This I don’t understand. So if Taylor Swift reciting Super Bass is hip hop, what isn’t hip hop?
I get that this is art and it’s not always going to be black and white and there are going to be gray areas, but there has to be some foundational characteristics to hip hop.
Well Taylor Swift has no history within the art form.
I think a lot of it is frankly dictated by what elite peers in hip-hop think. If all my favorite hip-hop producers and artists tell me they think Mary J is hip-hop, then I'm not gonna argue. And yes, I realize that taking someone's word just because they're an authority isn't the best logic, but I feel like there are certain intangibles when you're dealing with art. This shyt isn't always perfectly logical, ya know?
If Mary J can swim with the sharks and run immensely respected in the same studio sessions as anyone else, and be considered as hip-hop as it gets, then I'm not gonna argue with that shyt too much.
And using her as an example, there's just a certain style, swagger, charisma, and subject matter that says hip-hop to me. It's just something I feel when I listen to her music. Even though she sings, she's still got an edge and she's not soft.