What Happen To Lyricism?

By now we all have heard some form of the debate, be it in barbershops or basketball courts, there is always some old head saying the rap game is nothing how it used to be. From its start in the New York City streets, there is no doubt that Hip-Hop HAS changed. From street corners in the Bronx to Executive offices in Manhattan, project hallways, to Madison Square Garden stages. Be honest, did you ever think that Hip-Hop would make it this far? From protesters picketing and burning albums in the middle of the street, to now, where no song is able to chart highly unless it has hip-hop elements. I mean Cardi B has the number one song in the country right now! That's what I call money moves. Though Hip-Hop has seen an elevated sense of attention, there is something missing. Where giants once stood, now stand artists who all look the same, sound the same and severely lacking lyrical ability. Leaving the old heads to say, the game ain’t how it used to be.

This is solely because focuses changed. Hip-Hop's biggest component was rap, this however, is no longer the case. Where lyrics and meaning once was prevalent, the beat has now taken over. With the beat becoming the focal point of Hip-Hop, rapping has taken a back seat. It’s all about electric drum kits and melodies, there is no longer room for lyricism.

What is lyricism?

Before we go any further, I want to explain what lyricism actually is. There are many different components to being a good rapper, and even the best of rappers aren’t going to fit in all of the categories. The Elements are:

Rhyme is the most basic foundation of rap. There are many different ways to rhyme, Internal or external. There are different schemes that can be implemented such as ABAB rhyme schemes or a more complex rhyme scheme such as ABBBAAABABA, A great example of more colmplex rhyming patterns is Nas, changing up your rhyming scheme leads to less predictable bars. There is a video produced by Vox entitled, Rapping, Deconstructed: The best rappers of all time

Flow: Is the rhythm of the rhymes and how it interacts with each other. A great example of flow is in Treach of Naughty By Nature: Feel Me Flow. His syllable count is always on point and he never strays away from it.

An offset of flow, is Delivery: Delivery is the speed and syllable combination of bars. A great example of this ability is in Eminem’s Til I collapse.

My thoughts are sporadic

I act like I’m an addict

I rap like I’m addicted to smack like I’m Kim Mathers

Ems ability to use the long o sound and the short A sound is an example of the meticulousness of this ability. Never going away from the rule that he set for himself.

The next is use of the English Language: Is not only the ability to use hyperbole, similes, puns and metaphors in rap, but to bend these rules to work in your favor. See Eminem on the use of rhyming the word orange

Word Play is an extension of the english language it is the ability to use double entendre, making two meanings in the same bar.

I jack, I rob, I sin

Ah I’m Jackie Robinson

‘Cept when I run base I dodge the pen

Style is whether a rapper is aggressive like a Ludacris or calm like an Andre 3000

Story Telling ability: Being a good story teller has always been essential to the makings of hip hop, Slick Rick’s Children’s Story is a great example of storytelling

Punch lines: Are when a rapper uses hyperbole, metaphors, or similes. A punch line is built up, often heard as a two or four bar build up

1-2-3-way… 4-4 makes 8/ 9 times outta 10/ Its 11 or a 12-Gauge/ Friday the 13th/ Thats the day that Hell raised me/ But ya’ll boys too weak/ Like 14 days

Here Wayne builds up the bar 14 days by counting up to the number and even uses a pun of week/weak.

Another variation of a punchline is a one liner. This is seen all over hip hop and rap, it doesn't have a build up it is just said and the line is so good, that one line becomes the focal point of the song, you almost want to listen to the song just for this line.

Lil Wayne - Love Me

I fuck who I want, and fuck who I don’t

History of Hip-Hop

Contrary to popular belief, hip-hop was not always lyrical. Take the first ever popularized Hip-Hop song, Sugarhill Gang’s Rapper’s Delight, the lyrics aren't exactly fire, with follow up acts like, Kurtis Blow, Kool Moe Dee, and Run DMC, in fact, Hip Hop didn’t see it’s first real lyricist until, 1986, a full 7 years from its beginnings, with the emergence of KRS-One. Before then, the rapping found in hip hop was basic at best.

After 1986 there was an influx of hip hop artists with actual lyrical ability, propelling hip hop into it’s Golden age. Starting from 1986 to 1994, the emergence of Rahkim, Slick Rick, and Snoop Dogg as well as Hip Hop collectives like Wu Tang Clan, Juice Crew, Boogie Down Productions, NWA, Public Enemy and the Native Tongue Groups. The Golden Age birth classic albums such as, It takes a million nations to hold us back (Public Enemy), Doggy Style (Snoop Dogg), 36 Chambers (Wu Tang Clan), The Low End Theory (A Tribe Called Quests), and Chronic (Dr. Dre).

And in 1995, though the Golden Age was over, Nas, Tupac, Biggie, Eminem and Jay Z began a new wave of Hip Hop, keeping the lyricism but adding a unique style of their own. The first hip hop drought was seen in 2003, with the exception of 50 cent releasing Get Rich or Die Tryin’, Jay Z The Black Album, OutKast The Love Below. This year was seen as a drought because there was just so many Hip Hop albums released, there was over 50 commercially released albums which before the 2000s was unheard of. With so many rappers coming in and poorly managed quality control, Encore, College Dropout, Late Registration, Tha Carter II, King, The Inspiration, Graduation, T.I. vs T.I.P, American Gangster, Tha Carter III, and 808s and Heartbreaks are the only albums that Hip Hop Enthusiasts would argue is a classic out of literally thousands of albums from 2004 to 2009.

How Did Lyricism Leave Hip Hop?

In the early 2000s labels tried to profit more and more off Hip Hop. They did this by signing as many rappers as possible no matter how good or bad they were. And with the rise of the internet so many bad rappers who once would have never been given a shot, was given an audience. But the death of Lyricism isn’t exactly the fault of bad rappers, it’s also the fault of the good ones.

Hip Hop, has always been about creativity, uniqueness, and style. During the 2000s rap albums and rap songs began to get repetitive and predictable and when something gets too repetitive and predictable the sales of it go down. Fans of hip hop then looked for something new something innovative, and they found it in Crunk, Snap, Trap, and Bounce Hip Hop music.

Hip Hop Today

Today, lyricism in Hip Hop has been on the rising, with lyricist in J Cole, Kendrick, Joey Bada$$, Logic, and Big Sean. But with new hip hop artists on the rise, it is tough to say the new generation keep this up.

This drought of good consistent albums and singles, lead to a new low of Hip Hop music, and during this stint Hip Hop highest charting songs included minimal lyricism, and a new focus on the beat, thus effectively killing lyricism in mainstream Hip Hop.

Style in hip hop is quite different than style in Rap. In Hip Hop, style is how an artist dress, talks, walks, what an artist drives, how an artist conducts himself in interviews. The style of an artist is what makes him or her cool, it is what makes people like Shabba Ranks, Kool Moe Dee, Young Thug, Kanye West, it’s style.

Creativity simply put how creative an artist is.

Concepts are an extension of creativity. It’s the result of the creative process of an Hip Hop artist, songs like Eminem’s Stan, Common’s I used to love H.E.R, Lupe Fiasco The Cool, Kanye West entire My Beautiful Dark twisted Fantasy are all songs that show great creative thinking.

Uniqueness in Hip Hop is how different an artist is in relation to his peers.

SOURCES

Vox - Rapping, deconstructed

Rapper Delight

Kool Moe Dee - the best

RapGenius Best rapper alive list

Treach - Feel me flow

Eminem - Til I collapse

#HipHip #Lyricism #oldschool #newschool #History #Whathappen