It’s funny but when I look back to music in the 90’s, and listen to
the hip hop music of today, I’m still lost as to where the music has
changed so drastically to where lyrical music is hardly even created
anymore. Let me clarify… for hip hop / R&B, it seems like (to me)
that lyrical music is hardly created anymore. More and more songs are
playing chameleon to other songs, and the entire radio airwaves are
saturated with wanna be songs and wanna-wanna be songs. What happened
to the originality? What happened to lyrical content? I’m clueless.
I guess my mind has gone through one of those timewarps that we used to
clown our parents about when we were growing up, whenever we’d hear
songs they played around us. I can sorta tolerate songs of today in
the hip hop and R&B field, but it’s more on the level of
instrumentals or beats if anything. The words on some of these songs
to me, especially from songs like “Stanky Leg”, or “Bed”, really throw
my mind for a loop.
I could sit back and reminisce on the times I started getting
involved more into music, and got into making hip hop beats and
instrumentals for songs a few years ago, which were more based on some
of the songs of the mid 90’s and even early 2000’s that I’ve heard that
were more lyrical and original. I guess I am getting old. Lol.
Artists like The Roots, or Fugees really tapped into my mind, and even
with some of the more thugged out rap tracks that would be put out by
Mobb Deep or Big Pun really caught my interest. It wasn’t the content
so much as it was the lyrical word play put on some of these songs.
Complimented with hot beats, hot hip hop or rap beats, some of these
tracks really stood out.
Of my favorite artists with lyrical word play, I would have to say
Nas would be my favorite in the rap game. With some of the songs put
out like “I Gave You Power”, or “Black Girl Lost”, the word play, the
lyrical content, the thoughts to the mind really impacted. And they
were also coupled with hot beats. Tracks like these got me into more
of the beat making, and productions by Havoc of Mobb Deep, or RZA of
Wu-Tang, or the legendary DJ Premier really brought emotion to the
songs back then. Another hot song of Nas’s “I Am” album to me had to
be the way “Undying Love” was written as well. I know kats who
listened to this song back then that really felt the impact and
flashbacks when hearing Nas writing and finding out that his fiance was
cheating behind his back while he was gone. But now? It’s as though
almost every other song promoted on the airwaves is something far more
explicit with no problem at all. But still, it’s not the content that
kills me as much as it is the fact that the lyrical word play is
non-existent… almost way too simple. Is the only way to listen to
creative wordplay now to either listen to songs of back then or to go
to a Spoken Word spot?
Moving on to the R&B section, where songs now are very explicit
and completely changed of the mood setting, R.Kelly or Ginuwine type
tracks of back then. Songs back then in the R&B section spoke
words of love and attraction, emotion and seduction. Now, songs simply
make references more to how graphic the sex is, or how it will be,
without any other feel to them at all. Love is non-existent in most of
the songs written, and it’s more about how they’re gonna get the
bootie, and then go to the next female and get the bootie, and so
forth. When was the last time you heard a deep love song on the radio?
Can you even remember? And if it’s up there, how often is it really
played?
Again, even still, it’s the word play more than anything else to me
that’s non-existent. Songs like those from J. Holliday, or from The
Dream seem to have less on the lyrical, versus songs like those of
Blackstreet, or Jodeci, or even a bit more recent such as Jagged Edge.
And with female artists, they’re even becoming less frequent as well.
It’s tripped me out even to hear songs like Beyonce’s “Diva” album,
where I didn’t think it was even her when I first heard it, because of
how it was written. I guess I’ll never really get it at all.
And with all of these songs, comes the feel of some of the
instrumentals to them. They have even changed to where some of the
tracks, such as “Stanky Leg” are excruciatingly simple. Some of the
songs back then have drawn me in to make beats or instrumentals, and to
enjoy the feeling of the beats of songs I’ve listened to. It’s not as
commonplace now however, where songs like “Bed” and “Ice Box” sound
closely similar to me, or songs with beats like “Stanky Leg” are so
simple and watered down, it might as well not have a beat. I’ve always
enjoyed the different beats out there. There would almost always be a
few songs on an album, most of which had a completely different feel,
and inspired the ear with something new, something strong, something
great. Where did this feel go?
Since earlier 2000’s, I’ve been drawing a good crowd of people that
enjoy the hip hop beats and instrumentals I create that I’ve posted on
my www.genycis.com
site, but it’s also because there is a variety. Don’t get me wrong, I
do create a few beats that have this more “commercial” feel as well,
but I cater to a larger variety of songs, rap beats, hip hop beats,
east coast beats, west coast beats, story telling beats, R&B beats,
and soon to add gospel instrumentals as well to the mix. There has to
be some kind of difference and originality to music today. It used to
have that original feel back in the late 90’s / early 2000’s, so why
not now? Why must it be similar everywhere you listen? What do you
think? I’d like to know your input of hip hop, rap, and R&B music
of today? Or am I alone in this boat?
Genycis
www.genycis.com