The Good/Bad The Old/New

[S.Breezy]

I was wondering what you see in Hip-Hop now and what you miss from...well since you're all old heads...your day. Also what you think can/will be done to keep Hip-Hop around.

My two cents:

I LOVE the beats from todays Hip-Hop, both mainstream and underground. That bein said mainstream artists have the crappiest messages just plain garbage. You know something is wrong when people advertise their albums saying "Includes xyzsong featuring Lil Wayne". I wish mainstream was what yall bring to the table.

[Sketch Tha Cataclysm]

old heads lol. . .

There's a certain vibe from some of the older tracks that is just straight up lacking in the music nowadays. . . I think its a passion for it. . . everything is just flat and lacks any soul. . . so much so that heads have turned to singing. . . nothing wrong with singing but you know. . . on the other hand I do like some of the advances that heads have made recently with the production and the elevation in multi-syllabic rhyme schemes. I love EPMD but those cats had some simple ass rhymes lol. . . the beats were a different story but whatever

The mainstream and underground both suffer from lack of subject matter. There's too much fear to try shit out that is different and there is too many guest appearances on albums. Rakim didn't feature everyone in creation. I am not really sure when that became necessary. Underground cats are stuck on other emcees. Mainstream cats are stuck on themselves.

[Defnyshn]

Easy and simplest answer - people did it for love and not for money. Here's an analogy:

Why do 95% of people get a job at McDonald's? Because they need the money. Nobody has a real passion for it, they just need some money. Nobody works there to increase market share, increase stockholder price or increase the quality of food because there's no love for it. Therefore, most people can care less about calling out, getting fired, taste of food, etc. Once people got into the music because they needed a job, that's when it all got messed up. Nobody cares about the quality of the music, nobody cares about the vision or message - they just want to get paid. Make sense? It's sad, but if more people did it for love, hip-hop music wouldn't be in the mess it's in now.

P.S. Old heads? LOL. Why? I don't get it.

[S.Breezy]

Old heads cus I'm the youngest person here. It's like bein the only kid @ a family barbeque or somethin ya know?

I think the quality is a major thing too. To me it's like eating an ok meal. You got some bangin mashed potatoes and an ok steak. You got this bangin beat (the I Get Money beat will always be dope) but wack lyrics (Fiddy is shitty) . Old Skool beats are good, dun get me wrong, but when I turn on the radio I hear a dope beat wasted on a wack artist.

Weezys producers deserve more props than him

[Roc Doogie]

I miss the love for it. Back in the days, you couldn't even think of grabbing the mic , stepping up to the cardboard, or even putting your fingers on a piece of wax if you weren't nice, you would either get clowned or get your ass whipped. These days, anybody can get a deal. I also kind of miss the lack of technology. if you were a fan, you had to go out and search for your favorite shit or go to the shows. You had to be talented, there weren't any fucking auto-toners and vocal devices and shit. there would be like 4 heads around one mic sharing headphones and killing shit, cypher style. Collabs were real, no emailing verses across the country and pro tooling it... vibes were created and feelings were felt. There were a million flavors of originality to choose from, today its the same old vanilla ice cream with a wide variety of sprinkles.

[phenetiks]

"today its the same old vanilla ice cream with a wide variety of sprinkles." -roc doogie of phenetiks

[Risingsunquest.com]

what I love about this discussion Is how Roc did not acknowledge the "Being Old " thing. Cause the truth is, thats the real issue. Were old! most of the music I love is over 15 years old. its the same artform but it has changed. someone like S. breezy liking Hip Hop we grew up on is like some young kid right now listening to led zepplin. Hip Hop music has changed and obviously does not suit our OLD pallets. who are we to say it isnt hip hop though when 50 or Ric Ross make tracks for the moneys sake. Its what the kids like.

growing up i liked Black moon, redman, wutang, biggie, nas, rakaim, krs yadda yadda.... I bet those who listened to Afrika bambotta, kurtis blow, furious five ect.... were saying "36 chambers, thats not REAL hip hop" and we call 70's rap Old school. Why? cause they were OLD like we are. We called those joints OLD SCHOOL when they were younger than tracks that You and I call REAL HIP HOP. so were the founders less real? I dont think so. and when S breezy's generation looks Back and remembers their favorite rappers... Fabolous, lil wayne, nelly, ludacris... they will be saing about the current radio stuff at that time how its wack and not like what they used to listen to in the 2000's

face It, Your Old. and when you show show so much hate to what plays on the radio you show how old you really are.

on the other hand when your the youngest cat on the AFA sight anc can appreciate Hip Hop from the early 90's that shows how smart you are.

What?

[Sketch Tha Cataclysm]

Note: Chuck D was 27 years old when Yo! Bumrush the Show dropped. . . he told everyone he was 23 which was still considered old at the time.

[phenetiks]

so as long as the kids like it...it's hip-hop? or good?
who is this and what have you done with the real quest?

you can quiz "us" and any one of the ones that came before us during our prime years....
and best believe everyone knows they're history. from before jazz on through funk, disco, "old school hip-hop", the 90's, and so on. every era knew, understood and respected there earlier form.
now, (most) kids are fucking clueless (no offense) to how or why anything was. and in turn are the ones picking up a mic and doing what the next man did but worse.
we were never taught what was "original". we found it.
and even when you try to school a kid, he doesn't care, cause it's too easy to stumble upon all this dumb shit.

old cold deto-22

[Mo Niklz]

That actually reminds me of some of the comments I get at work from people looking for music in particular the one comment stands out where some kid said to me "Whose Frank Sinatra?"

[Defnyshn]

We're in our 20s. C'mon dude, we ain't old. I'm only about 5 years older than S.Breezy.

And for the record, Deto's right. Young cats don't know the history because hip-hoppers in the past 10 or so years have been flash-in-the-pan-type artists; forgotten in mere months. That's why knowledge is element #1 now, overriding Breaking, Rapping, DJing, and so on; just like Terrible T said at the Summit.

Good music is timeless. Therefore, good hip-hop of the 80s, 90s, and even now should never be deemed "ol' school".

[Mo Niklz]

I don't know Quest I've been hating the radio since I was about 10. Then I've always been a trendsetter. I know what your saying though people get old and bitter about shit it comes with the territory.

I only ever listened to Love Lines now that I think about it.