Hip Hop is Dead and This Generation Killed it

As tragic as the deaths of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls were, they also created openings rather than voids. It left a generation of young and upcoming artists battling for those coveted top spots. Artists who were so street, you hesitated to even call them artists. The mid to late nineties was a tremendous time to be a fan of hip hop as we were given artists such as Jay-Z, DMX, The Lox, Big Pun and Eminem. These artists and many more carried the flag for hip hop from the mid to late nineties right into the 21st century, while paving the way for those behind them such as 50 cent, Fat Joe Kanye West and the rest of Roc-A-Fella records.

When I was in High School, Roc-A-Fella Records was more like a movement than a record label. Hallways were filled with kids wearing Roc-A-Wear coats and State Property shirts, with Air Force Ones and S Dots on their feet. I don’t know if it’s just because of the fact I’m from Philly but the signing of Beanie Siegel and the rest of State Property turned hip hop on it’s head. People I went to school with couldn’t wait to tell you how they grew up on the same street as Beanie or The Young Gunz. If Jay- Z and Roc-A-Fella backed an artist during this era, their success was almost guaranteed.

The music was gritty, aggressive and if I’m just being honest — violent. For me though it never inspired or promoted actual violence, it was more like a documentation of the lives of the people who grew up so similarly to so many of those I went to school with. The music was a creative non violent outlet for the aggression pent up in so many of us. It stood for something and had meaning.

The early 2000’s would be responsible for the re-emergence of artists who established themselves as hip hop legends in the early nineties such as Nas and Dr. Dre. After the massively successful introduction of Eminem in 1999, Dre would go on to also release his second studio solo album The Chronic 2001. Nas released Stillmatic, which featured the now infamous Jay-Z diss Ether which led to one of the better known battles rap would go on to see.

I don’t know when it happened but somewhere along the lines, the music changed. It lost it’s meaning and feeling. It stopped being about the talent and culture. Many, including Jay-Z himself on his track D.O.A (Death of Auto tune)…