“For All My Stuck in the 90s N#@%#”

Let’s stop right now with the phony celebration of the 90s era of Hip Hop by conveniently using that time as a platform to disrespect today’s music. Yes, the 90s was a great era of Hip Hop; it was so great that we can easily remember the the music and the time reflected like it was yesterday. We still subscribe to it as alternative for what is being shown on video and heard on the radio in 2012.
If I can recall during the 90s, there were a lot of people dissing music that came out of that era too that we could arguably consider classics today. A Native Tongue or Brand Nubian fan didn’t like all the noise and celebrated violence Onyx debuted with during the summer of 93. A Kool G. Rap fan wearing all black with a herringbone wasn’t too happy to see an Arrested Development video full of “Let my people go” sandals and hillbilly straw hats. A L.O.N.S, Quest, and Nice & Smooth fan probably didn’t want to hear any Tupac, Ice Cube, or any other West Coast music, that at one point New York considered “country”. Lastly, it was not until the majority of the 90s era North East, Midwest, and West Coast moved to the South to attend college is when they tolerated, and later appreciated, Luke, 69 Boyz, and Tag Team. Matter of fact, the experience of Freaknik gave us all the reason to appreciate the Miami “bass” music and possibly one of the reasons why half of the 90s era Hip Hop college crowd never returned home, even if they dropped out of school their freshman year.

Today’s Hip Hop sees a critical divide, no longer is it a regional divide like in the 90s but it’s an generation divide that pins the older Hip Hop heads against the younger Hip Hop heads who weren’t born in a era that can recite “Nothin’ But a G Thing” or “Dwyck”. Our icons are now approaching their 50s, some still looking the same physically as they did in the 80s and 90s, and still producing music or living Hip Hop culture. Then, there is the young fan of the music, born in the late 80s and early 90s, who seem to subscribe to a simpler form of Hip Hop (where all 16 bars are the same word, twerk music, or grunts and Michael Kors) that seems to disconnect with those who still love the music, the culture and the essence of Hip Hop. That demographic will not yet listen to their “momma’s music”. There are older Hip Hop lovers who are so stuck in the 90s, that they are in total disregard of today’s music in the same fashion as listed above in my earlier example. Then the 90s guy says, “That’s not real Hip Hop”. Yet, real Hip Hop to the 90s era guy was when Mobb Deep said “you all alone in these streets cousin” or Capone & Noreaga “it was all about the cash your honor, trafficking across the Verrazano, coke, weed, and marijuana”. Now tell me Mr. Stuck in the 90s, who probably have children, married, or possibly divorced, own a home or rent that may AT LEAST have young nieces and nephews. Do you really want the young people in your family to understand what Mobb Deep was saying in “Shook Ones”? Imagine your niece or daughter walking in the house reciting the Kool G. Rap “Symphony” verse when he said “voice is twice as horrifying as Vincent Price… while I’m counting my money you count sheep, flip the damn stage like I’m on a rampage, and if you want rage I’m a make front page, read the headline sucka, today’s the deadline.” That’s some real Hip Hop if you ask me but I would be highly concerned if any younger member of my family deciphered the meaning to Kool G. Rap’s genius word play. If our children want to do dance moves from a youtube channel or sing “My Lip Gloss” is poppin’ because we have provided a better environment for them then what we had growing up and want to listen to a music that reflects their lifestyle then who are we to stop them? The generation before us hated rap music and called it noise in exchange for Marvin Gaye, Harry Melvin & the BlueNotes, and the Fabulous Dramatics. So how come we have turned into the 90s television sitcom Martin character “Jerome” by remaining stuck in our era, but with a 90s twist, where we mentally wont take off our timberlands, baggy jeans, and throwback jersey.

In my opinion there is no difference between the music Waka Flaka puts out than what Onyx put out with Bacdafucup. Aggressive, energetic, rock and roll meets an urban mosh pit music is what they both offer. When the DJ threw on “Slam” or even Black Moon “Who Got the Props”, it is the same reaction now you get from a Waka Flaka Flame record in a club where the aggression and energy is turned up a notch. Instead of jumping up and down with one hand in the air as if Dres from Black Sheep was about to rap the last verse from “The Choice is Yours”, you have a bunch of guys shaking their dreads and celebrating their inner Homer Simpson with their stomachs. If that’s what they want to do, then let’s let them be. They will eventually grow out of it like how we all grew out of slam dancing to an Onyx record or while wearing a knapsack and a beeper. Before we categorize Waka Flaka for his content of music, lets not be so quick to say that it’s not real Hip Hop when we are just as guilty of having the same reaction to his content of music from the 90s era.

Now if your talking about the quality of Hip Hop and the lack of respect for it’s history, then yes the 90s era guy may have a point. Today’s Hip Hop disregards Domino “Getto Jam” or Nice & Smooth “Cake & Eat it Too” and gives the crown to Drake as the innovator of songbird Hip Hop, like there was never a TJ Swan or Nate Dogg. The quality of Hip Hop has been simplified due to Hip Hop not being the “stand up” culture it once was against the philosophy of corporate entities that invested money in the music. But it is the 90s era ego that created the monster in the executive to cut the budget down to size while controlling the music where the budget won’t be released if the music doesn’t mimic the radio hit that was on air yesterday. The “football/basketball” record deals that were given to 90s era artist who are probably still bound to those contracts in 2012 sucked the budget out of the music business so dry, there was just no more money left to continue musical dominance while catering to their Cristal and Versace habits.

So 90s era fan: this article was written for you to understand that yes there is still good music out there that represents our way of life. Music that has the 90s nostalgia with mature content that reflects our lives today so we can put away our Diamond D “Stunts, Blunts & Hip Hop” album. It’s just not on the radio or on the television screen today like how the music we loved was discovered on Stretch & Bobbito, Video Music Box, or the Box: Music Television You Control. The content may not be as physically aggressive as “Throw Your Gunz” or “Slam”, but still packs the attitude of “I Gotchu Opin” and “New York State of Mind”. The music that made people not leave in the South from their college years have now turned the city into a new mecca for young black entrepreneurs and urban business with Atlanta as the unofficial capital of Hip Hop success while Miami has replaced the “bass” culture with Maybach music that you can cruise on Collins Ave to. You don’t have to subscribe to Lil Wayne, Waka Flaka, Chief Keif but you do have to give the younger generation their Hip Hop culture without criticism or they will rebel and make more disobedient music. That’s how Hip Hop culture was born, under doubt, circumstance, and direct hate from folks who refused to acknowledge that the music was not a fad. And though we may not like the music, we must appreciate the spirit of Hip Hop that has been passed down from the 90s era to the generation after us.

Dave House is a Music Business Professional & Author of the Book titled “Street Rules in the Office: The Beginner’s Guide to Focus in the Music Business” available NOW on Amazon.com

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