THE MISEDUCATION OF HIP HOP'S MAINSTREAM

[Ziggiy]

Last night the 55th Annual Grammy Awards was televised. In what has been christened the defining ceremony to award the music industry’s brightest, most accomplished, and most talented, the program aired to an estimated 28.37 million viewers. Many of music’s highest profile celebrities were on hand, the gorgeous Jennifer Lopez strutting her thigh across the red carpet. R&B’s edgy royalty Chris Brown and Rihanna cozily sitting hand in hand in the front row. Taylor Swift representing her wholesome brand of pained country longing with a wide smile and a twinkling eye. The Grammys kicked off without any major hitches, with performances from Maroon 5, Alicia Keyes, Miguel, Frank Ocean, and the pop group Fun. There was however, one crucial element missing from the festivities….



Hip Hop.


Read the full article at http://www.thecoli.com/2013/02/the-miseducation-of-hip-hops-mainstream/


#TPC

 

[STUFF]

How many country awards were given out on air? Rock awards?

When it comes to the actual winners, they are all over the place with EVERY award. The biggest song of the year, BY FAR, was Call Me Maybe. You little sister AND you mom were singing that song. Parodies everywhere. The song was a phenomenon, I can't even find words to properly emphasize how big that song was. And it won 0 awards.

It's 2013, everything is Pop now, except for hip hop, r&b, and country. No one cares about anything else anymore

 

[starang117]

Chill

 

[No1]

An Opinion Piece On The Continued Degradation Of Hip Hop's Cultural Impact And Importance


However, as a SONG it can't equate to the craftsmanship of Daughters. Daughters is a song that will resonate with generations of fathers to come, with a message of fatherly devotion that is timeless. nikkas In Paris will ultimately be remembered along with Nelly's Hot In Herre, Souljah Boy's Crank Dat, and Ja Rule's entire discography as a song that captured the essence of the urban club scene at a moment in time.


#TPC

This part is wrong, but to each his own, that's your flaw as an article writer you can only be objective for so long before your own biases show through. But anyway, add an image to your article so I can publish it on the main page. That's what I'm waiting on.

 

[DaveyDave]

personally i don't see why any MC's go to the grammys anyway. it's an industry thing, something that is probably pushed by the labels and because it's seen as some sort of status symbol, a lot of artists are happy when they are niminated. if another award show came up & started giving out actual good choices over all the genres then the grammys would probably lose steam fairly quickly but the label & industry big wigs wouldn't let that happen JUST because the grammys are such an instution.

it doesn't help when The Source and other people that are supposedly "more hip hop" are not much better when it comes to awarding artists. if i was an artist i would never go to the grammys, even if all the hip hop awards were televised. back in the 80s & early 90s i think that was a good reason to boycott because they were snubbing hip hop altogether but these days it's a weak reason because they cant air every award of every genre so why should hip hop get some special status when they're just gonna fukk up the noms & winners 98% of the time anyway?

 

[Ukbrotha]

I like the fact that you zero'd in on that little bit in the entire article.

 

[Greenstrings]

This part is wrong, but to each his own, that's your flaw as an article writer you can only be objective for so long before your own biases show through. But anyway, add an image to your article so I can publish it on the main page. That's what I'm waiting on.

dude it's an opinion piece. There is no obligation for him to be objective about anything.

Objectivity ≠ Good writing.

 

[tremonthustler1]

First of all, if you wrote this, good stuff. It read like a professional article.


I don't agree with it necessarily, but at least you tried to eloquently state your case.


To counter, like someone already mentioned, it's not as if they presented that many awards other than the big 4, so we can't keep being offended at the awards not being televised. Some years Best Rap Album is shown. Some years it ain't. It depends on how the show goes. Last year they televised best R&B album. This year they didn't. That's just how the show went.

The problem I had throughout the article was that you wanted the Grammys to essentially do what we as a genre, artform, and culture can no longer seemingly do for ourselves and that was not only to portray hip-hop in the best light but also to reward a legend in a way that we have never rewarded him. We've never really seen Nas have an award speech. We haven't had an award show that truly respects the craft in years, especially hip-hop (Soul Train Awards still do their thing but it's as if Soul Train died when Shemar Moore became host. It took Don Cornelius blowing his brains out for interest in the show to increase again).

Also, none of the negativity that you have or hip-hop has towards the Grammys would have gone away with 1 Grammy award win for Nas. It won't go away next year even if Kendrick Lamar wins every award possible. It's hard to say the Grammys perpetuate a negative stereotype of hip-hop culture when hip-hop fails to project ANY image of it on the few award shows we even remotely recognize. If anything, your gripe should go more towards why even if Nas had won, why hip-hop can't honor Nas in a way where the Grammys aren't the last resort for any sort of validation to Nas' work. That's probably a different article for a different time, but the Grammys shouldn't be the last and only hope for hip-hop to truly be recognized and appreciated.

Again, good article though

 

[mozichrome]

its Tuesday, folks gotta let this Grammy shiit go breh

also, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was not a classic, was not held in high praises by me

 

[tremonthustler1]

personally i don't see why any MC's go to the grammys anyway. it's an industry thing, something that is probably pushed by the labels and because it's seen as some sort of status symbol, a lot of artists are happy when they are niminated. if another award show came up & started giving out actual good choices over all the genres then the grammys would probably lose steam fairly quickly but the label & industry big wigs wouldn't let that happen JUST because the grammys are such an instution.

So you want the Grammys to lose its place by hoping another Grammys steps up in its place? Any choice the Grammys give is subjective. You can't satisfy everyone.

it doesn't help when The Source and other people that are supposedly "more hip hop" are not much better when it comes to awarding artists. if i was an artist i would never go to the grammys, even if all the hip hop awards were televised. back in the 80s & early 90s i think that was a good reason to boycott because they were snubbing hip hop altogether but these days it's a weak reason because they cant air every award of every genre so why should hip hop get some special status when they're just gonna fukk up the noms & winners 98% of the time anyway?

Even if they got all the awards right, so to speak, how would that gloss over the fact that these hip-hop shows can't get it right (and by get it right I mean just having a platform that someone will respect?) Hip-hop doesn't respect shyt when it comes to validation because we have funny ways of showing it. We leave too much shyt up for debate (aka "let the streets decide" unfortunately you can never get a true answer that way). Do you know why it was so easy for Heavy D to shrug off a Grammy snub? Because the Soul Train award meant that much to him and to the culture. Now? Beyonce and Kanye could sweep those awards, you'll never see them show up for that award show. It's not important enough.

 

[No1]

dude it's an opinion piece. There is no obligation for him to be objective about anything.

Objectivity ≠ Good writing.

Calm down. I know what good writing is, I never commented on the quality of his writing. It actually looks pretty professional. It shows that he put effort into it, which is why I took the time to edit out typos for him and that stuff. Every album review is an opinion piece as well and there a good and bad ones. Objectivity = good writing as far it helps you make your own point. If you say something obviously false it takes away. I can be pro-something and be so factually inaccurate that it hurts my case. The best opinion pieces are based on some sort of critical analysis--which he provided. Which is why I highlighted only those two sentences.

The fact is equating Souljah Boy, Ja Rule and In Paris, and extrapolating onto the future from that is a very weak point to make when the facts are running contrary. In Paris was rated as the number 2 song of the year by Rollingstone, the best by XXL, etc. It's officially in the category of one of those songs that people will drop at parties for years to come. Those other songs never had the potential to be as enduring and just researching the landscape would show that was the wrong analogy to make. I disagreed with many of his points, but they weren't egregiously off. Just his opinion, and I respect that. That one point however, runs contrary to evidence.

 

[Ziggiy]

This part is wrong, but to each his own, that's your flaw as an article writer you can only be objective for so long before your own biases show through. But anyway, add an image to your article so I can publish it on the main page. That's what I'm waiting on.

Image added.

And the sub-heading clearly stated that it was an OPINION piece....

 

[Gil Scott-Heroin]

Also, none of the negativity that you have or hip-hop has towards the Grammys would have gone away with 1 Grammy award win for Nas.

If Nas won a Grammy - this thread wouldn't have even been made.

How long will we allow this message to permeate? How many of our legends, our pioneers, our idols, our authors, our producers, and our Artists will go unsung?

Pardon me, I had to laugh at that. Honestly I can't take one bit of what you wrote seriously, at all. When this out-of-place outcry was all a guise for your underlying stanism.

 

[Kobes Two Jerseys]

How many country awards were given out on air? Rock awards?

When it comes to the actual winners, they are all over the place with EVERY award. The biggest song of the year, BY FAR, was Call Me Maybe. You little sister AND you mom were singing that song. Parodies everywhere. The song was a phenomenon, I can't even find words to properly emphasize how big that song was. And it won 0 awards.

It's 2013, everything is Pop now, except for hip hop, r&b, and country. No one cares about anything else anymore

I had to youtube that shyt. Never heard it and don't see what the big deal is.

 

[No1]

Image added.

And the sub-heading clearly stated that it was an OPINION piece....

Look at my response above and you'll see my point. My friend is a writer and he's chilling here visiting for the week and I had him read that article too. He said it was fairly well written, but your Daughters vs. those other songs should have been more qualified. To quote him, "That's a bit much. In Paris is one of those In Da Club type records. He should've said something like (not verbatim):

"And with a generation that has grown up on Hip Hop Nas' ballad will undoubtedly prove to be more relatable as that generation grows into manhood. It may very well mean more in the future, to most of its listeners, than it does now. It's legacy, is still untold. Unlike, nikkas in Paris, which has plateaued, every year Nas' song will mean more to a growing number of listeners--sitting in the stands, harassing at home, sitting uneasily in the ER and gazing into the classroom. In Paris' impact however, will be relegated to the club, and the arena (which this guy Ziggly pointed out fairly well), and in that regard it will fail to match Daughters in its personal ubiquity. That way he's making his case without somehow pretending In Paris is some sort of Florida track that no one will play next year."

I think he's right, and that was my only point. You did good work. I still don't see the image.