Hip Hop

Courtesy of my good friend Pop, I recieved 4 mp3 CDs worth of the best from hip hop in '07 and it has changed my life. Ok not literally, but its reinvigorated me in a way that only music can. From the beat of Misunderstood on Common's new album, to the striking lyrics of Brother Ali on Uncle Sam Goddamn.

Hip hop has some serious flaws. The notions that hip hop is dead, stems from greater arguments about the over abundance of misogyny, materialism and other negative images being proliferated, especially in commercial or mainstream hip hop. But you don't need to look far to find great music. As Guru said on an interview with my boi DJ Hyphen, there is a lot of artists doing great things with hip hop, that is both creative and conscious. The notion that music is ever stagnant or dead is a complete fallacy. In fact saying its dead would be ignoring the negative things hip hop does, rather it needs to be examined as a medium that both reflects the norms of our society as well as shapes them.

The nature of the music industry as a whole is undergoing a huge transformation. With the use of internet spreading music like wildfire, people no longer seek music through the traditional channels of record stores. Rather most people access music electronically, often without compensating the artists in return which causes problems of how can music continue to provide the investment necessary to reproduce itself. As a true capitalist, even though there are lots of problematic aspects of capitalism that I recognize, I believe in this system to solve itself. There's a need to find a better or more efficient manner to deliver the type of variety in music people crave and it will be achieved if it is not being done so already. I know as a person who loves music I rely on my personal connections of people who have dedicated their lives to music to pass me the best of what they listen to. I listen to Sunday Night Sound Sessions that streams online live and is available for download on line to keep me up on some the up and coming artists and great music coming out.

The music is out there people just need to not be so reliant on clear channel and/or express themselves to clear channel demanding the type of content they want. The truth is clear channel decides what is played based on what they think they can sell or market. 50 Cent, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, all are marketable images and have proven track records of selling records, don't knock them for selling, just recognize that other stuff doesn't sell for various reasons. I don't pretend to know the answers, I just know there are alternatives, seek them out. For those who read this blog that know more about music please feel free to comment and express your views.

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