Long Stick Fizzle Out: Hip-Hop’s Decline and Re-emergence

What has become of hip-hop? Rap music as we know it is on the decline. Just take a look at the Billboard charts: The highest charting hip-hop single, “Nothin’ on You” by B.oB featuring Bruno Mars, comes in at No. 17. Even on Billboard’s hip-hop charts, it isn’t until the fifth slot that we see an actual bonafied rap song-Young Jeezy’s “Loose My Mind.”  The remaining tracks are mainly R&B. Don’t get me wrong, the Billboard charts have no bearing on my opinion of the genre. But it’s clear that the world’s, or at least the record-buying public’s attitude toward hip-hop has changed dramatically.

I’m not the first to say this and I’m sure I wont be the last, but hip-hop is the new hair metal. Both genres focus on the same general themes. For Motley Crew it’s all about the beer, the coke and the women. For Fabolous it’s all about the Henny, the blunts and the broads. Stars from both sides enjoy expensive clothing and jewelry, and in their debauchery and contrived idolatry, even the live shows are comparable.

Hair metal and mainstream hip-hop imagine worlds in which women are there to be demeaned. To wit: the lyrics to my very own mash up of a hair metal anthem by the band Krokus and a recent club hit by Lil’ John and the Yin Yang Twins. I call it, “Get Low Because Tonight Long Stick Go Boom.”

You all know about 69
Damn you fine
Burning bones and bedside time
Question been harassing me in the mind
Can I play yo panty line?
You give us fever, you give us sweat
The sweat drip down mah balls

Tonight, long stick goes boom
To all skeet skeet skeet skeet
To all skeet skeet skeet skeet

Pop yo pussy like this, cause the Ying Yang Twins in this bitch

We gonna kick it, gonna break out through the ice
I need all the ladies that know they look good tonight
I wanna see yo ass dirt dance
Get that touch of a magical light

Tonight long stick goes boom
To all skeet skeet skeet skeet motherfucker
To all skeet skeet skeet skeet goddamn

Godamn is right. But fortunately rap, like hair metal, is starting to look ridiculous to everybody, hence the Billboard charts. Having lived through a time where hair metal was the most embarrassing musical culture to be associated with, it doesn’t seem far-fetched that rap will soon be seen in a similar light. It began with the gradual tightening of baggy pants. And slowly but surely the hip-hop artists at the top of the charts had to do more than just rap to sell records-they had to become anomalies within their genre. Kanye West, for instance, has managed to separate himself from the pack by virtue of his innate musical talent, his ability to incorporate other genres and his sense of humor. (Of course, his epic ego has overshadowed most of the artistry of his best records.) Similarly, Lil’ Wayne has managed to individualize himself by adopting more musicality and handpicking elements from other genres. In “Lollipop,” one of his biggest hits, he played, or rather attempted to play a guitar solo. But by grasping onto the last few tricks that still play well in the rap game, Kanye and Lil’ Wayne have only managed to ensure their MVP status within a dwindling, increasingly demoralized team.

Of course, it may not be fair to judge hip-hop’s heath by looking solely at its  mainstream artists. Top-40 hip-hop may have peaked, but there’s reason to have hope for the underground. The most prominent of this new breed comes from across the Atlantic. U.K.-born garage is essentially electro hip-hop with a bit of punk attitude, and the genre has really started to come into its own. Ever since the emergence of The Streets in 2002, American tastemakers have drawn attention to the style. But garage didn’t crack the mainstream until the recent success of M.I.A. The ease with which the genre melds dance music and hip-hop-the club and the street-has been a major influence on stateside hip-hop. Now the majority of new American acts-from MSTRKRFT to Busdriver-fall under the electro hip-hop umbrella.

Fortunately, the domestic hip-hop underground has also been pulling its weight.  The Minneapolis scene has been on people’s radar ever since Atmosphere started to make noise back in 1996. Slug of Atmosphere’s label Rhymesayers Entertainment has been producing notable new stars such as Eyedea, who won HBO’s freestyle competition Blaze Battle in 2000. The artists on Rhymesayers, and in Minneapolis in general, have a tendency toward more challenging beats and lyrics that focus on introspective and provocative subject matter. Artists like Atmosphere, Brother Ali and Grieves have popularized a style that the media has since tagged as “emo rap,” “backpack rap” and “indie rap.”

The Bay Area label Anticon is another interesting product of the backlash against vapid mainstream hip-hop. The collective has been referred to as the “Crass of hip-hop” because of their tendency to make music that’s completely outside the box. Original label-head and rapper Sole was the first to gain prominence for his energetic, often nonrhyming style that had a tendency to lean more toward poetry than anything else. Sole has since left the label to focus more on his own music, but other acts like WHY? have brought a great deal of attention to Anticon.

Perhaps the best evidence of hip-hop’s continued vitality comes from Denton, Texas. Featuring the queer but compelling production of the Paper Chase’s John Congelton, Astronautalis’ album “Pomegranate” was one of 2009′s best. Astro, whose gruff voice flows like liquefied gravel from a Super Soaker, has even improved the freestyle game by asking audience members to contribute words for him to incorporate into his flow.

Artists like Astro and Sole show that the genre still has much to offer, that its future remains bright-and that maybe one day we won’t look back on hip-hop’s next chapter and cringe.