A Dying Genre

I recently read a great article in the New Yorker about the death of hip-hop. Sasha Fere-Jones, the head music critc at the New Yorker, wrote a lengthy piece, detailing his run-ins with hip-hop artists, and his perception of the ever-changing genre. The genre of hip-hop, as Mr. Frere-Jones puts it, evolved in the late 70s as a faded, bare form of human expression, and has recently evolved into “gangsta rap,” a subgenre consisting of grotesque, childish beats, auto-tuned voices, and negative lyrics.

Here is an excerpt from his article, “Wrapping Up”:

“Hip-hop, a spinoff from New York City’s early disco culture, has been a commercial proposition since the release of “Rapper’s Delight,” in 1979. That’s thirty years, a long time for any genre. If you want to be conservative and decide that mainstream cultural relevance kicked in toward the end of the eighties, with New York’s golden age and the quick follow-up of gangsta rap, the wildly popular genre from Los Angeles, that still leaves twenty years of cultural impact. This may be a fine time for hip-hop to atomize. The original form has done an awful lot of work.”

I couldn’t agree more. The “hip-hop” I hear on the radio these days pales next to old underground talents, such as A Tribe Called Quest and Tupac. The tunes produced by Soulja Boy and Lil’ Wayne merely act as a petty form of entertainment, and worse, weakens the genre they claim to represent.

Hip-hop icon Jay-Z’s recent album “Blueprint 3” acts as a diatribe against modern hip-hop. Songs like “D.O.A,” or “Death of Autotune,” decries the degeneration of Autotune, mysogenistic lyrics, and the advocation of petty violence from music artists. He performs with N.E.R.D here in Champaign-Urbana this week.

Are we witnessing the downturn of a music genre? We had low-fi music during the 60s, synth-y 80s music, the grunge era of the early to mid 90s. So maybe, after “30 years,” it’s time for hip-hop to call it a day.

Next week, I will post an underground/old school hip-hop mix for all of you to download! Stay tuned!

For the entire New Yorker article, visit:

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2009/10/26/091026crmu_music_frerejones