The 37th Chamber 04.09.08: Defending Hip-Hop

Posted by Patrick Robinson on 04.09.2008

Sometimes you come across people who are all too willing to criticize hip-hop as a lower art form in the music world. These are some of the criticisms I've come across in my nearly 10 years as a hip-hop fan and the arguments I used to defend the music I love.

Uh…not much to say this week except Uni gave me a headache, work was satisfying yet strangely uneventful and hip-hop releases are still not grabbing me for this month. With the exception of AZ and I really have to get around to listening to Undeniable.

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"You are a person with very low self-esteem. Does your loud music blaring out of your car compensate for your tiny penis?" - Glen

So…if I am a person of low self-esteem, what does that make you given you're intent on judging my self-esteem and me by the size of my genitals? Seriously, how old are you? That kind of taunt we expect from kids in high school who are insecure with their own genetic shortcomings and therefore feel the need to beat people over the head with the fact that they feel they are hung like a moose. If you are indeed still in high school, please stop trolling and go and do some study. Thanks for reading Glen!

"Fat Joe is my favorite rapper living. I love his albums, but honestly, I do wish that he would drop a 'Blueprint' or an 'Illmatic' so that everybody could see what I see. His albums are great in my opinion, but I do feel that they lack a classic feel to them. But that's still mah dude." - Cesar Moreno aka Young Ceas

This was on the review I put up for Fat Joe's latest album, Elephant In The Room. Cesar my friend, you are a true hip-hop fan. You see there is a fine line between being a fan and a Stan in hip-hop.

Fans of an artist will tell you that they are the greatest, they make fantastic music or they're extremely entertaining, BUT can still point out or accept that the artist has shortcomings or their albums aren't perfect.

Stans on the other hand, will not let you say a bad word about their favorite artist. Of course, I don't mean you should try to convince somebody to stop liking a certain artist, but you need to accept that no rapper in the game is anywhere near perfect. Even the God MC, Rakim isn't perfect. Why? Because dude takes approximately 38 years to give us any new material and it shits me.

Stans will of course continue to crap on about how so and so made a classic album when opinions on the matter differ greatly from person to person. To me, a certified classic album is one that 9/10 people will agree upon classic status, with the tenth agreeing that it's a damn good album, but not perfect. So, whilst Cesar's favorite rapper is Fat Joe, he can acknowledge the fact that his albums haven't been classics, but are still entertaining meaning he's most certainly a fan and not a Stan. Thanks for reading mate!

The Rant

The thing that really annoys me about ringtone rappers isn't necessarily their content or the simplicity of their rhymes. Nor is it about the fact that some of them are outselling truly outstanding artists often on a ratio of 3:1. No, it's the simple fact that when it comes to someone who isn't a hip-hop fan, that person is lead to believe that ringtone rap or the tracks they hear on the radio is the ONLY kind of hip-hop out there.

It sucks when you have to constantly defend the genre you love to people that aren't willing to accept the fact that there is more to hip-hop than drugs, guns and bitches. It also makes arguments extremely difficult when artists like Young Jeezy; 50 Cent etc. riddle their songs with that kind of content. Naturally, in the middle of the discussion you're having, a song like "U And Dat" by E-40 comes on the radio as you're talking and completely throws off your argument.

So, I'm going to put up three common criticisms I get and the three defenses I use against them when it comes to hip-hop. You may not agree, or you may have different arguments but these are the ones I've found have actually worked on occasion. Of course, I'll put up videos for a couple of songs at the end that usually embody the polar opposite of the above "drugs, guns and bitches" talk that, if you can convince your doubting friend to listen to, they might reconsider their position.

Don't get me wrong, you may feel I'm trying to place hip-hop above all other music genres, or calling it elitist music, I'm not. What I am trying to do is give you arguments to use when somebody tries to drag it below equal standing alongside other genres of music.

"They Don't Even Write Their Own Lyrics"

Honestly, this is the most common one I get after the content argument and I don't honestly know where it's coming from. Ghostwriting in hip-hop is largely a taboo subject and hence who's getting stuff written for them doesn't usually make the rounds on the local news channel. Moreover, much like what the Internet Wrestling Community (IWC) is to Wrestling fans, I can hardly picture any of the people that I argue with (argue is too strong a word, it's more like a sophisticated discussion, but for the sake of using an easy word, it's argument for now) searching the Internet frantically for the latest rumors regarding who Diddy's latest ghostwrites are.

I suppose, if some of hip-hop's most prolific artists such as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Diddy, Will Smith and even Lil Wayne who have at one point or another in their careers been linked to ghostwriting can get away with it as such, what does it matter? But coming quickly back to my first point, how the hell does your techno fan, or your grunge rock fan or your pop fan, who hate hip-hop (not saying these fans do, but out imaginary person we're talking about does) know these people to that level of sincerity to know they get ghostwriters? Hell, many people I know didn't realize Will Smith was a rapper until "Switch" came out a couple of years back.

So really, is there anything wrong with ghostwriting? In some cases, I feel there is. If you want to have a tribute track to say, your best friend who passed away, on your album, YOU should write it yourself. The raw emotion you feel will power the track and give it a sense of ‘realness'. To get somebody else who didn't necessarily know the person you are writing about to do the track for you, well that's an example of bad ghostwriting. I personally don't have a problem with it, so long as you factor it into the equation when you are analyzing a rapper's technical ability (in other words, their ability to get words down on paper, and then onto a track).

For those of you who have Diddy's latest album, Press Play, listen to "The Future" and "Hold Up", then listen to any track by Pharoahe Monch. Listen to "Wanna Move", specifically Diddy's verse and tell me it doesn't sound exactly like T.I.. These are other cases when ghostwriting goes wrong as Diddy sounds like a T.I. rip-off in the latter track, and sounds tired trying to keep up with Monch's vocal inflexions on the former tracks.

A rapper must still possess the technical ability to transfer the words from paper to the mic without sounding exactly like the person who wrote it for them. Cast your mind back to Dre's 2001 album. "Still D.R.E." was largely written by Jay-Z, but Dre still sounds like Dr. Dre, and not Jay-Z with some bass in his voice. Earlier still, on The Chronic many of Dre's verses were written by Snoop Dogg. Again, Dre still manages to sound like Dre and not Snoop Dogg. So, whilst Dre gets ghostwriters, he still manages to sound like himself, which is an example of ghostwriting working well.

The main argument here though, is the fact that I'm willing to bet that 7/10 rappers are completely responsible for the words that go down on paper, two of those ten rappers get assistance, whilst the remaining rapper has all their material completely written for them. Every CD I can see on my shelf from where I'm sitting features rappers that fall into those first 9 (I honestly can't think of anybody who has ALL their material completely written for them…well nobody who's album I own anyway). Whether it's De La Soul, Talib Kweli, Method Man, Cypress Hill, Kool G Rap, MF Doom, G-Unit, Obie Trice or Common, they all write for themselves and mostly by themselves.

The really funny thing though, is that the majority of pop stars don't write their own material. How often do you hear promotions for new albums saying "XYZ co-wrote 9 tracks on the album!" WOW! CO-WROTE, not even all the tracks on their own album! Fantastic! How people can criticize hip-hop artists for not writing their own music, when pop stars who need to have somebody hold their hand as they write their tracks (and not even every track at that) get a free pass is beyond me.

Someone once said to me that 50 Cent didn't write his own material. Who the hell could stand writing about getting shot nine times on every track and not want to put a tenth bullet into the man's head (in reference to Get Rich Or Die Trying. Another rapper they told me they KNEW didn't write his own material was Eminem. Who would be f***** up enough to write about the stuff he did on his first two albums? The raw anger in tracks like "Kim" leads me to believe otherwise.

"It's Just Talking, How Is That Talent?"

Oh, how I hate this one. Listen to this track. It's from Twista back in 1991 when he went by the name of "Tung Twista".



The song is called "From The Tip Of My Tung". Now tell me that this example of "talking" isn't talent. I mean…it's f***** up how fast dude is talking in the first verse and I think this was the track that actually got him awarded "Fastest Rapper Alive" by the Guinness World Records. Or so the rumor goes.

See, rap isn't about talking, it's about utilizing the English language (unless you're not an English speaking rapper of course) to the fullest extent, drawing out similes and metaphors throughout not just entire 16 bar verses, but often, entire songs. The beauty of hip-hop in a bizarre way, is that we're not always distracted by a pretty voice. Can you imagine someone like Mariah Carey or Mary J. Blige belting out (and I mean BELTING OUT) Lil Mama tracks? They'd most likely sound fantastic because they both have absolutely incredible voices. Similarly, Biggie could have been rapping nursery rhymes and would have still sounded just as menacing. Why you might ask? Because his abilities to alter the pitch and speed (flow) of his voice made him a talented rapper. Much like singers use a different tone for different songs, for example, a mournful reflective tone or a upbeat tone, rappers have to try and vary their vocal delivery otherwise, yes, they are pretty much just talking.

Ludacris is an example of a rapper who doesn't always say much, but virtually always sounds dope on guest verses. The force and energy with which he delivers his vocals, combined with his ability to raise or lower his vocal pitch to suit the content of the song make him one of the better guest rappers alive in my opinion. Canibus I feel is the best battle rapper alive because the way he uses his voice, is much like the way a soldier uses a machine gun. You can picture him literally setting the mic on fire in the recording studio on some tracks.

Yeah, many rappers do pretty much just talk and you know what? They're boring as hell. Rocko for example, is one of the most boring rappers I've ever heard. Tony Yayo on the other hand, does have the ability to change his vocal abilities, but on his album Thoughts Of A Predicate Felon he pretty much yelled at you for a good hour non-stop. That album was easily the worst G-Unit release ever. Actually, I find Soulja Boy yells a lot too.

Another element of rap that is somehow overlooked in this criticism is the simple fact that rap RHYMES throughout the whole song. A lot of rock music doesn't rhyme, nor does a lot of pop music. Next time somebody says this to you, challenge them to write a 16 bar verse which rhymes. Heck, even a four bar verse. If it actually makes sense, and they didn't resort to double rhyming, congratulate them and ask them to write a hook and two more verses. If they can actually manage that, and the song STILL makes SENSE, then get them to give Snoop Dogg a call. He's actively promoting the fact that he's taking on ghostwriters these days so they can earn some extra cash on the side.

Chances are though, your friend has failed (probably EPIC FAIL-ed in some cases) to write a song that makes sense and one that they would be happy marketing to people on an album. Like before, though, if they HAVE managed, tell them to write another 14 more and you have yourself a hip-hop album in the making. It's not as easy as it looks, is it?

Hip-hop fans I think are the most unforgiving fans in some cases. If something is terrible, we're pretty damn vocal about it. If a rapper can't rap themselves out of a paper bag, we're going to mock them for the rest of their career. So to be able to write 15 tracks, each being different in some way content wise, I feel is quite an accomplishment. And this is just the beginning.

Before I launch into the rest of this argument, there is one more that doesn't usually come up too often, but you can throw in here at this point, is the fact that a lot of hip-hop artists write lyrics to music they haven't heard before. For many rock bands, they produce the music and the lyrics simultaneously and hence, I think writing is a little easier for them. Not a lot, but a little. Rappers are generally sent a number of beats from producers. They select some they want to use on their album, listen to the track and then proceed to write lyrics that they feel match the tone of the beat, which is another element of writing altogether.

Anyway, the rest of my argument is that the aforementioned generalization of writing is the most dead basic form of hip-hop. Even the most boring rapper is still usually able to enhance their music somewhat with the use of a metaphor or clever punch line. This is something other genres don't usually engage in.

Look at artists such as GZA and Pharoahe Monch. Those two artists are the masters of the metaphor rap though I will give Common props for "I Used To Love H.E.R." which is one of the best, if not the best metaphor based rap song I've ever heard in my life. Lloyd Banks and Fabolous base their styles off clever punch lines to drive their music which in turn were based on the careers of Big Daddy Kane and Big L. Rappers that utilize the metaphor and punch line at appropriate times (Lil Wayne tends to use them randomly which defeat the purpose of them) will consistently make entertaining music as it makes you think on another level.

Then of course you have rappers that use an absolutely MONSTROUS vocabulary. Pharoahe Monch and Canibus must read dictionaries every day as those two are using words I have never heard of. Canibus even throws in references to famous scientists and Religion to boot. Listen to "Poet Laureate II" (below) and you'll see what I mean.



"It's All About Drugs, Guns And Bitches"

No, it's not! Arg, this is the first argument that you will come across when you are forced (and I often mean FORCED) to defend hip-hop. Honestly, we shouldn't have to. In life, you should accept what people like for exactly what that is. Something that person likes. If you're anyway comfortable with your position in life, you'll say something along the lines of "hey that's cool, I might not agree, but I respect the fact that you've expressed more than a passing interest in that subject and respect your right to do so".

Why, therefore, are we often forced to defend hip-hop, something we love?

As a hip-hop fan of almost 10 years now, I can certainly understand why people have developed negative views on hip-hop and especially in recent times, with the increasing awareness of hip-hop based on ringtone rappers, it's becoming even more obvious.

Sadly, hip-hop has an ugly side and my Lord, it's an extremely ugly side. There's rap that encourages or glorifies violence, drug dealing, and basically treating women like shit. You have to differentiate that from the rap that comments on these kind of topics, saying that "yeah this is life, the life I've lived, but it's certainly not one you should want". I have a good friend who used to deal drugs and he said that in the last few months before he got out, he was constantly looking over his shoulder, scared that somebody was after him. He's been out of that game for a couple of years now and he's significantly happier and healthier than he ever was before. It's not something you do to get paid, it's something you do out of desperation.

Drug dealing isn't something we can ignore, and something we can't pretend we will never come into contact with at one point in our lives. For younger hip-hop fans, progressing through high-school, seeing rappers driving Rolls Royce Phantoms, dancing in videos with hot models, owning enormous houses and wearing more chains than Mr. T, drug-dealing certainly becomes a desirable profession, especially if they are coming from a hard background. Why the hell would you work at McDonalds, earning minimum wage, getting burnt on the cooker and having to deal with hot, uncomfortable working conditions, AND still go to school, when you can deal and get paid like your favorite rapper?

The downplayed part of this scenario is that many rappers get into the rap game to get AWAY from the life of a drug dealer. THEN, they get paid. It's not the other way around, although you could be forgiven for thinking so given rappers like Young Jeezy certainly provide a convincing argument through their music for otherwise. How many times do you hear a rapper in an interview describing the hard terrible living conditions they were in growing up, resorting to drug dealing to get by, but ultimately wanting to leave that life behind, so they try and hone their skills as a rapper?

Rap's roots lie in party rap. I once read in an interview with Run-D.M.C. that the reason they wanted to make upbeat music was because they wanted to use rap as a form of escapism. They went on to say that, if you lived in the ghetto, you didn't want to hear about other people living in the ghetto, you wanted to escape that, and have a damn good time. You wanted to party and forget about the bills due, the violence and the drugs in your local neighborhood. That's why the majority of rap music coming from the 80s is party rap. Feel good music that was entertainment in it's purest form.

Fast-forward more than 20 years later and I'm wondering what the hell happened. Rarely you find an artist these days who embodies the spirit of the 80s in that they can make a feel good party track without having to resort to an accompanying dance or come off lyrically sounding like a 6 yr old.

With the amount of crap that's being spewed forth, you could ultimately forgive someone under the impression that rap is all about the drugs and guns or looking like an idiot in the clubs. But there are still artists out there that know how to make music that is entertaining without having to resort to gun-talk.

De La Soul, who released an album as recently as 2006 are consistently entertaining and make music that is mostly upbeat and positive. Common continues to make music that not only delivers a positive message, but also does so in a way that is entertaining. He also frequently makes music featuring uplifting lyrics for women in today's society.

LL Cool J, whilst a shadow of his former self lyrically, is still active and has been so now for more than 20 years. His latest album, whilst nothing special, featured feel good music that was suitable for parties as well as music you wouldn't feel the need to turn off around your parents or younger siblings. Talib Kweli and Mos Def are two of the most popular rappers involved with the "new school" movement and for good reason. Their music is thought provoking without being overly complex and simultaneously delivers a message, without beating you over the head.

There are rappers out there that will make music based on principles of respect, love and enjoyment of life but are largely forgotten. In terms of sales, they are forgotten because they often lack "that big single" that the radio is constantly looking for, mainly because they refuse to make a song with a dance as stupid as Tony Yayo's hand…thing. They're forgotten in the clubs because many of the beats they choose are better suited for contemplative thought, rather than something you can dance to. And sadly, they're often forgotten in the minds of the fans. Whilst they're still releasing music, because the hip-hop industry is currently flooded with artists, it makes it virtually impossible to get their voice heard over the dozens of one-hit wonders plaguing the radio.

So next time somebody suggests that hip-hop is a word-speaking, non-writing, vulgar genre, I would get them to listen to these tracks which can be easily hunted down on places other than YouTube. Such as on the original CD. *Hint, hint*

In defense of degrading lyrics:



In defense of lyrical ability and content:



In defense of writing ability:






(wait for the ending if you haven't heard this song before)

In defense of being able to have fun:



Before We Go…
No other features this week as there's a lot of writing above to digest and there's also more videos in this column than there has any right to be.

Next week, I'll try to make the rant a little shorter.

See you tomorrow in The Hip-Hop Herald!