Kid Cudi opened up to Arsenio Hall last week about commercialized hip hop's negative undertones and influence on the younger generation. WATCH:
"I think the braggadocio money, cash, hoes, thing needs to be DEADED. I feel like.. that's holding us back as a culture, as Black people. It doesn't advance us in any way, shape or form. We been doing that same thing for years now. What it's been - like four decades? Why not tell kids something that they can connect with and use in their lives?"
Both Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa were teenagers in 1973, the year we celebrate as the birth of hip hop. After a young Bambaataa returned from his life changing trip to Africa, he vowed to use hip-hop to draw angry kids out of gangs and formed Zulu Nation. So as you can see, hip-hop's culture originated from an effort to end violence, and focus on delivering a message.
But to Cudi's point, early hip hop did reflect some of the same themes we are now tired of today. Take RUN DMC's Tricky for example,
Of course the "braggadocio" that Cudi mentioned is a survival tactic for Growing Up in The Hood 101. Even if you didn't want to participate, one too many 'Yo Mama' jokes recruited you into the art of shit talking. As we got older, that led to hearing tall tales of sexcapades, etc. That's just it though - hip hop has always been teenager's music. How many angry, belittled, and even abused teens naturally gravitated towards Tupac's call to join the thug army as a way of dealing with a daily existence that was deemed unfair? How many adolescent boys studied Big Daddy Kane and LL Cool J's way with the ladies because they were to afraid to step to the honey they spent all day and night dreaming about?
Of course, we didn't have 40-something or even 30-something year old rappers back in the 80's and 90's setting trends and putting out albums. All that being said, their content has evolved:
From Nas' Daughters:
I saw my daughter send a letter to some boy her age
Who locked up
First I regretted it then caught my rage like
How could I not protect her from this awful phase
Never tried to hide who I was, she was taught and raised like
A princess, but while I'm on stage I can't leave her defenseless
Plus she's seen me switching women, pops was on some pimp shit
Jay-Z's Daddy Dearest:
For the beauty that you be Blue be
Looking in your eyes is like a mirror, have to face my fears
Cheer up, why can't you just be happy
Without these back and forth thoughts, you too much like your daddy
Could you imagine this Hov and Nas 15 years ago? Or that a Wu Member would be giving TED Talks?
We could certainly perpetuate the back-and-forth about censorship, freedom of speech, parental responsibility, underground vs. mainstream, etc, etc but the FACTS are that even our POTUS has felt it necessary to specifically step in with a program that addresses the needs of our Black Boys.
We have been ringing the alarm for decades. Study after study has linked patterns as early as 4th grade being a predictor of which children will end up frequently suspended from school, labeled as in need of "special education", and unfortunately becoming a part of the prison industrial complex.
Clearly, hip hop is no longer a music genre or culture by teens, for teens. We have all grown up, and the 35-45 year old parent driving to pick up their child from school is less frequently bumping Boyz to Men but Biggie. It's time to return to our roots, and give these at risk youth something to "connect" to as Cudi so eloquently put it. Not just behind the scenes, but also in your day job - your lyrics and your message.
