Today's Urban "Creativity" - Part II

by Lawrence Raysor

Part II

We all love music, right? I think it’s safe to say there’s a genre for everyone, even that guy who stares at the floor and mumbles when he speaks to you while fidgeting nervously in his pockets. Unfortunately, however, the genre that I’ve come to claim as my own is slowly slipping out of my grasp. Being an “80’s baby”, I’ve watched Hip Hop grow, evolve, and branch out. It’s been a beautiful journey fueled by creativity, competition, individuality, and a general “I don’t care what you think” attitude (of course I'm sure the way that was said mentally wasn't as nice especially if you were a cop during the time, right NWA? I'm just saying)-within the confines of the overall rap culture of course. Isn't it ironic, that the people who say they don‘t care what you think, normally want you to purchase or support, there I go again digressing. Silly me, where‘s the Ritalin? Anyway, I refuse to say that the journey is over, but it seems to be slowing to a stop. It’s 2009, and most rappers are more concerned with their computerized and doctored- vocal abilities and their props (i.e. unnecessarily-bulky jewelry, silly, gimmick-driven clothing, expensive, yet rented cars and locations, and of course very hot, tempting and scrumptiously-sexy women-so I got a bit carried away with the adjectives, I was just trying to be accommodating) than their lyrical content. Some of these artists are actually putting together entire albums where they shed the blasted chains, bound to them by rap, and free themselves into a world of R&B, whether they belong or not. Now (insert the so called “best rapper alive” here) could easily say he’s singing on records now because he’s bored, but if you’re bored, why not move forward with your creativity? You could write a book, produce poetry, teach a class, do anything, but I bet you my brother please don't sing! Singing isn’t showing off your creative ability to paint a picture through cleverly selected words, at all. This “rapper” could also use the excuse that he thinks, “...outside of the box,” but even that phrase indicates that you aren’t thinking outside of the box anymore. The fact of the matter is this: most of these rappers have run out of ways to be creative because they’ve come to the realization, as have I, that their lives aren’t really that interesting. Sure it was interesting to talk about how many people you killed and shot at; how many times you were arrested and took over the jail (cue the “Attica chants”); how many women you’ve been with, how, where and at once (actually I still find that interesting, sorry mom); how many megatons of cocaine and crack you’ve sold on one street, in the world’s toughest ghetto, where people often drop dead just because they’re so afraid of dying, all the while you’re hanging out with the likes of mafia lieutenants, drug lords, and cartel leaders; or how you’re so rich that you have one pair of every type of sneaker, shoe, diamond earring, expensive (insert high end name brand here i.e. Gucci) socks, and jeans to go along with all of the cars and jets that you actually own and don’t rent for ''M.T.V. Cribs''-yea I know, the secret’s out. Sorry guys. Yes, all of that was interesting at one point or another, but the operative word here is “was”. So many people have listened to rap and have figured that all they had to do was follow along in the rappers’ footsteps to be a) cool, b) desired, and c) creative. Wrong. Wrong. Annnnd WRONG! Rap, as with poetry, is expression of the self. Therefore, if a person is an artist, the objective, is to express what’s going on with one's self and one's life in hopes to find some sort of release and support in through artistic expression. News flash, rappers, the objective isn’t mimicry.

So now we’re left with a lot of rappers who are “bored” and are branching out into the world of R&B. Who should we blame? Should we blame artists like R. Kelly and Justin Timberlake, for embracing instead of challenging and eventually crushing this idea? Should we blame the A&R’s, the very filters of the industry for not saying, “Now hold on a second, (insert the “best rapper alive” here). The world does not deserve this! You’ve finally gone too far,” How about the guys in the studio who do nothing but smoke, joke, play, drink, eat, nod and encourage every single idea with an excited, “Yo that’s hot son, you should definitely say ‘uh huh yea’ right there and there and there. Yeaaahhh hotness, son.” Should we blame them? Should we blame the public school system for not truly teaching its students what the word 'creativity' means and entails? (Side note: I don’t think that last one is really valid at all, but everyone else is using the public school system as an excuse, I figured what the hell, why not? ) While we could blame all of the aforementioned, I blame Ja Rule (cue the background music of Ja singing, "Put it on me" in a very lovely and raspy DMX kind of voice), 50 Cent, and Eminem.
I'm sure many of us are aware of the time in which Eminem was on top of his game and 50 Cent was making serious headway in the industry via a meteoric rise to the top. If it weren’t for Ja Rule introducing 50 to the idea of a rapper singing on record and making money while doing so, 50 - being the ever clever hustler that he is- would not have destroyed Ja’s career and stolen his style to ensure domination lyrically, publicly, and financially. He and Eminem used their rise to fame to their advantage and future “hip hoppers’” disadvantage. I guarantee that if they hadn’t been so successful, people wouldn’t even have thought to listen to them singing on their records. Now that they’ve done so, it’s seen as an option, an option many rappers have sought to explore in the face of monotony. Thanks so much for that fellas.

Remember when 2 PAC was alive and well? Remember how his music captivated us? Remember how his style and approach was unmatched? Despite his rugged approach, vicious delivery, and all of his achievements, he was still human. He was human enough to allow his art to imitate life. He told stories of loss, hunger, welfare, poor decisions, teenage pregnancies, love, and hate. The creativity was so potent that the stories seemed real. Hell, even I wanted to write “Brenda” a letter about why she could have kept the baby and how we could have made it work. To those of us who listened faithfully to his music, he was like a rap superhero, and perhaps, that’s where we went wrong. Instead of simply appreciating and supporting him, we idolized him and thrust him into the catagory of dreams and aspirations. “What do you want to be when you grow up, Kareem? You can be anything you like. A doctor, a lawyer, a 2 Pac, a basketball player…?” It seemed like other rappers stopped being creative and started trying their hardest to be “a 2 Pac”. It’s as though people forgot that as hardcore as his lyrics were, they were real lyrics, not lyrics that were made up for entertainment purposes. Perhaps he embellished a bit on some occasions, but even that’s better than creating a whole new life for yourself and claiming it was yours all along. That approach has brought about a serious monotony; who wouldn’t create the ideal situation for him/herself? I’m Hugh Heffner meets Robert Dinero in Heat, if you let me tell it.
Despite its blatant monotony, today’s Hip Hop does have its moments. Unfortunately, those moments are only shared by true fans of the art form and those who claim to be true fans but know all of the words to songs that are far from true hip hop (cue the scenes of grown men doing the “Superman Dance” and actually mouthing the words, tisk tisk). Rappers who dare to stick to the idea of expressing one’s self and talking about what’s true to them as human beings, rather than creating and rapping about some sort of urban superhero with tight pants, visible underwear, and a pashmina scarf like cape worn in the front - ok so that was childish reference to the fashion in Part I, but I had to do it (yes for the self plug!)- are often given back-handed compliments and pushed to the side. It’s like the scholar versus the jock in the football family: “Look mom I got straight A’s and I made honor roll to-” “That’s great son. Mommy’s really proud of you, but move a little to the left I’m trying to take a picture of your brother’s new trophy to hang on the fridge with the rest of ‘em.” Sure Lupe Fiasco has gained respect for being very lyrical and true, but he pales in comparison to let’s say a Flo-Rida, Rick Ross, or Souljah Boy. If you don’t believe me, check the statistics on radio plays, club plays, downloads, and overall purchases. Some may actually say, “It’s hard to relate to Lupe,” and that would be totally understandable if everyone’s life was similar to that of Rick Ross and Souljah Boy... Right, I didn’t think so. As far as “relatability” is concerned, Joe Budden writes about real life issues and concerns like: a bad drug habit, issues with a crazy ex girlfriend, struggling financially, issues with his parents, problems with his associates, career issues etc. I’m sure many of us can relate to some of these issues on one level or another, much more than we can relate to “moving keys” and superman-ing that h*e. The creativity lies in the ability to make art that imitates life. Don’t get me wrong, it’s cool to let life imitate art. That can be fun and entertaining. We’ve gone beyond that however, we’re allowing art, or what we call art, to control life. This is happening so much so, that we’ve lost sight of what art means and what it means to be creative. True artists are therefore, lost in the proverbial “sauce” that is Hip Hop.

How about we start a movement? Let's support artists who write music that exhibits self expression. We just need some sort of fancy or catchy name. I’ve got it! Let’s call it Reality And Progress. Let me know when realize how creative that name is. I’ll be waiting…ok so who’s coming with me? Let’s stop complaining about the lack of creativity and support those who are creative. It's about time we do get back to that. If we're going to take from the past (i.e. "80's fashion"), let's take something that supports creativity.




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