Our Daily Dead

Over at the Blog Critics Magazine music section and Sterfish we read that Hip-Hop Is Dead. Or at least according to the hip-hop artist Nas and his new album titled “Hip-Hop Is Dead”.

Sterfish writes:

“Driven by a James Brown sample, ‘Where Are They Now’ name checks virtually every notable rapper of the late 1980s and early 1990s. [Nas] bemoans the fact that many of these artists have been forgotten by newer generations: ‘Rap is like a ghost town / Real mystic / Like these folks never existed…’ He also gives them praise, calling them ‘the reason that rap became addictive’ and any artists he doesn’t mention in the verses, he shouts out at the end of the song.”

“The theme of disappointment with some of the current generation of hip-hop appears more prominently on ‘Carry On Tradition.’ The song is all about continuing the traditions of previous generations and Nas uses the opportunity to talk about the way some newer artists (who remain nameless) don’t do that. He chides them on their ignorance of early hip-hop (’Let’s see who can quote a Daddy Kane line the fastest?’) and the way they use acclaim for their ‘bricks’ to hate on bigger, more established names.”

“‘Black Republican’ is the long-awaited collaboration between Nas and former rival Jay-Z. The end result is pretty good with the two of them showing off their contrasting styles from the hook (where Nas calls himself a ‘black militant’ as opposed to the title) to their verses. The dramatic classical music sample adds to the spectacle.”

“Even though Nas titled his album Hip Hop Is Dead, the album serves to prove that hip-hop is far from dead. In fact, with all the controversy over the album title, anyone who listens to it will realize that Nas doesn’t actually think hip-hop is dead. He is just frustrated with the way things are right now, just as some fans who grew up with him are. Hip-hop has survived being called a fad, censorship, tragedy, introduction to suburbia, and even police raids against mixtape DJ’s. It’s not going anywhere but that doesn’t mean we can’t demand more from it. That might really be the message of Hip Hop Is Dead.”

~~The ODDones for OurDailyDead.com

Technorati tags: Blog Critics, Sterfish, Hip-Hop Is Dead, Nas, Hip-Hop, Dead, James Brown, Daddy Kane, Jay-Z

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 31st, 2007 at 10:43 am and is filed under ODD Guests, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.