Thursday, August 5, 2010

Confessions of a Hip Hop Junkie

Not too long ago I was choppin it up with a fellow hip hop head who I have a lot of respect for. This man is in the game in a serious way and has a breadth of hip hop knowledge that would put you to shame. We were talking about some show I had gone to the night before when he hit me with this; he hardly ever goes to shows and can’t really remember what the last one was. I was blown away and I have to say it broke my heart a little. Now let me admit off top that I’ve been known to take this a little too far. If I have to choose between buying my ticket to Rakim, and paying utilities that month, best believe I’ll be burning candles and showering at my girl’s house until I get that next check. Ask me the last show I went to and I’ll be able to tell you immediately who and where it was, and I can almost guarantee you it’ll have been less than a month ago. If it’s longer than that you won’t even have to ask me, you’ll know. I’ll be rocking back and forth in the corner somewhere having cold sweats, hallucinating, and itching my skin off…Ok, what?! I can feel you judging me right now and you need to quit. I already admitted that I’m a hip hop show junkie. Now allow me tell you why you should be too.

I promise not to turn this into a history lesson but it has to be pointed out that “live” is the way hip hop started. MC Shan told us in ’88 that They Used To Do It Out In The Park. Ever since then, countless artists (Saigon, Joel Ortiz, Nas, Luda, and Jay Z to name a few) have been trying to keep that sentiment alive as they each remind us in turn, that “hip hop started out in the park.” It wasn’t just an audible experience, it assaulted all your senses and you felt that shit from the inside out. So why does it seem like we’ve forgotten how important the element of a live performance is? Back when the movement was blossoming, if you wanted to hear some new hip hop you went and bought a mix tape out of someone’s trunk (or maybe, if you grew up country like me, from a friend’s cousin’s boyfriend’s homeboy who lived right outside NYC). Now however, we live in an age of non-stop music videos, interviews, album leaks, downloads, and free videos online courtesy of anyone with a video phone. If you have access to a computer you have access to what seems like anything. Feel like seeing your favorite artist onstage? Youtube said artist, add “live” and you got it. Now clearly I’ve done this before (err, do it every day) but if you’re letting this substitute for the real thing…send me your number so I can personally call you up and tell you you’re worthless.

What needs to be understood here is anyone can hide behind a recording. All you have to do is visit RapRebirth, find a ghostwriter, drop enough paper for a producer with some credits and…you’re the next Snoop Dogg. Real emceeing is a different thing. For starters there’s breath control, voice inflection, enunciation, and stage presence. Can your favorite rapper survive without punch-ins and voice synthesizing? Do they know how to connect with their fans or create fans out of non-listeners? If you want to get to know your favorite rappers, don’t watch them on 106 and Park or stalk- sorry, “follow”- them online; go to their shows. They reveal themselves in these live performances. Everything you’ve ever thought about them is either confirmed or denied. Want to know if Nas is as powerful as you think he might be? Go watch him just murk an hour long set with no hype man and I’ll dare you to say he’s not God-like. Curious if WuTang still has it? Go watch Ghostface sit on a monitor and get drunk, Meth not show, and the rest of them just promote the merch in the lobby. Then get back to me. Ever question whether or not KRS is really about all the social ideology he spouts? Witness him drop knowledge about Oscar Grant, throw his head back and scream “JUSTIIICE” with sweat pouring and veins bulging, before he launches into Sound of Da Police. Question answered. Be there when the music winds down and Jay Z turns the lights on the crowd, and for about 30 minutes just shouts out the people wearing a shirt with his name on it, or those he saw screaming every word to every verse back at him during the show. Then try to tell me he hasn’t, against all odds, retained some of that grateful kid from the Marcy projects. And who low key would’ve given anything to be there when Akon let his thug show as he tossed that kid off stage? Yeah, you can’t see me right now but I’m raising my hand.

What I’m trying to illustrate was probably best said by KRS-ONE in 9 Elements. “Hip Hop is something you live, rap is something you do.” Rap is the cd in your hand. Hip Hop is everything that led up to the making of it, and everything that will come from it afterwards. If you call yourself a true head, don’t hesitate to keep that movement alive by participating in this fundamental element. Some shows will blow your mind open and reinforce your love for one rapper or another, while some will disappoint you and change your opinion of artists you’ve loved for ages. Sometimes the opening group will steal the show and all of a sudden you have a new favorite, probably local, crew. That, all of that, is so true to the roots of the movement. Not to mention you’ll be monetarily supporting artists whose music you’ve probably been pirating for years anyway (no judgement, we all do it). You can take it back to when this music was for all 5 senses; Hear some new rhymes or the ones you’ve loved for years. Smell that smoke as it rises up in puffs all through the venue. Sip on a couple drinks back at the bar during set breaks. Look into the face of the man or woman who you may have only seen on cd jackets until now. And feel that bass hit so hard that it shakes all the best places on a female. Above all, understand one thing. If you’re only listening to the music coming out of our speakers, you’re just hearing some rap. If you make it to the shows though, you might get to glimpse that Real. Hip. Hop.

12 comments:

  1. Dope as post son!!! Loves it...ur words are alive...truly proud of this beauty!

    Shea Shea

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  2. Reading this article makes me want to go to a show! I'm just a casual Hip Hop fan, and I have only been to a few shows in my life, but after seeing some of your posts on Facebook last year I did go to see Brother Ali. Therefore, I know what you’re talking about when you say there are no substitutes for watching a true Hip Hop artist perform live.

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  3. @Shea MUCH love at you for that one ma'am. Support always means a lot when it's comin from you, truly.
    @Luke i LOVE that more than anything, inspiring (or, sometimes forcing) people to make it to a show. I remember you tellin me you made it to that Ali show and I couldn't have bee happier. Any time you wanna hit up another you know who to call...
    'Preciate the comments, guys.

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  4. You are definitely on point with this one. I am getting a little older now so I haven't gone to many shows in the past 5 years but when I do, I remember why I fell in love with Hip Hop/Rap in the first place. It's like a smack to the senses.

    I can't tell you how many times I was either thoroughly disappointed when I saw someone live or when I was just amazed and ended up loving an artist even more than I did before.

    You are dead on about Nas too. Dude is nasty live!!! How about The Roots? Black Thought is unbelievable and when he does a cover of Rakim or some other Hip Hop classics, you would think you were listening to the original. I love a surprise bonus like that and it makes you appreciate their skills that much more.

    And nothing pisses me off more than when a rapper comes out with an entourage of like 10 dudes who end up rapping more than he does because he can't remember the words or has to catch his breath every 3 seconds. WTF! I didn't come to see these clowns! Step your game up!

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  5. @DJ RyB Seeing the Roots live is literally at the top of my hip hop wish list right now. Heard they put on the best show out of anyone- in any genre. And yeah, if you need more tha one hype man, you need to reevaluate your career decisions.
    @hI 'preciate you takin the time to read.

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  6. so impressed....Damn homie you killed it. (finally get to tell you back) hahaha.

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  7. @AVIUS hahahaa two-way street now. I like it. :) Thank you, much appreciated, as always.

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  8. I don't know how these other people know you already, because I only know the 2 posts on this blog (& you can thank Ivan over @ HHIR for that) but I can tell already that this will be a regular stop on the "information superhighway" for me. Keep 'em comin'- this is some of the best shit I read on a blog ever.

    I have all but stopped going to shows lately, & adopted the mindset that hip-hop just sucks live now, that none cares enough about live shows to do it right anymore. This shit right here reminded me about how good it can be when it's done right. I saw him at rock the bells a few years ago & I co-sign the Nas statements (god-like indeed, just him & a d.j.) but I gotta say though, I'm shocked and amazed that you were inpired to write this withou ever having seen the roots-- by far the best show of any kind that I have ever seen. Anytime I know they are going to be near me- I'm there. Every member is an absolute master @ their particular job & they each manage to get a chance to shine. Absolutely amazing every time, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, if not mandatory.

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  9. @E.B. yeah Ivan has been holdin me down since I started, love that website (love bein posted on it even more hah). THANK you for your words, truly. I always apreciate the love. The hate motivates me but the love...makes it all worth it.
    Like I said man, the Roots are literally at the top of my list right now. Especially after HIGO. Shit is firrre.
    If you wanna follow me on twitter (rachel_cee) I always post my links and talk too much about hip hop. Trying to make the blog weekly but I also write for a local mag in Denver and between those articles/reviews and my full time-job...shit gets hectic and the blog is what suffers. Keep stoppin by tho, promise I'll keep shit comin.

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  10. Excellent post, Rachel! I agree wholeheartedly that live emceeing is Hip-Hop at its purest. Given the deteriorating state of the music industry overall, the only way to keep real Hip-Hop alive is by nurturing these roots.

    I'll definitely be checking back for more of your posts, so keep up the good work! Its gonna take a nation of Hip-Hop junkies to reclaim the game!

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  11. Damn, Rach. Goosebumps.
    Love it. Love you
    Jill

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