Hip-Hop Purists Could Kill the Music Forever

(Editor’s Note: This is the next in a regular column from Minnesota based hip-hop artist Mike Dreams (Michael A. Hannah) called “A Dreamer’s Perspective.” In today’s column, Dreams explains why purists devoted to the hip-hop's "original" sound could actually be killing the culture.)

Thirty years ago this month, The Sugarhill Gang released a song that began with a simple improved freestyle over a looped break of Chic's 1979 hit "Good Times". This song became the classic "Rapper's Delight", a track that’s arguably referred to as the first official "hip hop" record by a "hip hop" group. Well, we've come a very long way in 30 years. We've gone from rapping over break beats of soul and funk tracks to full out musical compositions and creative sound sampling. In urban fashion, we've taken it from colorful and fitted clothing, to baggy jeans, bubble jackets and Timbalands, back to colorful clothing and skinny jeans (well, for those who can fit in them anyway). Now, to many of us, these advancements in hip-hop music and its culture are viewed to be positive progression. But some don't agree. I call those people Hip Hop Purists; a social group of hip-hop fans who believe that the changes in hip-hop style and success are ultimately detrimental to the authenticity and sacredness of the original genre.

Most people who are hip-hop fans have some sort of idea of the original elements of hip-hop, using B-Boy dance, as well as rapping over break beats and graffiti art, as a cultural and expressive force to help dispel gang violence and promote peace within the community. Many of hip hop's pioneers view this to be hip hop in its rare, original form. As the years progressed and commercialization intertwined with the culture, a lot of elements altered that “original” hip-hop, including pop & R&B influences, as well as subject matter.

So now that I’ve laid out a brief history, let's back up to the present day. I first started paying attention to the "hip-hop purist" mindset a little over a year ago when Refined Hype's partner site DJBooth.net dropped a new mixtape record from then-Interscope signee Charles Hamilton titled “Windows Media Player”, where Hamilton creatively produced a beat from the Windows XP intro and technical sounds and then used some clever technology based wordplay. I personally thought this was a pretty innovative composition. The production was created from non-traditional sounds and he served the track with some semi-witty technology metaphors crossed with a braggadocio candor. But then I begin to read the responses to the song. Though most listeners were intrigued by the track’s creativity, I was surprised by the stance of one listener.

He stated: "Is this what the rap game has came to? Really, where have the real rappers gone, this song is dumb, absolutely dumb. This just shows how far we have gotten away from our rap roots. Raised in the concrete safari? Dude please, no hood dude gon rap bout some Windows Media Player, heard better s**t from Vanilla Ice. I won’t even rate [this], 0 all the way.”

The entire statement really threw me for a loop. Now I can be critical, and I agree that certain records lack substance and quality, but this Charles Hamilton record was not one of them. After this comment I began thinking more and more about newer styles of hip-hop and started noticing an uprising of "older heads" who seemed to still be stuck in 1987, when the best rapper alive was Rakim and if you were using anything more complicated than a sample and a break beat, you were, as Paula DeAnda's first single would say, "doing too much".

Here’s my stance as what I would call a “Hip-Hop Optimist": Innovation is hip-hop. Creativity is hip-hop. More importantly, independent expression is hip-hop. Hip-hop wasn’t created with boundaries, it was created for the young culture to have something they could call their own and express themselves with their fullest capability. Now, granted we sometimes frown upon certain expression if it seems to lack skill or effort, but it’s innovation nevertheless. Take Deandre Way, better known as the teenage phenomenon, "Soulja Boy Tell Em." He came into the game with a song he produced himself on a demo version of a production program. He created a dance, promoted himself through the internet and "Crank Dat" ended up being a number one record for over seven non-consecutive weeks and selling millions of copies, followed up by a platinum selling album. That, my friends, was innovation.

Don't get me wrong, I love classic hip-hop and I love when new school artists still bring that old school sound, like Talib Kweli or Mos Def, but I don’t believe that we should frown upon something new or different either. After all, you wouldn't go to the dance club and expect the DJ to play "One Mic". The diversity in the genre shows that different music was made for different settings. Just as much as you wouldn't expect to hear a Nas record like “One Mic” in the club, you also wouldn't listen to a song like "Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It" to gain knowledge or inspiration on an introspective or socially conscious level either.

After Nas said that hip hop was dead in late 2006 with his critically acclaimed studio album "Hip Hop Is Dead", people jumped on the bandwagon, because they were already hip hop purists at heart. You wanna talk about hip hop dying? In my opinion, hip-hop dies when we no longer embrace anything new and just rely on the oldies to give us our “hip hop fix”. In all the genres that have “died”, that seems to be the way it has always worked. People listen to the golden oldies, but they are just memories. They are allowed to relive the moments through nostalgia and newer fans can listen to the music and grow to love it, but they never will be able to experience the actual movement in the present-day. This is what’s going to happen to hip-hop if the purists continue to press this mindset upon us. If we stop embracing anything new and constantly compare everything to the older music, innovation will end, and the first stages of true death will begin.

I remember when Lupe Fiasco made his debut in 2006 with "Food & Liquor" (which by the way is my favorite album of the decade), and he ushered in a more positive light of hip-hop that reflected some of the early ‘90s sentiments that people fell in love with, putting lyricism and intelligence on a pedestal and shedding some light on our social inequities. I had a discussion with a hip-hop fan that was only about 5 or 6 years older than me, and he said that Lupe was okay...but he was no Rakim. Even with all the positivity and innovation Lupe brought in such a commercialized scene, he still couldn’t give Mr. Jaco the props and respect he deserved for coming from left field into the mainstream hip hop industry. Of course he's no Rakim, because he's LUPE FIASCO. Familiarity is a strong part of human psychology, but at times it can keep you from showing due respect to a newer generation of artists when really you should be embracing them.

Hip-hop purism will surely be the downfall of our cherished musical genre if we don't stop it now. Though we can respect and love the elements and foundation that hip-hop was based on, we'll never be able to go back to those times. To be honest, I don't think the creators of this culture would have wanted us to. The world is evolving, so let the music evolve too. Appreciate this beloved genre before we lose it.

(Editor's Note: For a completely different take on hip-hop purism, check out Jacques Morel's "Hell Hath No Fury Like a Hip-Hop Purist Scorned".)