The one and only Jay-Z is celebrating another year on this Earth brainwashing the youth via attractive rap lyrics. I'm sure plenty of his peers were not as fortunate to live as long or as well as he has, but my question is exactly how old is this mufugga? I mean since he's a Black man his face doesn't automatically show his age, but we know he's been alive over 4 decades. Is it like 41 years or 49 years? I find it quite peculiar that only in hip hop (probably the youngest established genre of music) is one's age and experience NOT a badge of honor. Why is this a young mans game? It's not like sports where the younger cats are bigger, stronger, faster (with the rhymes) and shit... All of the better lyricists are well into their 30s and 40s and have so much to offer with their knowledge via their trials and tribulations. Hip hop fans are so quick to dismiss a rapper because we feel he/she is too old to talk about everyday life, but 18yr olds fresh out of living in the room they grew up in have the ears of millions of hip hop "fans" because...? No I was asking, because I have no fucking idea. Damn hip hop, that way of thinking personifies how Black/Brown urban youth think; no respect for the elders who can guide us. All the other genre's of music call their pioneers LEGENDS. Kiss, Springsteen, Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi, all these rock legends can sell out national tours, yet when acts like Public Enemy do shows in their native NYC, there is little to no advertisement. Damn you swaggots... Peace!
1 comment:
It's not the genre, but the nature of the audience. Who exactly considers Kiss, Springsteen, Rolling Stones, etc legends? The older generations. Why? They didn't have this microwave mentality and short attention span where something is only good for like 5 minutes, then they need something else.
You and others of our generation have that appreciation. We are basically the last group of that. There is a value of being true to your craft and your vision, not jumping on the latest fad that everyone else is on. And you definitely didn't have to sell a gimmick to mask your lack of skill and depth as is the case now.
It's not just hip hop though. It comes with any genre that has been commercialized. Back then hip hop had its core following. Now it has broad cross-cultural commercial appeal, so it's being handled in a similar way that genres like Pop is handled: sell whatever is "in", regardless of what that may actually be.
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