“Make Rap Great Again”: Are Hip Hop Purists The Genres’ Trump/Tea Party Supporters?

by • October 8, 2016

Although it’s not a new phenomenon, the concept of coded language seems more present in our current political and social climate. The most obvious example of coded language on everyone’s radar these days? Simple: “Make America great again.” Being blunt, Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump’s slogan clearly gives off “take your country back” and “love it or leave it” vibes, giving the none-too-subtle implication that there’s something very wrong with this country and that there are certain groups of people to blame, drawing a direct line from the Tea Party movement from a few years ago. It’s a slogan we’ve heard in some variation before, with a hidden meaning that is not fond of what is deemed to be strange, uncomfortable, or foreign. But here’s the rub: arguably, we can find similar trains of thought in certain spheres of the hip hop world that aren’t much different.

Here’s an example: a passionate, cutting video posted by respected underground hip hop outlet TeamBackpack a month ago, honest as it may be, got the hip hop world in an uproar and seems to lean heavily towards such language. After giving the business to newer, younger artists, host B-Doe states in no uncertain terms that many of them are trying to “change foundational things that makes hip hop, hip hop.” He goes on to say, “if you have no intentions to be the best at what you do, don’t claim the title ‘hip hop artist.’ When you break away from the message and the hard work to become an emcee, you are literally doing something else. It’s not hip hop.” No, it’s not as coded as “Make America great again”, but put the two under a microscope and you’re sure to find similar connotations.

A similar commentary video was posted by major hip hop blog HipHopDX featuring Editor-in-chief, Justin Hunte. Hunte passionately broke down how the recent social media spat between legendary producer Pete Rock and young upstart Lil Yachty is strikingly similar to a feud between gangsta rap legend Ice T and former YouTube sensation Souljah Boy from 2008. “You can substitute Ice T and Souljah Boy with Pete Rock and Lil Yachty almost seamlessly,” Hunte says. He wraps up the commentary video by asking an important, timely and burning question that few people in the hip hop world may be willing to answer honestly: “Does Pete Rock or any of these legends targeting the youth, hating on their wave, represent some sort of right wing of hip hop? Some Donald Trump, trying to ‘make rap great again,’ for whatever that means?” This seems like an idea to explore. Let’s proceed, shall we?

In all transparency, generational conflict in music genres is a given, something we’ve seen time and time again. “This culture has always drawn lines,” HipHopDX’s Hunte says in his video. Older generations of music artists and fans criticizing an influx of more youth-driven music is nothing new. With hip hop, it’s arguably even more prominent, and even more visceral. Go back throughout history and you’re sure to find a ton of examples that stand out. Ice T came for Souljah Boy in 2008 after Souljah blew up on the Internet with “Crank Dat.” KRS One took a swipe at Nelly in 2002 for his pop rap success after Nelly made a comment that the Teacher thought was directed at him on Nelly’s song “#1.”

Even Wu Tang Clan members Method Man, Ghostface Killah, and Raekwon took shots at Waka Flocka Flame years back for his comments about not needing to be all that lyrical to get show money. Couple that with the fact that since the beginning of the new millennium, hip hop has seen an explosion of sorts in sub-genres that have pushed their way into consciousness and carved out a presence, if only for a short time: snap rap, swag rap, trap rap, drill music, and most recently, the genre made popular by artists like Future, Desiigner, Young Thug, and Yachty deemed “mumble rap”.

Dig into more of Ron’s hip hop essays:

— Hip Hop, Album Sales, & The RIAA: CHEATING OR THE NEW NORMAL?
— The Importance and Future of Hip Hop’s Voice in Media
— Why 1996 is the most Important Year in Hip Hop History

So, just as the current political climate over the past few years and in this election has been a referendum on the direction of America, the mumble rap debate seems to be the current referendum on the state and direction of hip hop. Think about it! When the Tea Party movement arose out of America electing its first African American President in 2008, it did so, in all of its misguided and ignorant fury, to fight against what its supporters saw as a country turning into something it did not recognize, did not ascribe to, did not like, and did not support. The ascension of Donald Trump in 2016 as the Republican candidate for President, having at first seemed like a joke, was fueled by many of the same groups of people who wanted their anger and frustration be heard.

Now, can we say that older generations of hip hop artists like Ice T, KRS One, and most recently Pete Rock — along with their fans and supporters like B-Doe — are the same as the Tea Party and/or Trump supporters? It’s a stretch. But what we can say is that some of their thoughts and actions have been similar to what we’ve heard from the former, at least in terms of what both groups deem as things and people that are a threat to what they know to be true.

And let’s be clear, these are artists, producers, and outlets that have done so much to build the culture of hip hop. They have created art in the form of hip hop that has stood the test of time and are doing what they can to preserve the art form and the culture, and who are to be respected. Let’s not forget Ice T’s documentary The Art of Rap, KRS One’s Temple of Hip Hop, Pete Rock’s mentorship of producers like 9th Wonder or the late, great J Dilla, and TeamBackpack’s cultural preservation through live cyphers, rap battles, and festivals. It’s not as if they are trying to deliberately stop new artists like Lil Yachty or Lil Uzi Vert from shining or being successful. It just seems that their need for the preservation of hip hop comes off as being loaded with a certain level of animosity towards what is new.

It’s always important to see both sides of the argument, which tends to get lost in hip hop’s most passionate debates. On one end, you have upstart artists who sometimes feel no connection to the music and culture that came before them. They may even have trouble connecting to the people that helped to establish that foundation. In the same HipHopDX video, when asked about his thoughts on the debate rapper OG Maco — who Hunte dubs as “one of the most important voices of this generation” — takes issue with  the old heads coming for younger artists. “We don’t ask for nobody permission, just like yall didn’t. The OG’s won’t even give you recognition.” And on the other end, there’s more experienced hip hop artists and producers who have been through the ringer and want what they have built to be taken seriously so that it can last for even more generations. And some, like 9th Wonder, are even willing to step up and stand by new artists so that they can be allowed to grow, mature and find their voice.

Maybe the real answer to this debate is to try finding some kind of common ground. If older emcees, DJs, producers, journalists, and other cultural gatekeepers like Pete Rock and Ice T feel a certain way about the culture not being taken seriously, maybe it’s high time they reach out to younger generations of artists and listen — both to their music as well as what they have to say as far as why they feel such a disconnection to older hip-hop music and culture. And if younger, up and coming artists like OG Maco and Lil Yachty feel that older figures in the game are simply old and out of touch, maybe they should try keeping in mind that these older artists were once like them: young, inexperienced, using the tools at their disposal to carve out their own lane, and only trying to get their voice heard the same way the younger artists of today are doing right now.

In the end, even with hip hop culture being divided along certain barriers in this moment, there are many things that set our beloved older heads and traditionalists apart from the angry Tea Partiers and Trump supporters. Chief among them, an appreciation and affinity for something still viewed by many with skepticism, reproach and even disdain: hip-hop, itself. Maybe that’s the place to start over at so that we can avoid finding ourselves in a place of angry absolutism and an “us vs. them” environment within the hip-hop world.

“Make Rap Great Again”: Are Hip Hop Purists The Genres’ Trump/Tea Party Supporters? by Ronald Grant, edited by Matthew Weller.

Dig into more of Ron’s hip hop essays:

— Hip Hop, Album Sales, & The RIAA: CHEATING OR THE NEW NORMAL?
— The Importance and Future of Hip Hop’s Voice in Media
— Why 1996 is the most Important Year in Hip Hop History


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