"Back In the Day When I Was Young…"

By zach • September 29, 2006 • Miscellaneous

The perspectives of hip-hop are being polarized within the context of a generational divide. There is a rift between forewarning voices that speak from experience and those of brash youthful romanticism. While many of the issues in hip-hop, such as class, race and family structure are universal concerns, the perspective (and consequently the message) radically differs depending on age. You can’t make your 15 year old daughter believe she is not in love or convince your little cousin not to take elementary school years for granted; the beauty of growth is the struggle of experience, which is necessary as a traditional education process. Youth based movements are more likely to respond aggressively to situations that more established groups of individuals have encountered, dealt with and lived through. Generational gaps often are the chasm that divides communities once rich with solidarity and movements ripe with the channels of mobility. Hip-Hop has lived to a point of true maturity while continuing to birth a new generation of influential youth.

The time of the rap narrative is fading; a voice of day to day experience is being replaced. Hip-hop story telling has largely become either a glorified image of ideals or a retrospective tale of reform. Extreme progress versus extreme stagnation creates a large gap filled by condescending and ignorant notions about the other side. The fault of the youth is in their message; the fault of the elders is in their delivery. Contrary to the title of Nas’ forthcoming album, hip-hop is not dead, but rather, hip-hop has simply has changed; change is a sign of life and symbolizes the reality of changes to come. A radical yet mature record like Dead Prez and the Outlawz “Can’t Sell Dope Forever” and 16 year old Jibbs vaudeville sampled ice cream truck anthem “Chain Hang Low” exist in the same genre! Both can be heard as lessons on perspective that clarify how wide the range of life experience is and how many different constituencies are being represented.

Voices that speak tangibly to multiple audiences are necessary to strike at the hearts of those who feel unguided passion. People want to believe in something and it is hard to say ‘no’ to the glitter of short term seduction, particularly at a young age. But social and structural conditioning can most directly be combatted by attacking the sources of their manifestation. Applying lessons of experience gives the present a blueprint of the past with which to move forward to the future. Those who preach will continue to do so to the choir while voices who remember the value of their own mistakes can choose more carefully the right words to say.

*drawing by Rory Panagotopulos, keep stunting like your daddy

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