group of musicians and their catalogue, obviously. But it's the content in that catalogue and the interaction between artists in the group that make a "scene". Anything less is just a bunch of bands competing against each other.

So by that definition, let's focus not on the groupies or club owners or sex or drugs, just the music and the the relationships between the people who play it.

Something you hear a lot in hip-hop is reference, not only to the qualities of oneself, but differing qualities, positive and negative, of other peers in the scene. Commonly know as "shout outs" or "representing", an MC will call out the rhymes of a fellow rapper and choose to disrespect or qualify their effort. Rappers will sample beats from other rappers or musicians. Sometimes an MC will appear as a cameo on another rapper's record as a form of cross-promotion. The point is, the process is highly collaborative.

In contrast, we have today's rock bands who travel alone or with one other band, rarely collaborate unless the two artists in question are of somewhat equal fame and stature, and never publicaly acknowledge another's work. Imagine Audioslave singing about another rock band. It would be degrading to their image and thought of as awkward subject matter for a rock song.

You can pick out songs from the 70's that do exactly that. Take "Monterey", by Eric Burdon and The Animals:

Young gods smiled upon the crowd

Their music being born of love

Children danced night and day

Religion was being born Down in Monterey

The Byrds and the Airplane

Did fly

Oh, Ravi Shankar's

Music made me cry

The Who exploded

Into violent light (yeah)

Hugh Masekelas music

Was black as night

The Grateful Dead

Blew everybody's mind

Jimi Hendrix, baby

Believe me

Set the world on fire, yeah!

Burdon is singing about his peer group, albeit in a slightly more positive way than you might find in today's hip hop, but acknowledging them in detail still. The song is practically a history lesson about the music scene of the time. It might seem cheesy to us know, but that's how Eric and presumably his band felt about the vibrant, new thing happening around him.

This alludes to an even stronger reason why hip-hip is more rock than rock these days. The lyrical content of hip-hop more often references the state of affairs in everyday life. Whether it's Jay-Z or Atmosphere, you're more likely to hear about problems with money and relationships, problems we all go through, than in a rock song. For rock, these things aren't esoteric or spiritual enough to write about, although we experience them on the daily.

Flash back to the 70's. Some of the most relevant protest songs and music commenting on society in general came from the 70's. Do you see the Foo Fighter's standing up for Health Care Reform?

I'm not saying any of this is a good or bad thing, only that hip-hop has replaced the direct, relevant, and vibrant energy present when some of my musical heroes were around last century. And that's why I like it.

Listen to:

A Tribe Called Quest

Wu Tang

Atmosphere

Biggie

Mos Def

...and anything else that get's your butt shaking or mind thinkin'!!!!

Stay positive and have a great week everybody!