Hip Hop reminds me of fractals. However much they grow and change they always end up looking the same. This one is a million times larger than that one and look, it’s exactly the same. That’s amazing. It’s like watching me slowly turn through 360 degrees and, bingo, I look exactly the same as when I started. Truly magical. And it’s the same with Hip Hop. Over twenty years of constant change and development it hasn’t changed a bit. It’s still true to its roots, keeping the faith, not sold out, still in the hood, same. A unique first that appears to defy Darwin’s theory of evolution. No small feat. Where mainstream pop has chased ever-changing fashions, new romantics, punk, metal, glam rock etc; where hemlines rose and fell and now seem to be disappearing altogether Hip Hop has remained true to Hip Hop and bling. Where in the nancy world of pop can one find such rich statements of, “I got so much money and everything you desire I treat them like shit, you poor downtrodden bastard”? That’s just the blood of the hood brother.
You may by now be detecting some white elitist cynicism here. Let me challenge you. Who in the thirties, forties and onward was the evolving force in popular music, introducing new energy, harmony and rhythms? Who today are playing a rich variety of world music from Senegal, South Africa, India and South America? Who wanted and wants to take music somewhere new and exciting, to explore their own ability and technique? My argument is about neither colour nor elitism. It’s about breaking Hip Hop out of its cycle of “Got no money, get some money”. It’s about raising the horizons of ‘the hood’ to encompass riches far more valuable than wealth.
Ignorance has always had an allure; it’s easy and built within the most magnificent defences but it has one drawback. It never changes or evolves. So here’s to Hip Hop’s evolution into new directions, new lyrical forms and classy musicianship.
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