Artist vs. Industry: Go!

I think real hip hop is just that: REAL. I think in order to have a real hip hop song it has to relate to the artist in some way. For instance, a rapper who grew up in the suburbs should write and rap about his/her difficulties in the suburbs, instead of making up stories of how he/she grew up on the streets. Not only are they deceiving the public by doing this but they also take away from the songs value and authenticity. I don't think anything happened to the 'real' hip hop,seeing as the definition of real hip hop varies from person to person. In my opinion "the real hip hop" is still existent in today's music in artists like Eminem, Jay-Z, and Lil' Wayne. I see it in these artist's because of the fact that they are all truly original. They are all innovators and trend setters. These three artists alone inspire and produce so many knock-offs of themselves. I can't think of a rapper today that hasn't emulated one of these three in some way. I just think most artists today are unoriginal and use too many 'effects' when rapping(i.e auto tune).




I think authenticity in hip hop should be defined by how the artist delivers the message in his/her songs. A lot of the time artists joke around on tracks,rarely do we get to see the artists true feelings on a particular subject. It seems nowadays that most artists are in the music industry just for the glory, whatever happened to just expressing one's self through his/her talents. Artists that make music to express themselves are authentic to me. I think an authentic artist most definitely writes their own lyrics. The lyrics should come from the artists soul to not from other people's perspectives. I also think to be authentic artists should 'practice what they preach'. I do think that an artist can be diverse and still be authentic. Jay-z has a clothing brand, cologne,etc but is still authentic. Its all a matter of whether the artist sells themselves out. He does what he does because he's an entrepreneur, not because he's desperate for attention;there's a huge difference.




A lot of the time when an artist truly speaks whats on their mind and just doesn't hold back its called being 'controversial'. I think most of the time what makes a song controversial is the topic in which is being addressed. For instance, a lot of songs were controversial after the war in Iraq started because a lot of rappers were against Bush. Usually a song stir's up controversy when the artist refuses to conform with the rest of the nation. Mentioning political views, religious views or any opinion that isn't shared by the majority is controversial.




"Hip-hop is supposed to uplift and create, to educate people on a larger level and to make a change." -Doug E. Fresh

"Hip-hop is definitely not what it used to be, which was creative, original music. I want kids of this generation to see that everything is cool, that there's some kind of unity in hip-hop. We all found something that's really important to us, and music is all we've really got. " -Missy Elliot

"Back in the day, if someone said that hip-hop and rap was a fad, that was a joke to me because they just didn't know what they were talking about."-Jam Master Jay