Is Hip Hop dead? Goodwin says "H*ll Naw!"

So here’s the question:

There was a point in time when music served as a tool for healing and change, especially in the 60’s and 70’s. With the Global War on Terror, Jena 6 and post-Hurricane Katrina, I think we need Hip Hop music to channel all of its energy to help America heal. So where is Hip Hop? Did it die with Tupac and Biggie?


And Goodwin answered it. GOOD LOOKIN’!


Well, I don't think hip hop is dead, I just think the type of hip hop you'd like to hear is harder to find, but [it] still exists. Plus, I look at my own music, and the response I've got from some people on myspace, and I realize that the issue isn't just to be blamed on labels. People themselves, the consumers, are less interested in music that carries a message and much more interested in just having a good time...

The fact is, they wouldn't market [the music] if it wasn't making money, and it's making money [so] people are buying it, which leads me to believe that's what people want. I've had people on myspace listen to my music, and because it wasn't that type of stuff [they normally listen to, they said] it was wack. So it makes me feel that the blame lies with the labels, but also with the people who support that movement by spending their money on that sort of music. There was a time when there was room for all sorts of Hip Hop. But now, it seems like all it's about is the party and materialism, and people are just eating it up.

Maybe the fact that 50 Cent's new album isn't selling that much is a sign that people are getting tired of it. After all, Common's album did pretty well when it came out. But it will take a lot more than that, especially on the part of the consumer, for things to make a radical change.

So the question is, how attached is the consumer to shallow Hip Hop? After all, it seems like there's a perception that gangsta rappers make their music for the streets, or for the people, while conscious rappers are just a preachy bunch of whiners. That misconception wouldn't stick if people didn't believe it. And they respond to it.

So instead of focusing all our energy on blaming the labels, perhaps we should also work on the general perceptions that exist, and work to change people's minds about what's really important.

"You'd rather have a Lexus or justice? A dream or some substance? A Beemer, a necklace, or freedom?" -- From Hip Hop, by Dead Prez

Goodwin is an underground artist out of Brooklyn, NYC. Check him out here on myspace.com.