The State of Hip-Hop Address

Tomorrow, VH1 will have a show dedicated to 30 years of hip-hop music. This show will honor some of the pioneers and legends of the hip-hop industry and pay honor to the state of hip-hop today. \nSome of the legends who will be honored include the often forgotten DJ Kool Herc, KRS-ONE, The Rock Steady Crew and Tupac Shakur. Some of the people who are scheduled to perform at this event include Nas, the legendary group Public Enemy and Doug E. Fresh. Then, to top it all off, the Terror Squad featuring Fat Joe will perform its "legendary" hit "Lean Back," which will pay honor to all the people who just ... lean back. There will be great performers honoring the true hip-hop culture. If you're a true hip-hop head and you look on the list of artists that will perform at the event, there is one name that sticks out like Louis Farrakhan at a Klan rally.\nThe performer who I am referring to in this case is everyone's favorite big guy, Fat Joe. In the middle of all the legends, for some strange reason, they decided to toss in some guy whose only lasting contribution is making hugely fat guys' jobs a lot easier by simplifying dancing down to one motion. This is just one example of the truly sad state of hip-hop culture right now. Other examples include Nelly telling ladies to "drop down and get ur eagle on, gurl." \nPeople will just make a song about anything today. They have no respect for the culture, for the pioneers who have paved the way or for the art of making music. Their only purpose in recording tracks is to make money. I'm not saying that they are bad people -- if you have a job, the only goal of your job is to make money to support your family. But at the same time, you shouldn't completely sell out to the almighty dollar and produce trashy music that has no substance. It has gotten to the point where it's like a formula to produce a hit rap song. In your song you must talk about fine ladies (often termed in other words). You must talk about nice cars that half of them rent, along with the rented jewelry, which all adds up to a rented lifestyle. To be a successful rap artist, you must have grown up in some kind of slum, it helps to have once been a street pharmacist, and it's always a plus to have been shot or least shot at once in your life. Because of this pattern of rap success, it has led to an industry which seems to produce rap artists who are so similar that it's like they are made in a hip-hop factory. This is a far cry from what hip-hop used to be.\nHip-hop was designed to express creativity and to start a party, but it wasn't designed to glamorize the evils of street life. It wasn't meant to glamorize selling drugs and smoking weed and killing people. Coming from Gary, I know people who are involved in many of the things that are talked about in today's rap songs. I have heard them tell me out of their own mouths that if they had the chance to choose between what I am doing here and what they are doing on the streets everyday, that they would choose what I am doing every time. And now you're telling me that the same life that real thugs would love to have no part of is the new American dream? Hip-hop was designed to be a voice for the youth of America, not some way to prove to older generations that we are truly Generation X.\nAs we celebrate this 30-year anniversary of the creation of hip-hop, I hope true hip-hop fans will take time to remember when true hip-hop was still being made and widely respected. It sure would be nice if in honor of 30 years of hip-hop, people actually start making true hip-hop music again.