Hip Hop's Funeral

Hip Hop's Funeral by BLieve
Fuck what you heard, Hip Hop's been dead. To me that is crystal clear, but as to how she died? Not so much. I am here today to settle two things or at least attempt to. To declare the murderer of our beloved Hip Hop and to give her a proper funeral.
First I'd like to take a look at our main suspect, the South in general. As the judge of this case, the prosecution (the East) has presented the following evidence.
1) Southern rap is repetitive and their lyrics hold no content 2) Furthermore their songs have little to do with real life 3) The rhymes are simple and uncreative 4) Songs sound like lullabies and kindergarten dance tunes 5) Polluting the youth through MTV/BET with blinding grills, bouncing candy dripping whips and the hustler's lifestyle
The South has this to say in defense.
1) Must remind everyone that it was the East and West coasts that promoted the gangsta lifestyle and everything that came with it. 2) Biggie and Puff Daddy took rap from the streets and commercialized it (Shiny suit era) Tupac and the NWA were the original gangsta rappers. Therefore, any negative image that deal with money, cars and women cannot be placed on the South. 3) The originators of Hip Hop did not use complex rhymes. It wasn't until Rakim came along in the late 80s did artists begin rapping with complexity 4) The South indeed makes dances along with their songs but wasn't it the East that decided to put singers on their tracks? 5) The South claims that the East is simply unused to the Southern lifestyle. They are jealous of the attention that the South has been generating and the fact that the South is dominating the radio waves.
The East's rebuttal
1) Yes, it's true that the East and West coasts propelled the thug image and the hustler lifestyle but they would do more than just state facts without deeper insight. They did more than just repeating the statement "I'm hustling and I got bitches" in nearly every damn song. 2) While the East was the first to incorporate R&B singers in their songs, the rappers wouldn't add a pitch while "rapping" their verses. 3) Jealousy has nothing to do with the issue at hand, the East don't mind songs like Chamillionaire's Ridin' Dirty and T.I.'s Live in the Sky, they bump them too. But it's shit like Laffy Taffy and Snap Yo Fingaz that has been killed hip hop.
The arguments could go back and forth for a minute but I will end them here. The East brings up valid points but when all is said and done, the South is innocent in the death of Hip Hop. Sometimes, when we lose something, we want to blame someone so badly for it. The truth is, Hip hop has been changing constantly ever since its birth just as a person does. The change got to the point where it was nearly impossible to find similarities between modern day rap and original rap. And when that's the case, it's safe to say hip hop is dead. But that doesn't mean it was murdered, it merely passed on its traits to its children.
They come in the forms of club rap, conscious hip hop, crunk music and pop rap. Hip Hop died a peaceful death, like all things that live, its life span must come to an end. We've seen it happen to rock music. Look at all the genres of rock there are today; punk rock, pop rock, soft rock, hard rock, metal, alternative. With the new technology behind the production of music nowadays, it's inevitable that the sound changes. With the new lifestyle that up and coming rappers live, there will also be new messages. RIP Hip Hop, you lived a meaningful life.
{A HREF=" http://systemrebels.com/ "}SystemRebels.comAbout the Author
The main penman for The Observer. A modern day street and society analyst.