I remember when my mom introduced me to hip hop back in the early eighties. She would play sounds of Flash and the Furious Five, Kool Moe Dee and Afrikka Bambatta. I jammed to the sounds of Erick B. and Rakim, Big Daddy Kane and KRS One and the Boogie Down Production. I loved to record songs on my tape deck to listen to in my Walkman. It was the late eighties when I began jamming to the tunes of Salt & Pepa, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte and YoYo. These were the female MC’s that every young girl aspired to be like. From the style of dress, down to the no nonsense attitudes, the first ladies of Hip Hop were the epitome of excellence. Back in the beginning hip hop contained lyrical content and a message that empowered the community. We were proud of the hip hop culture and all that it stood for. The question now is What Happened To Hip Hop? The new hip hop generation is filled with trap rappers that have poor lyrical content with catchy hooks and illicit messages. The focus is no longer about striving to improve the community. It’s now about adapting by the use of drugs and alcohol. There is blatant disrespect for women and women disrespecting themselves to sell records. The saddest part is that these are the people that the urban community looks to as role models. Little girls want to look like Barbie Dolls and Twerk like the celebrities that they hear and see degrading themselves on MTV and popular radio stations. Female MC’s went from “Who You Calling A Bitch to calling themselves bitches”. There is no more respect for the community in my favorite music genre. Instead the message is about popping pills, drinking alcohol, selling drugs and initiating violence. I would like to give a heartfelt apology to the pioneers of hip hop for the blatant disrespect of the culture. Again let me ask What Happened To Hip Hop
Written By:
Regina Annette
What Happened To Hip Hop
