"Where Is The Love?" Part Dos

"WE diss our OGs (JayZ, Dr.Dre, IceCube,LL) White Ppl give their OGs standin ovations (MickJagger,Eminem,Striesand,Madonna) #SeeWhereImGoinWitThis" – Tweet from Atlanta rapper, Mic Check

First off, I'd like to thank Mic Check for inspiring this blog entry. I think the tweet alone speaks volumes and gives us something to look deeper into.

As people, it's very ordinary that we work harder at our jobs/careers when we're young so we can live off the fruits of our labor once we get older. This concept is no different as a recording artist. The artist makes song after song, album after album, expanding his or her catalog in hopes that when they become older, their catalog will be able to work for them – whether through royalty checks from those timeless hits they made being played on the radio, movies or tv commercials; or being healthy enough to take those hit records on the road and tour whenever you feel like it. There are certain artists who have that liberty and deserve a certain level of respect.

Let's look at Stevie Wonder: Since 1962, he has put out twenty-three solo studio projects. He has more than thirty top ten hits in his career and has won twenty two Grammy awards. He was eventually inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. With all of the hard work that he put in since the 1960's, he is now able to tour and sell out arenas whenever and wherever he wants. And the best part about it – he can damn near charge whatever he wants. Why? Because he's Stevie Fuckin Wonder, that's why! He calls the shots. There are numerous solo artists and groups who can do this: Prince, Earth Wind and Fire, David Bowie, Aerosmith, Bruce Springsteen, Led Zeppelin, The Police, The Who, etc.

Is this any different with hip-hop? Having a long enough catalog and extensive enough resume to be able to hit the road or drop an album whenever you feel like it - even if you're 40 years old or older?  Is that something we embrace in the hip-hop community?  

Take Jay-Z, who is hip-hop's oldest artist who is still relevant today. Jay-Z has eleven solo albums, three collaborative albums, two soundtracks, and one compilation to his resume. Add that to thirteen Grammy's and over fifty million records sold in his career. It's safe to say that the Jiggaman has enough hits under his belt to put on a three hour set...easily.  Sure, we're already starting to see Hov on the road more these days, including throwbacks as old as "Jigga My Nigga" in his set, but there's something that makes us embrace Stevie Wonder as a musical icon before we do a Jay-Z or Dr. Dre or 50 Cent.  Oh, don't get it twisted, we LOVE our Doug E. Fresh's and Slick Rick's and Big Daddy Kanes - there the pioneers and made it possible for Jay, Nas and even 2Pac to take it to the level they did in the mid 90's.  And with all respect due - they're not as commercial a rapper as a Jay or Dr. Dre or 50 Cent.   What separates Jay from Stevie Wonder? Jay is a rapper. Stevie Wonder is not. It seems as though rappers have two obstacles working against him:

1. Hip-hop being accepted as a credible art-form to the general public

and

2. The competitive nature of hip-hop.

Allow me to elaborate...

Hip-hop being accepted as a credible art-form to the general public: 

 Regardless of how anyone may feel, rap music, as an art-form, has yet to gain full respect from America.  Never do we hear any hip-hop songs as elevator music in your local malls. Never will you study the history of hip-hop in your elementary school music classes. Never will you have a rap-lesson similar to voice lessons that most singers take. Never have you seen a kid go to college to major in “Hip-Hop Performance”. In fact, even in 2011 – I heard a version of Katy Perry's “California Girls” on the pop radio station where they completely cut Snoop Dogg's verse from the song. Sure it wasn't a hip-hop quotable, but it's the principle of the matter. There is a reason why artists like Andre 3000 and Kanye West have experimented with singing on full albums. It's because all of the songs that are viewed as American Standards are all melody (all sung). “Over the Rainbow”, “I Got Rhythm”, “It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)”, “Bye Bye Blackbird” are much older American classics. But even more recently – George Benson's “On Broadway”, Stevie Wonder's “Ribbon In The Sky”, Michael Jackson's “Rock With You”, Mariah Carey's “Hero”. Given the rebellious nature of hip-hop, it is easy to see why most rap songs will never be looked at as American Standards. It's difficult to label a song an American anthem when the lyrics of the song are very anti-American. Just sayin.

Again, let's look at Jay-Z: He might be the closest artist to breaking down that barrier with hip-hop. He was able to sell out Madison Square Garden during a time when it was unheard of for a rap artist. He's performed for The World Series, which is just one step under the Super Bowl. We're now starting to understand his lyrics when he said “I do this for my culture...” 







 Which brings me to my next point:

The competitive nature of hip-hop: 

 Battling is part of what hip-hop is about. It is almost like a sport – even viewed as a “young man's game”. Although I'm not intending to spark a debate about whether or not old rappers should eventually hang up the mic, I do think that sometimes that competitive spirit can be detrimental to our growth. Sometimes we have to put the art in front of the culture in order to move forward. We root for the underdog, but once they make it we hate to see them on top for too long – it's in our nature as people. So like Mic Check said, we make diss records about “old rappers in the game.” Rappers with no more than two albums to their name are taking shots at OG's who are 15 – 20 years deep in the industry. It makes no sense!

I'm not sparking a debate about Jay-Z as an artist.  Regardless how you may feel about him, he has paid more than his fair share of dues – you would think he has enough to overcome with him being at the forefront of changing the face of hip-hop's corporate side. In 5 to 10 years, it will be because of Jay-Z that a credible hip-hop artist will be able to perform at the Super Bowl, and we won't have to argue about whether The Black Eyed Peas are, in fact, the first hip-hop group to do so. Hopefully.

Hip-hop needs our own version of Stevie Wonder, Prince and Earth Wind and Fire. Someone or some people who can transcend the barriers and limitations that hip-hop often is associated with. As a culture that has changed the world and a generation, there should be no debate in cooperate offices on whether or not a “real” hip-hop artist should perform at Cowboys Stadium or any other major arena - it should be a given. But it starts with us!