(Revolutionary) Hip-Hop is Dead, and Who Killed It

The other night I was downtown and I ran into one of my boys who also happens to be a promoter here in AZ. I hadn't spoken to my dude in a minute and I was curious about how his business was being affected by our 'Great Recession'. Apparently he had a rough weekend with a "political/conscious/revolutionary" artist who used to pull big numbers a couple years ago falling pretty flat in 09. But he didn't blame the economy. His opinion was that "people don't wanna hear that shit anymore." You know what, I agree with him. But I don't think the problem is that people don't care about things like war, poverty, the economy ect, because after all these are the things that affect them every day, more so now than ever, how could they not care? Rather I think the problem is that political hip-hop has hit a stalemate, in fact I think it hit one a few years ago and folks have finally had enough.

OK, maybe there is an argument to be made that with all the crazy shit going on in the world right now, when people listen to music or go to a show they just want to get away from all that political shit and have a goood time, MAYBE. But maybe, just maybe, you can only hear the same god damn anti-war/bush/capitalism song so many times before you start getting sick to your stomach every time you hear the word 'revolution'. Look, when Fahrenheit 9/11 came out in 04 I was floored, I loved it, the info, the humor, the captivating images and the human stories, I even spent my own time and money taking everyone I knew to go see it, that shit was epic for me. But in the five years since Michael Moore's groundbreaking film there's been literally hundreds (netflix search pulls up 228) of documentaries on Iraq rehashing the same info, the same pictures, and the same interviewees making the same point over, and over, and over, and over again. I still care about the War in Iraq, but I don't feel like spending my time watching the same movie 100 times like I'm four years old, I'm sorry but the human mind was meant for greater purposes than redundancy.

Similarly, an incredible artist named Immortal Technique dropped an album called Revolutionary Vol. 2 that same year that turned conscious hip-hop on it's head, I mean the shit literally compensated for the 5-10 years that revolutionary hip-hop had been MIA. But almost immediately making an anti-something song became the "in" thing to do in underground hip-hop, political was the new thing and everyone was doing it, except not as good, not because they lacked in skill but because they lacked in originality, hell I can't front some might even lump my first album into that category :/ In essence the shit got boring, and it's no surprise that it has fizzled out, in fact the only surprise to me is that it didn't happen sooner.

Anyway, this ain't Michael Moore or Immortal Technique's fault, they are brilliant visionaries who have inspired millions of people, rather it's the fault of those who wanted to jump on their bandwagons but lacked the creative energy to keep them going. And don't blame the fans for not wanting to shell out their hard earned cash in a shitty economy for sub-par art that isn't worth the cost of the alcohol required to enjoy it. My boy said they wouldn't be bringing this artist back out again, and I say good, Darwinian justice, if these dudes cannot adapt then they should be phased out to make room for a new generation of artists that have the guts the be themselves. One thing I've come to learn as an artist is that the best stuff comes out when you speak from the heart, but that's impossible to do when you're trying to be someone else.


References:


Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11





Immortal Technique Revolutionary Vol. 2

5/2 counter protests in Phoenix

So the question I have about this video is this; is this problem as simple as racism or does it have deeper socioeconomic implications? In other words, would these people care about immigration if they had universal healthcare, national education and full employment? Is this as simple as a 'Clash of Civilizations' or is it more of a class contradiction? To be honest I'm undecided at this point, but I lean more toward the classist analysis than the racist analysis, simply because their demands are more related to socioeconomic issues than anything else. It's funny because the same system that exported these people's jobs and denies them human rights in the United States is the one that put people out of work in Mexico and made them want to come here. Seems to me like they have a right to be angry but it's just going in the wrong direction, or as the Arabic proverb puts it, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Anyway, Banksy posted this song on his twitter and I thought it was appropriate, Pac recorded this back in the mid 90's, crazy how little hasn't changed since then, but I guess that's the point of the song.

Tonatierra show w/ Zach de la Rocha

Peace to everyone who made it out last night, it was a good time with good food and good people. I find inspiration in these kinds of events, when these kids put everything they have into something completely foreign to them like throwing a show, it's always mad disorganized and hectic, but if you get enough good people together it's hard to go wrong. I hope that we can learn from our strengths as well as our weaknesses, and continue to build on these types of things and make them bigger and better. But this was a good start, I enjoyed myself, and I'm ready to come back out whenever ya'll need me again. Anyway, here is a short write-up Phoenix New Times did about the day. Peace.

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/bastard/2009/05/zack_de_la_rocha_signs_hundred.php