September 8, 2007 - SaturdayHipHop's Third Renaissance: Taking Back the Music We Love
By iCON the Mic King
Hiphop is not dead. HipHop is on the verge of people-driven revolution. Commercial radio has hit rock bottom with songs so ignorant that none of us are interested anymore. There was a time when many of us would say "that's my joint in the club!" but even that value is beginning to wear thin. Many fans are turning to other genres while hiphop at its finest continues to further splinter into subgenres and incorporate elements that further legitimize its musicality. The ease of bootlegging has made the fans a much more powerful component in the music industry through their newfound ability to become educated consumers. The singles-based formula for selling records has rendered the recording industry's business model obsolete. The prophecy is that the Internet would one day level the playing field for the major and independent labels. Ladies and gentlemen, with HipHop's Third Renaissance on its way, that day is fast approaching.
It is no secret that HipHop sales are significantly down; as much as 21% from 2005 to 2006. In fact 2006 was a year where platinum hiphop albums could be counted on one hand and the first year in the past twelve where there were no rap albums amongst the music industry's top sellers. Much to the dismay of rappers like MIMS or Lil' Boosie, in 2007 the surprise lies in what is selling. It only took seven albums but legendary "backpack" rapper (I only use terms like this to help you identify easier) Common's "Finding Forever," fueled by electro-infused beats provided by Kanye West, debuted 1 on the Billboard 200 selling 155,329 copies in its first week. T.I.'s "T.I. vs. T.I.P." was a distant 6th selling 55,339 copies. Just this past week Talib Kweli's "Ear Drum" debuted at 2 on Billboard selling 60,479 while Swizz Beats' "One Man Band Man" driven by the inescapable radio record "It's Me Snitches" debuted at 11 selling 45,163 copies. The record industry takes notice when, in the words of Swizz Beats, "Talib outdid me without a hit?"
As the prophecy tells us, the sales of major and independent labels are going to equalize. However with music being produced at such high volume and such low quality, they are not going to equalize at diamond sales. This is the Information Age, there are children who don't know what it is to anticipate, purchase, and digest an album. Music has become such an expendable commodity and it is as much the fault of the artists who have created such awful "microwave music" for so long, the labels for not learning to market better product, and ultimately the consumer for enduring it. The consumer now has the power to fight back thus causing a domino effect amongst the other parties involved. The end result is the change we've all been waiting for. HipHop's Third Renaissance.
HipHop's First Renaissance undeniably happened in 1988. I don't claim to be old enough to remember the name of every group that left their mark in this period but I remember this is the era that begat many a classic album. This is the era when I went to my first hiphop show. It was at Penn's Landing in my hometown of Philadelphia and the headliners were EPMD and Public Enemy. Hiphop was young but it was finally coming into its own worldwide. It was fun, the music was good, at any given moment you could hear a dope song on Power 99 FM. This was before Radio One and Clear Channel synced playlists across the United States, back when a program director actually directed programming. More often than not the hiphop you heard in this era was good. This era is the same era that would inspire the rappers of the early and mid-90s, the era Nas, Wutang, and Boot Camp Clik reminisces upon.
HipHop's Second Renaissance happened in 1998. With commercial rap in its Ice Age HipHop dug its way underground and progressed. This was the Rawkus/Lyricis Lounge era. The focus was lyricism and a lot of rap's unsung heroes were able to stake their claim as true artists. This is the era that breathed life into the marginal careers of such legends as Pharoahe Monch and Common and would give birth to emcees like Canibus, Mos Def, Wordsworth, Talib Kweli and give us album's like "Black On Both Sides, " "Train of Thought," "Internal Affairs," "Funcrusher Plus" and many more. This is not to say that good music didn't come out of the commercial world, it's just that overall better music built from artistic integrity that represented the rebellious spirit hiphop was built from came from the independents in this period.
It wasn't until September 11th, 2001 when Jay Z released "The Blueprint" that our attention would be again captured by the capability of mainstream to create good music. Jay led the pack with Kanye West and Just Blaze in his pocket and together set the trend for soulful, emotive hiphop that was good music albeit laced with champagne splashing motifs. At this point the independents had begun to delve into things that just weren't good music and the natural progression was to go with the more accessible product. The mistake was expecting it would last.
Right now, it is 2007 and we are in our Prenaissance led by Common, Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch, and soon Kanye West. These musicians are laying the new archetype for soulful music created by those with actual lyrical ability in an era where the paradigm has shifted so much that Lil' Wayne is considered the new Rakim. The difference between these rappers and the rest of the marketplace is they make efforts to create timeless music rather than bombard you with "mixtapes" to maintain relevance. They don't over saturate the marketplace with microwave music; instead their efforts are few and far between as to prepare a quality product. Based on the new sales figures, it seems as though fans are responding accordingly.
As fans we have a lot of responsibility in making this movement move. In this, the information age, our modern classics may be lost in the shuffle through the new expendability and oversaturation of music. Gone are the days of purchasing and digesting an album. Remember when you bought a tape that may not have hit you immediately but you kept listening to it because you couldn't afford a new tape. You grew to enjoy that album because you gave it a fair chance. For me De La Soul's "Stakes is High" was that tape.
I'm not saying that you must brainwash yourself into enjoying the new Common album. What I am saying is that if you're going to download everything don't limit your listening experience by just giving each track an 8-second test and deleting it. Burn the album; listen to it several times in your car or at least listen to it on something without computer speakers. Then if you enjoy the album you should support the artist so he can continue to make the music you love. Look at those sales numbers, your contribution is no longer a drop in the bucket and your lack of contribution is a hole punched in that bucket.
With than said we also need legitimacy in our journalism. There are a lot of albums that getting undeserved praise and a lot of albums being overlooked. Furthermore there is an overabundance of writers that are reviewing albums under the same premise as those 8-second testers. I can't tell you how many times I've read reviews that were rewordings of the press junket that went out with the album. HipHop journalists need to recognize their power; they are tastemakers abusing the menu. However when I say "HipHop journalists," I would be remiss if I did not recognize that the people are taking over that position as well with the popularity of blogs. In HipHop's Third Renaissance it is everyone's responsibility to use their voice and spread the word on what is worth supporting.
Speaking of support, September 11th, 2007, ironically enough, marks a pivotal day in the coming of the Third Renaissance as it is the day Kanye West competes with 50 Cent in this turbulent market for sales supremacy. We couldn't have chosen two better people to represent the polarization of hiphop. In this corner you have Kanye West, the backpacker with money on his mind whose story of surviving a near-fatal car crash coupled with dramatic and layered productions launched him into HipHop royalty as the uber-every man. In the other corner is 50 Cent, the hustler turned rapper turned mogul whose death-defying legend and visceral lyricism matched with impressive business strategies both devolved rap and has had the industry in a stranglehold since 2002. In actuality the two are not as different as the media would like them to be. 50 Cent is a devout Talib Kweli fan with backpack producers on his payroll and Kanye West has many odes to misogyny with many post-Ice Age gangsta rappers. In other words Kanye West is not purely Pete Rock and 50 Cent is not purely Tupac.
I admire 50 Cent, this is not to say I am a fan of a lot of his music, but I admire his work ethic and business acumen. As a person who reveres Robert Greene's "48 Laws of Power" as one would the Bible, I admire 50 Cent's ability to manipulate people into inflating his relevance. We all know that he is going come out and create a conflict; we have watched him use the same archetype three times now. However his ventures continue to be successful and we continue to talk about his every move. With all that said, I'm not so sure what he is trying to accomplish in his constant belittling of Kanye West and his staged emotional reaction to the leak of his video with Robin Thicke. He's painting Kanye West as an underdog and Kanye is playing into it perfectly. It's as though 50 Cent is attempting to shift the paradigm back in the direction of better hiphop.
On the other hand I admire Kanye West and I am a fan of a lot of his music. I enjoy his arrogance, his passion for his music, his beats, and a lot of his lyrics (although there is always a line or two that makes me cringe). His heart is always in the right place, he uses his creativity to push his boundaries, and musically recreate himself every go round. He embodies the soul of what it is we loved about A Tribe Called Quest without emulating them. In short I am happy to see Kanye West stepping up and flourishing in his role as a leader of the new school. Throughout his career he has done the unthinkable, making masterful chess moves to blur the lines of what is "mainstream" and what is "underground." Before Kanye West who would think to put Jay Z on a song with Saul Williams or Mos Def with Freeway?
Much like Canibus in 1998, Kanye West is in a position to change the game significantly. I say this because if Canibus would have delivered a successful and critically acclaimed album in "Can-I-Bus" the labels would have looked for more rappers like him to release and the landscape of HipHop would be considerably different. Just as DMX begat the success of Ja Rule begat the success of 50 Cent, Canibus could have joined Eminem and Big Pun and helped beget a generation of superlyricists with major label deals. The difference is Kanye is two albums multi-platinum albums and a Grammy into his career and he is not an upstart losing himself in a war with an industry veteran. Thus, if Kanye West outsells major labels will have the final reason to fully begin to take more risks with progressive artists that think outside the box.
HipHop's 3rd Renaissance will come on the back of the next generation, lyricists who create music you can feel with a progressive sound. This is not the era to recreate WuTang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest records. This is not the recreation of the Rawkus era. This is a time for new blood with new ideas to take hiphop forward. This is not the time to keep playing "DWYCK," "Scenario," and "The Choice Is Yours" over and over. This is the time to breathe life into the new classics. HipHop's 3rd Renaissance will manifest itself through emcees like Lupe Fiasco as he is an exceptional blend of adept lyricism with soulful music that the average person can feel. Many emcees fit this description in different ways, each one with their own flavor. This is key in the progression of HipHop, embracing the dynamic qualities that each emcee brings to the table as well as the potential for musicality that Hiphop for so long left untapped. The 3rd Renaissance is about the evolution of this music that we leave in recreating the magic that is all but forgotten. That next generation includes emcees like Elzhi of Slum Village, Tonedeff, Yarah Bravo, PackFM, Emilio Rojas, Supastition, Dezmatic, and many more passionate, charismatic, and progressive emcees that I have yet to hear or meet. Most importantly, HipHop's 3rd Renaissance includes you.
Change in HipHop comes through change in us. Flashback to 1999 to "Fear Not of Man" the first track on Mos Def's "Black On Both Sides" where he said: "You know what's gonna happen with Hip-Hop? Whatever's happening with us." The time is now to effect change. Your voice matters, your vote counts. It is time to take back the music we love and lead it further. Respect and support this music and in soon enough the industry will be forced to respond to your voice. A vote for Kanye, Common, Pharoahe, and/or Kweli is a vote for HipHop's Third Renaissance. The power is yours, use it wisely. I'm using mine right now and you can find me standing in line at FYE on September 11th.
Peace and Respect.
-iCON the Mic King
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