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HipHopDX : "HipHop is intentionally being dumbed down" - Scarface

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DigitalOp

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The blog reported a comment from Geto Boys MC Scarface:

“I be looking at shit like a conspiracy…That’s the way I feel about music, man,” Scarface said. “You know what I mean? I feel like the powers that be are intentionally dumbing down our craft, man. I feel like they dumbing us down. Because the dumbest shit I ever heard is on the radio right now.”
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“To paint the picture that I’m trying to paint to you guys is it seems like all our shit is sounding really stupid and really, really dumb. Really, really corny,” the Texas rapper said. “And then, you know, you got the other shit that sounds really, really [great]…I wanna say this shit as diplomatic and as responsible as I can…When urban Hip Hop sounds like this and suburban Hip Hop sounds like that, I kinda feel fucked up. You know? It’s like our shit fucked up and the powers that be pour salt on the wound…I don’t even look at it as a threat or it being too fucking powerful. I just look it as being too fucking great.”

I have to say I agree with him. He's talking about the mainstream portrayal of Hip-Hop. I personally think Hip-Hop has been targeted as a bastion of ignorance to influence the modern day youth. I could go more in depth but then I'll be hearing all the tinfoil hat complaints... (Watch the prison population numbers)

Anyone who knows about Hip-Hop and its origins knows how today's music is a far cry from the conscious and socially aware roots of the movement. It makes me rather mad actually. Hip-Hop is a powerful thing. A platform for voices to be heard amongst the crowd.

To see it being ridiculed at this state is nerve-racking.... Things have been simplified o the core. Its as almost if the art-form has been stripped and replaced with a formula.
While Hip-Hop has become even more prolific in modern times with artists filling every single wide range possible, I still think its being held down into what it could have possibly grown into.

We have something that has become the laughing stock of worldwide popular music. Yeah, it may set trends.... but where did the message go? Where did the structure go?

Im loving some of the music coming out now. Kendrick is a breath of fresh air. I accept Drake as an industry leader. Gambino is killing the game. This isn't a New School Vs. Old School debate.

But 'Versace" by Migos has nothing to say. It cranks. Its in the club and people have fun. Its all good. But its worth nothing after the next song shows up. We're left with mind-melting materialistic garbage in the wake. Fashion label promotion targeting urban youth to spend whatever money they have on exorbitant priced clothing. Its all indirect but it has an effect. The music influences the culture.


I know there's alot of Hip-Hop heads on GAF so I decided to share this.


I think these 2 comments sum it up pretty well:
It doesnt bother me that there is unintelligent music out there that gets marketed. What bothers me is that the intelligent music doesnt get marketed as well. If you are going to promote ignorant music you have to balance it with intelligent music or you are going to end up with a very ignorant fan base/society. Play all the 2 Chainz and Chief Keef you want but you have to also play the Commons and the Immortal Techniques to balance it out, that all.
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You can't let a person ride your back unless you bend over. Yes, hip-hop and most R&B is dumbed down, but the main reason is value digression among lower-class blacks. A person with dignity doesn't conform to the behavior among 90% of these black rappers. And yes, the music industry is taking advantage of all the stupidity. I respect Scarface; in fact, he's one of my favorite all-time rappers, however, any conspiracy includes the artists themselves who are far too complicit.
 
Samething in every fucking genre to include films, these people crying about hip hop dying need to just die themselves. Shitty catchy easy to digest music will resonate better than some deep well thought out audio documentary...who would have fucking thought!? When was the last time some ridiculously amazing piece of cinematography made more money than the summer blockbuster/superhero/action man movie? I mean really.

Sorry Scarface, you're just bitter at this point my dude. No one is buying your shit anymore and it sucks, but welcome to the entertainment industry. One minute you're hot the next minute you're not.

And let's face it, anyone who's a real hip hop head know where to get good music, anyone who cares knows where to get good music. The only people who whine about this are the chodes who don't even listen to hip hop outside of shit they hear on the radio then make blanket statements about the entire genre based on that small sampling. Ugh.

/rant.

Hip hop is fine. Marketing is going to market...what sells gasp, shock and fucking awe.
 
I seem to remember hip hop in the early 2000s being in a worse artistic state than it is now. I've felt like things have only been getting better.
 
Capitalism strips art and turns it into a duplicatable, repeatable, marketable product that follows a determined, proven formula. The same is true of food, and the same is true of movies. It is no different for the music scene. The only thing that changes when your favourite grass-roots genre is consumed by the mainstream is that you have to spend a little longer searching for songs.
 
Samething in every fucking genre, these people crying about hip hop dying need to just die themselves. Shitty catchy easy to digest music will resonate better than some deep well thought out audio documentary...who would have fucking thought!?

No, it's a conspiracy. It has to be a conspiracy. It's impossible my own tastes don't resonate as well with the audience as mainstream music.

Great way to simplify a larger issue.

Seems like critical thinking passed on with the music...

I don't understand people like you. Handwave everything else then get uppity when something actually bothers you. The issue isn't the "Hip-Hop is Dead". The issue is what is Hip Hop talking about.

Read the damn thread.
 
Samething in every fucking genre, these people crying about hip hop dying need to just die themselves. Shitty catchy easy to digest music will resonate better than some deep well thought out audio documentary...who would have fucking thought!?
I always ask where these people were 10 yearts , 20 years, 30 years ago. Everyone thinks their generation is the hardest in the game.
He sees mainstream country music and weeps for his genre's future.

Current country stars are people that wanted to be pop and rock stars but couldn't hack it.
 
Great way to simplify a larger issue.

Seems like critical thinking passed on with the music...

I don't understand people like you. Handwave everything else then get uppity when something actually bothers you. The issue isn't the "Hip-Hop is Dead". The issue is what is Hip Hop talking about.

Read the damn thread.

Bro, hip hop is talking about whatever the fuck you want it to talk about.

Find some shit you like and bump it. Industry hasn't been healthier and more varied...like ever.
 
Dunno about all that but music like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khwsqIknsXU

is far better anything scarface has ever put out. Dude should shut up.

0151_ymq0.gif
 
2chainz and Chief Keef are boasting about being gangsta today.
Cam'ron and Jay-Z were rapping and being gangsta 10 years ago
Three 6 Mafia and Wu-tang were rapping about being gangsta 20 years ago.

What's the difference? How is current mainstream hip-hop any more ignorant than Gin and Juice?
 
Hating on Scarface? I don't even...

Anyways, I agree to an extent. Hip Hop selections on the radio seemed much more diverse in the 80-90s, Homies used to spin just every about everything. At the end of the day though, its all about the mighty dollar as far as the industry is concerned, its a cycle that paints the culture in the certain light for profit. These days, one just has to look a little harder for content they can relate to versus back in the day. No conspiracy about it, just money.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1Et1siZhTk

You putting me to sleep nigga (Dumb it down)
That's why you ain't popping in the streets nigga (Dumb it down)
You ain't winning no awards nigga (Dumb it down)
Robots and skateboards nigga? (Dumb it down)
GQ Man Of The Year G? (Dumb it down)
Shit ain't rocking over here B (Dumb it down)
Won't you talk about your cars nigga? (Dumb it down)
What the fuck is goyard nigga (Dumb it down)
Make it rain for the chicks (Dumb it down)
Pour champagne on a bitch (Dumb it down)
 
Great way to simplify a larger issue.

Seems like critical thinking passed on with the music...

I don't understand people like you. Handwave everything else then get uppity when something actually bothers you. The issue isn't the "Hip-Hop is Dead". The issue is what is Hip Hop talking about.

Read the damn thread.

Doesn't change a thing, there are still artists talking about issues that are relevant. JUST like...any other timeframe, those artists will always struggle compared to an artist who raps/sings/bajos/coos about something simple and catchy.

What is hip hop talking about? What kind of question is that? It's like say...what are movies about? Be more specific. Different artists talk about different things relevant to them. Some do audio documentaries on their lives and struggles; others just want to see people dancing and having fun to their music. Just like every single damn generation; ermahgawd!

Only thing that's different now is that there are more ways for anyone to make music/make their voice be heard.
 
Bro, hip hop is talking about whatever the fuck you want it to talk about.

Find some shit you like and bump it. Industry hasn't been healthier and more varied...like ever.

This is true. I 100% agree with you.


But why are the only acts on mainstream TV the ones who floss the best?

Let me raise you one more. Why the hell is Macklemore one of the only artists being pushed on mainstream channels with social commentary?!!!

Hmmmm.
 
This is true. I 100% agree with you.


But why are the only acts on mainstream TV the ones who floss the best?

Let me raise you one more. Why the hell is Macklemore one of the only artists being pushed on mainstream channels with social commentary?!!!

Hmmmm.

Because he packaged his social commentary into something fucking catchy and easy to sing along to?

It's the reason Nas struggles while Jay excels. Nas can talk all the deep shit he wants, but if he can't package it into something catchy then it's not going to sell point blank period. Kanye made fucking song about Jesus one of the biggest tracks in the country ffs. How? Because of how he packaged it; he gave it a great hook and great beat and people ate it up.
 
Doesn't change a thing, there are still artists talking about issues that are relevant. JUST like...any other timeframe, those artists will always struggle compared to an artist who raps/sings/bajos/coos about something simple and catchy.

What is hip hop talking about? What kind of question is that? It's like say...what are movies about? Be more specific. Different artists talk about different things relevant to them. Some do audio documentaries on their lives and struggles; others just want to see people dancing and having fun to their music. Just like every single damn generation; ermahgawd!

Only thing that's different now is that there are more ways for anyone to make music/make their voice be heard.

I can see your point. Maybe the feeling is amplified because HipHop has only become more popular but Im trying to figure out why we don't see diversity amongst the mainstream.

Yeah you have a little Cole, Kendrick, and Drake shaking things up a bit but for the most part everyone is monotonous. Again, Im referring to purely the most high of mainstream artists.

There are millions of artists that turn this notion on its head but they will never be heard by the masses until their time.
 
And that's why Em is considered the best. When you have one artist that's allowed to retain his own style and 100s of other rappers having to go with the flow of a set subject matter, it's not surprise why people would think Em is the best when he isn't close.

LOL@ people who honestly believe the public or even the artist dictate the direction of the music.
 
The blog reported a comment from Geto Boys MC Scarface:



I have to say I agree with him. He's talking about the mainstream portrayal of Hip-Hop. I personally think Hip-Hop has been targeted as a bastion of ignorance to influence the modern day youth. I could go more in depth but then I'll be hearing all the tinfoil hat complaints... (Watch the prison population numbers)

Anyone who knows about Hip-Hop and its origins knows how today's music is a far cry from the conscious and socially aware roots of the movement. It makes me rather mad actually. Hip-Hop is a powerful thing. A platform for voices to be heard amongst the crowd.

To see it being ridiculed at this state is nerve-racking.... Things have been simplified o the core. Its as almost if the art-form has been stripped and replaced with a formula.
While Hip-Hop has become even more prolific in modern times with artists filling every single wide range possible, I still think its being held down into what it could have possibly grown into.

We have something that has become the laughing stock of worldwide popular music. Yeah, it may set trends.... but where did the message go? Where did the structure go?

Im loving some of the music coming out now. Kendrick is a breath of fresh air. I accept Drake as an industry leader. Gambino is killing the game. This isn't a New School Vs. Old School debate.

But 'Versace" by Migos has nothing to say. It cranks. Its in the club and people have fun. Its all good. But its worth nothing after the next song shows up. We're left with mind-melting materialistic garbage in the wake. Fashion label promotion targeting urban youth to spend whatever money they have on exorbitant priced clothing. Its all indirect but it has an effect. The music influences the culture.


I know there's alot of Hip-Hop heads on GAF so I decided to share this.


I think these 2 comments sum it up pretty well:

You said this post wasn't an old vs. new discussion but it sounds that way. Today's artists do not dumb down their rhymes as much as you think. The stuff you hear on the radio 12 times a day (word to Ebro) doesn't require a thesaurus and that's cool. You should support music you like instead of defecating on today's artists.

Your statement about hip-hop being far from the origin is complete BS. TI stays true to the foundation in spite of the fact that he's never had a breakdancing crew or graffiti in his videos. We don't know what he's done or who he supports. There are thousands of artists that spit conscious rhymes. Are you supporting them?

That comment about 90 percent of "blacks" and dignity is BS as well. Everyone goes out with friends. Everyone lives above their means and/or fantasizes about expensive things. If you've went to Starbucks and spent any amount over $8 shut the proper fuck up.
 
No, but the music produced by corporations that rotate on the radio is. Hip-Hop is the people, the culture. There are great artists out there.
 
Because he packaged his social commentary into something fucking catchy and easy to sing along to?

It's the reason Nas struggles while Jay excels. Nas can talk all the deep shit he wants, but if he can't package it into something catchy then it's not going to sell point blank period. Kanye made fucking song about Jesus one of the biggest tracks in the country ffs. How? Because of how he packaged it; he gave it a great hook and great beat and people ate it up.

Good answer. This is something that is reflected in all media nowadays. The simplification process is pretty damning IMO.

I feel like the industry completely fights a complicated notion. Suppose you wanted to make your audio version of Children of Men or something....

Unless your Beyonce or Jay/Ye status, Studio is going to fight you tooth and nail to release it...

Look at Lupe's battle, Dude really wanted to say some stuff and speak and the label crushed LASERS for it.


If you've went to Starbucks and spent any amount over $8 shut the proper fuck up.

I don't buy starbucks. I guess Ill keep speaking.

To answer your post, Its more than that. Hip hop is something we created and shared with the word. But it seems its not being used properly. Its a pretty viral channel to get a message heard and to spread awareness and I rarely see those type of things being said. Try to lie to me and say that HipHop doesn't affect urban youth to a great deal. (They aren't the target audience oddly enough but it affects them most)

Now why is main majority of the music telling them to spend feverishly? Yes we all fantasize about lavish things, but why is that the end goal? Why is that the hook line and sinker that Im hearing in the music?
 
Trinidad James is an example of what many random struggle rappers aspire to be. The dumber and catchier the track is, the more money you make really.

That's why I'm surprised an artist like Kendrick made it so big, even though some of his songs (ex. Swimming Pools) has been dumbed down for the masses while still having a meaning.

Trinidad James really did get 3Mill just for saying Popped A Molly, I'm sweatin'
WOO
 
I can see your point. Maybe the feeling is amplified because HipHop has only become more popular but Im trying to figure out why we don't see diversity amongst the mainstream.

Yeah you have a little Cole, Kendrick, and Drake shaking things up a bit but for the most part everyone is monotonous. Again, Im referring to purely the most high of mainstream artists.

There are millions of artists that turn this notion on its head but they will never be heard by the masses until their time.

And it's always been like that, what you're complaining about is nothing new nor is it exclusive to hip hop. This applies to every genre of music. Pop, country, rock, etc. There is huge overlay in what Gaga and Perry sing about, just like there was ridiculous overlay between what Aguilera and Spears were singing about, just like Backstreet Boys and Nysnc, just like Taylor Swift and Kasey Musgrave.

I just have never understood this whole "oh man hip hop is so dumbed down now" mindset. It can't be from nostalgia because anyone who was into hip hop in the 90s knows that shit isn't true in the least. I mean one of the biggest songs of the 90s was 69 Boyz, Tootsie Roll. Good luck finding some deep underlying meaning in that song.
 
I can see your point. Maybe the feeling is amplified because HipHop has only become more popular but Im trying to figure out why we don't see diversity amongst the mainstream.

Yeah you have a little Cole, Kendrick, and Drake shaking things up a bit but for the most part everyone is monotonous. Again, Im referring to purely the most high of mainstream artists.

There are millions of artists that turn this notion on its head but they will never be heard by the masses until their time.

Think about this.

Drake, Kendrick, even Cole smash on fucking Migos in record sales. Murder on wax. Even boring ass college degree J. Cole. Is Rocko pushing units? How many records did French Montana sell?

Who are the hottest selling artists even in that category? Ross? Jeezy? Some like, mid thirties ass old men basically? Come on man. If you're new in hip hop and you aren't dropping something like GKMC you're gonna be broke in ten weeks. You know why Old didn't move units? Because Danny spent his whole career playing up his ratchet shit and nobody wants to pay money for it. Not that his ratchet shit is bad, but it doesn't make you money in the long run. Nobody even know Side A exists. Nobody made it to the end of XXX.

If this is about wanting to show up in the club to hear some fucking Cannibal Ox, I don't know what to tell you man. Goodluck with that.
 
Trinidad James is an example of what many random struggle rappers aspire to be. The dumber and catchier the track is, the more money you make really.

That's why I'm surprised an artist like Kendrick made it so big, even though some of his songs (ex. Swimming Pools) has been dumbed down for the masses while still having a meaning.

Trinidad James really did get 3Mill just for saying Popped A Molly, I'm sweatin'
WOO

And when he did that song, look at how many individuals started using the molly drug. The industry to using hiphop as a tool of mental destruction.
 
And when he did that song, look at how many individuals started using the molly drug. The industry to using hiphop as a tool of destruction.

You really think thousands of people started using MDMA consistenly because they heard it in a song? Seriously?

This is what annoys me about all the hip-hop conspiracy theories. When people argue that video games are making people violent everyone instantly agrees that it's complete fucking bullshit. But someone posts some random story about record labels brainwashing black men to commit crimes, and people lap that shit up. The radio isn't changing anyone. Art reflects society, not the other way around.
 
Think about this.

Drake, Kendrick, even Cole smash on fucking Migos in record sales. Murder on wax. Even boring ass college degree J. Cole. Is Rocko pushing units? How many records did French Montana sell?

Who are the hottest selling artists even in that category? Ross? Jeezy? Some like, mid thirties ass old men basically? Come on man. If you're new in hip hop and you aren't dropping something like GKMC you're gonna be broke in ten weeks. You know why Old didn't move units? Because Danny spent his whole career playing up his ratchet shit and nobody wants to pay money for it. Not that his ratchet shit is bad, but it doesn't make you money in the long run. Nobody even know Side A exists. Nobody made it to the end of XXX.

If this is about wanting to show up in the club to hear some fucking Cannibal Ox, I don't know what to tell you man. Goodluck with that.

I can understand this too. Especially the sales part though this is mainly due to label exposure included with talent.

I screamed at bolded.
 
And when he did that song, look at how many individuals started using the molly drug. The industry to using hiphop as a tool of mental destruction.

Kidding? Molly aka ecstasy popping was huge before Trinidad James ever said those words. He merely capitalized on what suburban kids had been doing for fucking decades. Hell the word "molly" isn't even new in the hip hop circle, they got it from ravers ffs; people had all kinds of names for ecstasy before hip hop ever picked up on it. If anything hip hop is decades late to the party. Sorry but trying to paint molly as some sort of problem born of hip hop might be the dumbest argument levied on GAF ever. White kids have been popping mollies and sweating since the 70s; and music has been talking about it for just as long.

Lupe's greatest battle was with Lupe.

Lupe lost.

This.
 
This may not be the thread to mention it, but it feels slightly relevant.

There's songs that come out speaking out against mainstream hip-hop culture (Hopsin's "Ill Mind of Hopsin 5" is the example I want to point to) and these songs seem to become huge with self-proclaimed "haters of rap". Why is that, and does it irritate anyone else when somebody says something like, "I normally hate rap music, but this song's so deep"?

It seems like everyone wants to rail against the mainstream, but then they rely on the mainstream to show them a better way. Of course, this isn't just in hip-hop, but in all forms of music & media.
 
Kidding? Molly aka ecstasy popping was huge before Trinidad James ever said those words. He merely capitalized on what suburban kids had been doing for fucking decades. Hell the word "molly" isn't even new in the hip hop circle, they got it from ravers ffs; people had all kinds of names for ecstasy before hip hop ever picked up on it. If anything hip hop is decades late to the party. Sorry but trying to paint molly as some sort of problem born of hip hop might be the dumbest argument levied on GAF ever. White kids have been popping mollies and sweating since the 70s; and music has been talking about it for just as long.



This.
Exactly, now black kids are doing it, wonder why..........
 
Exactly, now black kids are doing it, wonder why..........

A drug that is usually sold to white kids now being sold to black kids gets consumed and then people talk about it and people rap about it? And black kids have been doing ecstasy at parties for a long ass time.

Society affects music and the commentary within not the other way around. Unless you're one of those wacked out people who were burning rock music back in the day because it was teh evils.
 
I have a hard time taking these types of complaints seriously when rappers like immortal technique, gambino, and macklemore are mentioned as non-ignorant alternatives.
 
You really think thousands of people started using MDMA consistenly because they heard it in a song? Seriously?

This is what annoys me about all the hip-hop conspiracy theories. When people argue that video games are making people violent everyone instantly agrees that it's complete fucking bullshit. But someone posts some random story about record labels brainwashing black men to commit crimes, and people lap that shit up. The radio isn't changing anyone. Art reflects society, not the other way around.

This so called music is changing people. How the fuck can you sit up here and say the music isn't changing people when the effects of the music are obvious. I bet most of you who say the music ain't changing others are people who have never seen a hood or a ghetto. So call hiphop made skinny jeans popular, now every kid that listens to Drake or Wayne are wearing skinny jeans. So call hiphop glorified having people that wish you ill will, now everyone on facebook and whatever else social site talks about the amount of haters they have so kill that noise you bringing.
 
black kids have been doing it since forever too

When is forever? I'm 27 and when I was in HS, pill popping was looked down on. Matter of a fact my peers would call X pills or anything like cocaine "white boy drugs." The main so called drug blacks mainly did was weed. This pill popping in the black community is actually quite recent.
 
This so called music is changing people. How the fuck can you sit up here and say the music isn't changing people when the effects of the music are obvious. I bet most of you who say the music ain't changing others are people who have never seen a hood or a ghetto. So call hiphop made skinny jeans popular, now every kid that listens to Drake or Wayne are wearing skinny jeans. So call hiphop glorified having people that wish you ill will, now everyone on facebook and whatever else social site talks about the amount of haters they have so kill that noise you bringing.

This is kind of incoherent. What do skinny jeans have to do with Drake? If you want to blame music, then skinny jeans been around since the indie rock revival in early 00s. How is music changing ghettos? Is it changing ghettos? Social sites are full of nonsense, so does that mean hiphop is full of nonsense?

Basically, what I get from your post:

images


When is forever? I'm 27 and when I was in HS, pill popping was looked down on. Matter of a fact my peers would call X pills or anything like cocaine "white boy drugs." The main so called drug blacks mainly did was weed. This pill popping in the black community is actually quite recent.

In the early 80s, when house music was in its genesis the discos and gay clubs that played it were packed with people of all races (predominantly black and gay) off their faces on ecstasy. It was only when the USA sent house music to Europe that it came back repackaged as "candy raver" music for white people.
 
This so called music is changing people. How the fuck can you sit up here and say the music isn't changing people when the effects of the music are obvious. I bet most of you who say the music ain't changing others are people who have never seen a hood or a ghetto. So call hiphop made skinny jeans popular, now every kid that listens to Drake or Wayne are wearing skinny jeans. So call hiphop glorified having people that wish you ill will, now everyone on facebook and whatever else social site talks about the amount of haters they have so kill that noise you bringing.

Has it occurred to you that rappers could be wearing skinny jeans BECAUSE they're popular? Edit: skinny jeans in hip-hop circles was popularized by jerkin' anyway, so your mainstream agrument makes even less sense.
 
A drug that is usually sold to white kids now being sold to black kids gets consumed and then people talk about it and people rap about it? And black kids have been doing ecstasy at parties for a long ass time.

Society affects music and the commentary within not the other way around. Unless you're one of those wacked out people who were burning rock music back in the day because it was teh evils.

Where the evidence of this? We can sure as hell share evidence of how the industry or corporations dictate the music.
 
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