"BLOGGING ON COBB 2 & 3"

Johnathan Tucker
ANT/BLS 3085
4th year (Real Estate)

"BLOGGING ON COBB 2 & 3"

There has been a dramatic change in what Hip-Hop started out as and what it is today. I think that Hip-Hop is heading in the wrong direction and drifting away for its roots. It has become too commercial and has no creativity. There is only a hand fool of artist that try to break from the mold and do something that is not popular like a Mos Def, Common, Talib Kweli, or even Kanye West. They are not afraid to try something different. Jelani Cobb’s To the Break of Dawn is a great book for Hip-Hop because it is a great read for people that love the music and for people that don’t know much about it. A passage that moved me from Jelani Cobb’s To the Break of Dawn was in Chapter 2 - The Score (page 73) where he talks about what Hip-Hop as become after thirty years. It states “Hip hop, in its third decade, unquestionable became a global phenomenon. The unparalleled influence of industry corporations on what was produced, heard, and understood as “hip hop” predictably produced a backlash-one which sought clear demarcation of “underground” versus “commercial” music. Looking at the divide within the music in this era it would be hard to believe that there was once a time when pop acts like Union Square or the Latin Quarter. On one level, the fetishization of the “underground” was like swearing allegiance to an imaginary homeland. The 50 cent who once declared himself king of the self-produced, street-corner sold mixtape was the same 50 cent who titled his debut Get Rich or Die Trying’, which sold multiple millions of units.” The commercialization of Hip-hop has taken the life out of Hip-hop and mad it something else, maybe pop music but call it what you want, but its not Hip-hop. It used to be about everyone having a voice and expressing there point of view but now it seems like this is only one point of view focusing on the same topics. Jelani Cobb’s makes reference to 50 Cents career and how proclaimed him-self the king of the self-produced because he sold mixtapes on the corner but I was a big 50 Cent fan before the fame and I am disappoint. After he made it he found that going commercial he can make a lot of money a decided to step away from the real and follow the formula instead of being creative. His early mixtapes are way better then his albums. The only album I really loved was Get Rich or Die Trying after that every track he put out was the same. I don’t need a magic ball to know what type of music 50 cents is going to put out. But its not just 50 cent it’s almost every artist. Everyone is not a gagster, drug dealer, or pimp. I think the fans need to hear some real life topics cause what on mainstream is not everyone’s realty. I am a true Hip-Hop fan and still love the music but I need to see some growth in topics and styles.