‘Hip-hop Is (not) Dead’

Ever since Nas released the single, “Hip-Hop Is Dead,” there’s been a lot of hearsay that is attempting to validate this assertion. Several publications have pontificated the notion, but perhaps the most startling evidence is a recent video of Karl Rove dancing along to comedians rapping about “M.C. Rove” at a high-profile banquet in our nation’s capital.\nDespite this scary demonstration and other justifications, in reality, hip-hop is not only too young to die, but it is also far too influential, popular and important to just go away. Most recently, the unification of the West and East, through the pact between P. Diddy and Snoop Dogg, can only be a hopeful sign of what is to come. \nPlus, what’s going to replace it?\nAs a commercial force, hip-hop is significant in depicting a different lifestyle to a mass audience. It is difficult to deny the revolutionary impact of icons like Public Enemy, Notrious B.I.G and 2Pac. On a social scale, dancing to jams like Juvenile’s “Back that Thang Up” at parties is just as prevalent as playing beer pong and hooking up. Additionally, the ghetto vernacular in rap has brought new vocabulary words even in the suburbs, single-handedly turning “crunk” and “ballin’” into household names. \nWhat, that’s just my house? \nAs someone who lived in the dirty south of Alabama for 12 years, the first blatant distinction I noticed in Indiana is the lack of hip-hop culture influence in daily life. This is not to say that Indiana doesn’t have hip-hop fans – I saw the line to meet Method Man last semester. But in Alabama, even the populace that doesn’t like hip-hop is still impacted by it. Maybe it’s because southern rap is the dominant force in hip-hop at the moment, with its capital in Atlanta and artists like T.I., Outkast, and Rich Boy thriving. Or maybe it’s just that us southerners are crunker than y’all Hoosiers. On the other hand, with artists like Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, and Common all in Chicago, I can’t help but foresee a bigger Midwestern front on the rise.\nNas justifies his reasoning that his once beloved genre is dead by claiming, “basically America is dead. There is no political voice. Music is dead. Our way of thinking is dead, our commerce is dead. Everything in this society has been done. That’s where we are as a country.” So, really its not just hip-hop that is dead, it is an entire nation that is in a bit of a rut. While once golden boys like Jay-Z (shoulda’ stayed retired) and Nas himself provided with recent disappointments, artists like Lupe Fiasco and Clipse triumphed with stellar albums. The stalemate in our nation and in hip-hop doesn’t indicate death or defeat, but an upcoming change for the better. As Chris Rock said a couple of weeks ago on Saturday Night Live, in response to “Is America ready for a black president?” Why not? We just had a retarded one.” \nAnd if you still think that hip-hop is dead, get ready for the resurrection.