The obviously sad thing about these incidents is that these young men left the earth way too soon. Secondly, they left fans behind who enjoyed their contribution to the culture; but would have love to see much more. That realization left me with the conclusion that Hip Hop needs to change. It has been a generalization from some fans of the culture that the current generation of music glorifies being a drug addict. You hear a slew of rappers, including popular artist like Young Thug and Future constantly talk about popping pills and drinking lean without mentioning the repercussions. Nore was on Sway in the Morning not long ago and spoke about the subject of rappers abusing drugs and how some rappers are glorifying drug use to sell their music. You can watch the interview below, go to the 13:00 minute mark if you want to hear his thoughts on this topic.
In addition to the drugs, we have the violence that has been permeated in the culture for quite some time. In June of this year, rappers XXXtentacion and Jimmy Wopo were killed in their respective hometowns on the same day. The ills of our communities has been intersected with Hip Hop from the star; it’s nothing new. However, in the beginning, the culture was used as an escape from our troubles as oppose to a reminder. Like with most things in life, evolution took place in Hip Hop. Since the culture comes from the street, it is only natural that the music reflects our society. It is true that Hip Hop is about expression, reality and serves as a de facto news outlet for the hood. On the other hand it has shown that it can be innovative and become a source for change. DMC, one third of the legendary group RUN-DMC offered his take on the transition on Hip Hop from it’s start to now. He also gave suggestions on how it can change. Watch the video below.
Of course, the total blame cannot be placed solely on the artist. It should be known that the powers that be who control the mass media push the bullshit part of the culture to the forefront. There is a misconception that the artist is able to control what they create. Sometimes this is true, but more than not, they conform to what will allow them to survive in the business. I’m not suggesting to anyone to neglect their hustle. By all means, if you enter the business of making music, you have to able to navigate and hopefully prosper. What I’m saying is that the change may need to come through balance and innovation. We always had different levels of Hip Hop. From NWA to Public Enemy. The thing is, artists should be aware that what is going on now in the current state of Hip Hop is taking lives away. It is sometimes subtracting and not contributing to the progression of society, and that’s not Hip Hop. The messed up thing about this latest tragedy was that Mac Miller was so Hip Hop. He was dope and creative and in my opinion someone who tried to push the culture forward. I’m not using his death as the message but as the reminder. We need to change.