Just a change from the recent 50 Cent/G-Unit festivities of Streethop.
Hip-hop is the epitome of postmodernism, and as a result, it relies extensively on its environment and surroundings. For example, the amount of cultural references are difficult for some to ‘get’ if they are not a product of that time. So is hip-hop—in whatever evolutionary phase it is in—destined to be just an anachronism that someone from the late twentieth century can really appreciate, or is it possible for the genre to extend and say Public Enemy can be appreciated by someone who finds It takes a nation of millions... in 2050?
Timeless music (and this may be where this whole discussion enters conflict) to me, appears to be music that can cross historical boundaries and be ‘felt’ by someone regardless of their position in time (for current purposes, I am going to leave out culture). For example, in the West, it appears that classical music produced in the 1700s still appears to have quite a wide fan base. I would mainly consider music that produces universal rhythms to be timeless, so for instance it may be possible for jazz to be appreciated by anybody for some time in the future.
However, I think one main point is the use of lyrics. The use of lyrics certainly does narrow the scope of those who can empathise with what they hear. For example, consider sometime in the future that racism becomes irrelevant. What good will Public Enemy’s music provide anyone other than as a cultural artefact, or is that enough for music to be timeless? There is also the big chance that the social commentaries in hip-hop today will continue to be relevant because the circumstances will not change and thus hip-hop can be used as a measuring stick to show how little/much things have changed.
One thing that does hinder hip-hop’s chances of being a timeless music to me is the use of reference. Hip-hop borrows from popular culture far more than any form of music in terms of its lyrical content. So it begs the question, can some kid in the future feel Q-Tip when he emphasises “the importance of a Skypager”? All this materialism/anti-materialism is going to sound undoubtedly confusing as hell to someone on the outside. And this is not to mention the obscure-as-hell references from someone like MF DOOM and more importantly, the vernacular used. I mean how many people still say ‘gully’
, words go out of fashion and makes it difficult for people to make music for the ages.
So can hip-hop be timeless? Can it speak to people beyond this period in history?
What I think is that it can, however the first problem is talking about ‘hip-hop’ as if it were one singular form of music, without its own subdivisions and inner conflicts. Some of the music I believe can be timeless, however the ones which pander to the popular music at the time will suffer an early death (which I believe is a lot of the music coming out of the South). In order for more to become timeless, there needs to be more universal human themes talked about in the content of the lyrics, which is one reason why I think 2Pac is very popular, he tends to talk about himself a lot, and the pain insider, which people no matter what culture or time can empathize with.
So does anyone think that there is any hip-hop which they would consider timeless? For example, I know that there would be people born just a few years ago, who will feel music by such acts as Run-DMC who were on MTV 15 years before they were even born.
Hip-hop is the epitome of postmodernism, and as a result, it relies extensively on its environment and surroundings. For example, the amount of cultural references are difficult for some to ‘get’ if they are not a product of that time. So is hip-hop—in whatever evolutionary phase it is in—destined to be just an anachronism that someone from the late twentieth century can really appreciate, or is it possible for the genre to extend and say Public Enemy can be appreciated by someone who finds It takes a nation of millions... in 2050?
Timeless music (and this may be where this whole discussion enters conflict) to me, appears to be music that can cross historical boundaries and be ‘felt’ by someone regardless of their position in time (for current purposes, I am going to leave out culture). For example, in the West, it appears that classical music produced in the 1700s still appears to have quite a wide fan base. I would mainly consider music that produces universal rhythms to be timeless, so for instance it may be possible for jazz to be appreciated by anybody for some time in the future.
However, I think one main point is the use of lyrics. The use of lyrics certainly does narrow the scope of those who can empathise with what they hear. For example, consider sometime in the future that racism becomes irrelevant. What good will Public Enemy’s music provide anyone other than as a cultural artefact, or is that enough for music to be timeless? There is also the big chance that the social commentaries in hip-hop today will continue to be relevant because the circumstances will not change and thus hip-hop can be used as a measuring stick to show how little/much things have changed.
One thing that does hinder hip-hop’s chances of being a timeless music to me is the use of reference. Hip-hop borrows from popular culture far more than any form of music in terms of its lyrical content. So it begs the question, can some kid in the future feel Q-Tip when he emphasises “the importance of a Skypager”? All this materialism/anti-materialism is going to sound undoubtedly confusing as hell to someone on the outside. And this is not to mention the obscure-as-hell references from someone like MF DOOM and more importantly, the vernacular used. I mean how many people still say ‘gully’
, words go out of fashion and makes it difficult for people to make music for the ages.So can hip-hop be timeless? Can it speak to people beyond this period in history?
What I think is that it can, however the first problem is talking about ‘hip-hop’ as if it were one singular form of music, without its own subdivisions and inner conflicts. Some of the music I believe can be timeless, however the ones which pander to the popular music at the time will suffer an early death (which I believe is a lot of the music coming out of the South). In order for more to become timeless, there needs to be more universal human themes talked about in the content of the lyrics, which is one reason why I think 2Pac is very popular, he tends to talk about himself a lot, and the pain insider, which people no matter what culture or time can empathize with.
So does anyone think that there is any hip-hop which they would consider timeless? For example, I know that there would be people born just a few years ago, who will feel music by such acts as Run-DMC who were on MTV 15 years before they were even born.
