This is a title of an enlightening article from "The Seminal: Independent Media and Politics" website that I stumbled upon today. The article states that "Hip hop, which has been the darling of the record industry these last few years, is in trouble." Hip Hop sales are down. According to Nielsen SoundScan, sales in the Rap category dropped 20.7% compared with sales in 2005. The article elaborates on the fact that the problem with hip hop is the lyrics when it juxtaposes "artistically interesting" hip hop lyrics from "CREAM" by The Wu-Tang Clan. and today's lyrics from songs like "Push Baby . On the outside, the lyrical content from back in the day seems to be the same as today's i.e. violence, drugs, money. However, the article says "Well to start, lyrically “CREAM” is about more than just drugs and guns. This particular song is also about survival, big dreams, and the mysteries of life." The writer goes on to say there is no possible way Pretty Ricky's lyrics are commensurate with those of the Wu-Tang Clan. The solution, of course, to the problem is make good music by putting some thought into the lyrics.
Here are the lyrics to the first verse of both songs, read them and see if you agree with the article or not:
CREAM: It’s been twenty-two long hard years of still strugglin
Survival got me buggin, but I’m alive on arrival
I peep at the shape of the streets
And stay awake to the ways of the world cause shit is deep
A man with a dream with plans to make C.R.E.A.M.
Which failed; I went to jail at the age of 15
A young buck sellin drugs and such who never had much
Trying to get a clutch at what I could not… could not…
The court played me short, now I face incarceration
Pacin — going up state’s my destination
Handcuffed in back of a bus, forty of us
Life as a shorty shouldn’t be so ruff
But as the world turns I learned life is hell
Living in the world no different from a cell
Push It Baby: When I Step Up In He Club-I’m So Hot Hot Hot
Tossing Dollars At These Hoes Like Ah Ah Ah
Pretty Woman Up In Here Like Bah Bah Bah
Spitting Game In Their Ear Like - Lalalalalalaa
Baby Blue I Don’t Play No Games
Head To My Feet So Fresh So Clean
Buying Out The Bar Like It Ain’t No Thang
Hot Boy Like Wayne
Diamonds In My Chain Blang Blang Blang
I got canary diamond Bustas
Got the matching Lamborghini same color mustard
Baying drinks for these chicks and now they owe me
More gin if u wine I’m the same ol G
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2 comments:
First of all, nobody can compete with Wu Tang Clan. The RZA, the GZA, ODB (RIP), Method Man, Raekwon, U-God, Inspectah Deck, Ghost Face Killa, and Masta Killa. I'm sorry, but Liquid Swords rocked my world. I own the Wu Tang Manual.
I'm not a big rap fan, but yeah, it sucks. It's so repetitive now that it's not even worth listening to. It can't compare with the back-in-the-day stuff like Wu Tang, Dead Prez, or Tupac. That's the good stuff. That's what we need back.
I think the real reason that record sales are down is because the amount of music downloads is soaring. I can understand how that angers most musicians; they say people are stealing their music. However I think music is an art and not something to be capitalized off of. My dream is to be a professional musician, but I don't plan on trying to profit off of my music. If anything I'd just play shows and use the ticket money to pay for the equipment.
Most music today unfortunately is composed by people that don't make it for the sake of art but to haul in huge profits; and it's not that hard if you can draw in listeners with sexist music videos that portray women as objects with the sole purpose of pleasing men.
Moreover, music lyrics have always been generally a form of poetry. They don't have to rhyme, but should at least be written with some sort of sense of mental ability. Here, I'll make a song that could be the next radio hit:
I roll in a Benz
wid muh homies n b****es
You try tuh bust muh style
n I'll give ya some stitches
grew up in da hood
uh huh dats right
i rose from da streets
n now im down tuh ride
Boom! Double platnum!
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