My Love Affair With Hip Hop
It's been 20 years since the release of 36 Chambers, Midnight Marauders, Doggystyle & a few other classics and a bunch of great albums. And not the term classic of today that gets slung around like a Roc The Mic tour groupie, but albums that made lasting impacts on not just Hip Hop culture, but popular culture as a whole. Whether it was the first time you heard Gin & Juice and the infectious Dre beat and Snoop's effortless rhymes got you groovin. or you heard Meth proclaim "Cash Rules Everything Around Me. CREAM! Get the money..." you knew you were listening to something special. As a youth listening to these great songs I had no idea how much of an impact these songs would have, or that 20 years later I'd put on Electric Relaxation or 93 Til Infinity and people would still love it. You can't really say that about too many of your favorite tracks today. YG's "My Nigga" isn't going to move people in 20 years.
In the time since and before 93 there were other times when Hip Hop just made an impact on your life, Fugees, Rakim, Kool G Rap, DMX, Kendrick, J Cole, Nas, Jay Z, Cam, Dip Set, A$AP, The Clipse, Pusha T's Solo, both new and old there's always going to be something that moves you. But nothing compares to the classics. It was an era where there wasn't an emphasis on "commercial" or "underground" it definitely existed but if it was good music it would be heard at some point on the radio. From Das Effex, to Black Moon, to Lords of The Underground, De La Soul, Onyx, Snoop, Cube there were so many styles and they were all good, East or West they were undeniable. Even the South had Scarface and the Geto Boys and don't forget that Master P was dumb successful Baby didn't become rich by luck.
So the love I have for Hip Hop is real and everlasting. It can never die, because even when you have a Soulja Boy there's still a Nas, still a DMX or a Kendrick and J Cole the good outweighs the bad, sometimes you just gotta look for it, but eventually it surfaces. Here's to the grooves that have you looking like a slow motion bobble head or spitting like you're in the projects looking for a way out. There's a generation of folks that won't have the pleasure to live it like I did. But they do have their own movements to follow and watch grow, and that's exciting even if I think some of it is horrible; there's an 11 year old out there that in 20 years will be looking back just as I am today.
**You may be like he didn't mention so many great artist, Biggie, Pun etc but really by default you should know they are a part of this beautiful thing called Hip Hop**