On Wednesday night, I honestly didn’t know what to do with myself considering Empire took a backseat to The World Series. Thankfully, the third GOP debate kept me occupied. Watching conservatives talk about the good-old-days of American society before some imaginary liberal takeover destroyed cultural values always fascinated me. Those who’ve followed the Presidential primary up to this point totally understand Donald Trump’s “Make America Great” slogan. It’s understandable. Some still romanticize a period within the nation where jobs were plentiful, we ranked higher than anyone in the world in everything from education to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and life was reminiscent of a good Leave It To Beaver episode. Fast forward to the present, most of the industrial jobs many relied on in the past have been shipped to other countries, most millennial Americans still deal with everything from a terrible academic system to skyrocketing student loan debt and everything else in between. In their eyes, there was a moment where the nation was the perfect place to live and now it’s almost become an international joke. Of course, the debate came as an interview Vince Staples did with Time Magazine made the internet rounds where the Long Beach emcee made this comment:
“I was born in 1993 in Long Beach, California and I don’t remember any of it because I was a baby,” Staples says in a TIME video entitled “Rapper Vince Staples Explains Why The 90s Are Overrated,” “but I’m pretty sure it was nice… [The] 90s get a lot of credit. I don’t really know why. Biggie and Tupac, those are the staples of the 90s. That’s why they get the golden era credit. There’s not a 50 Cent in the 90s. They don’t even have a Kanye. Jay Z’s biggest song, his only number one happened a couple years ago.”
One of the first artists to respond was Noreaga who felt as if Staples disrespected the era that many feels were a crucial decade for Hip Hop. It’s understandable, the music that came from that era was at its most diverse, innovative and all around dope. However, time moves on and a new generation of artists and fans have emerged both musically and literally. From Staples’s perspective, Bow Wow, Kanye West, 50 Cent and Lil Wayne represented the greatest moments of his childhood. And, if those influences got him to the point of making a great debut such as Summertime 06, then so be it. That’s just his perspective that many in his age group feel. Doesn’t make it right or wrong. Matter of fact, it’s only natural considering Hip Hop’s ongoing battle with ageism and competition. The 90s were great but, had its own share of issues including rampant misogyny prevalent violence that killed two important figures at their peak and incredibly shady record companies. Almost similar to that “perfect time” in American society where blacks had to deal with everything from housing discrimination and Jim Crow to the lack of real employment opportunities for women. That doesn’t make this era any different as there’s some good and outright bad. While being an independent artist is easier than ever thanks to the internet, terrestrial radio has gotten to the point of simply playing the same rotation of Future and Drake every other hour. Every ten years, Hip Hop goes through some shift that features some pros and cons. The huge problem is that, sometimes, the future doesn’t respect the past and the past doesn’t respect the future. Hip Hop’s confrontational nature can sometimes go haywire. Keeping things honest, there are awful albums that can be pinpointed every month, year, decade and century.
This is the reason why despite Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “Downtown” becoming one of the most sell-out rap moments in 2015, you had to respect him for paying homage to legends Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee or Grandmaster Caz. Even Big Daddy Kane had to comment:
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“REAL TALK!!! I don’t see one artist in the game that put Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee or Grandmaster Caz on their new song or let them perform on the VMA’s (Including Me) but people wanna have a problem with @macklemore for paying homage to them?” “We don’t acknowledge our own & get mad when another color does. Now if one of them passes, then we wanna post shit about them, say RIP & get t-shirts with their picture. FOH!!!!!!! Learn about your history & preserve it now. If not, SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! To me, this is about real pioneers getting recognition in today’s society.”
Of course, there are veterans who are great at picking up the future while newbies are respecting the past. Though Snoop made that hilarious video making fun of Atlanta’s popular triplet flow innovated by Three 6 Mafia and made popular by Migos, he still managed to spit a dope verse on Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly track “Institutionalized.” Most of Dr. Dre’s Compton album featured a slew of up-and-coming artists like Justus and King Mez. Big Sean’s biggest hit to date, “IDFWU” features Bay Area pioneer E-40 while Big K.R.I.T. has featured Bun B on both Live From The Underground and Cadillactica. Moments like those are great examples of the magic that happens when generations come together. Will Hip Hop’s various generations find mutual respect for one another on a whole? Who knows? Right now, the best thing is for each era to appreciate the good and bad of each. Just appreciate the best every time has to offer and move from there.
