Giles Bowkett wrote:
"I think the degree to which white people co-opt hip-hop will determine
how quickly rap fades from importance in the lives of black people, who
historically have created new musical genres more or less every decade."
First of all, a quick glance at popular music of the last few years shows
that hip hop has very little left that has not been co-opted. If its cross
genre usages of late aren't indications of that I don't know what is.
By trying to be egalitarian in your statment, you only succeed in once
more relegating black folks to the role of acting in reaction to white
culture. I highly doubt that hip hop will cease to be important to the
current generation of blacks simply as an act of spite on their
part towards whites. If anything the embracing of all that declairs
itself "true" or "rule" no matter how flimsy and uninspired the content,
will do much more to disconnect the black community from hip hop's creative
center. This can be contributed to a self imposed ignorance on the part of
the community, a process which at its core has little to do with whites.
Second, Hip hop was never a jazzy redress of disco. Groups like the
Sugarhill Gang existed as record labels marketable version of what was going
on in
the street. Hip Hop music was born of the cut & mix culture pioneered
by the likes of Bambatta, Kool Herc, etc., and If anything is a dscendant
of Jamacia's sound system phenomenon.
Lastly, hip hop music was never made of fixed parts and could be said to
be the only music form able to boast such a claim. Its evolution has
grown to
encompass live instruments as well as the producer/DJ medium. It, by
nature cannibalizes sounds and makes them it's own. For many the term hip
hop has lost its esoteric value, hence using it no longer separates them
from the overground masses. However, I feel that hip hop as an art form
still has validity and in fact never lost it. Due to over application of
the term in the popular context some may feel that many of the artists in
the various new "experimental" genres are not making hip hop. If this
the case, so be it. Then, let it be said that by this definition these
artist not making hip hop, but, what hip hop used to be!
Respectfully,
Craig Willingham