by Gamal Hennessy
Twenty first century pop music is hip hop music. Eight out of the top ten Billboard Hot 100 for this week are hip hop tracks. If you go most mainstream clubs on the weekend you will hear hip hop. As this music becomes more universal, a new subgenre labeled ‘hipster rap’ attempts to recall hip hop’s golden age. Is the music bubbling up out of this underground a renaissance, a backlash, or minor blip on the cultural radar?
Hipster rap describes a style of music that gets its inspiration from the hip hop that was dominant in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. The themes are less about living the player lifestyle and more about paying tribute to the culture that made up hip hop’s golden age. It has been described as self referential, ironic and less polished than the production values that you find in mainstream rap. The fashion sense of these acts is reminiscent of School Daze with a heavy dose of bright colors and tight pants. While there are rappers at the top of the charts who tap into the hipster rap vibe like Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco it is mostly a genre of underground acts who all seem to use the word “kidz” in their name.
There are two major critiques against this form of music. The first is that the people who are making it don’t have first hand experience with their muse because they weren’t even alive during the golden age of hip hop. They are accused of insincere mimicry as opposed to artistic reverence. There is also a claim that since the music is not designed for mainstream audiences, it isn’t radio or club ready so it won’t last.
The critiques don’t carry much weight if you look at them in relation to other trends in popular music. Several major genres of music have their nostalgia phases. In the 80’s, rock looked back to the 60’s which revived the careers of the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and other acts. The kids who gravitated to this music weren’t alive in the 60’s, but they ate it up. In the 90’s R&B looked back to the 70’s, which is how we got the neo-soul movement. Maybe hip hop has matured enough for this generation to look back at the golden age whether they were there or not.
And if hipster rap isn’t commercially viable, how does that explain an act like Kanye? It could be that he mixes mainstream and hipster sensibilities in a way that is palatable to the clubs. Perhaps if more hipster acts want mainstream success, they need to follow his lead. But I think that would be missing the point. To the extent that hipster rap is a movement it doesn’t want to conform to mainstream concepts. It might be looking for the mainstream to conform instead.
Will hipster rap become the next big movement in hip hop? I doubt it. It will probably remain marginal with a small cult following in the same way Native Tongues and similar bohemian rappers have always had a small loyal following. But I didn’t think gangster rap would take off the either, so I’ve been wrong before. Maybe hip hop has room in it for the drug dealer aspirations of gangster rap, the alpha male posturing of mainstream rap, the fading appreciation of old school rap and the adopted nostalgia of hipster rap.
Have fun.
Gamal
Source: Jon Caramanica: The New York Times
Hipster rap describes a style of music that gets its inspiration from the hip hop that was dominant in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. The themes are less about living the player lifestyle and more about paying tribute to the culture that made up hip hop’s golden age. It has been described as self referential, ironic and less polished than the production values that you find in mainstream rap. The fashion sense of these acts is reminiscent of School Daze with a heavy dose of bright colors and tight pants. While there are rappers at the top of the charts who tap into the hipster rap vibe like Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco it is mostly a genre of underground acts who all seem to use the word “kidz” in their name.
There are two major critiques against this form of music. The first is that the people who are making it don’t have first hand experience with their muse because they weren’t even alive during the golden age of hip hop. They are accused of insincere mimicry as opposed to artistic reverence. There is also a claim that since the music is not designed for mainstream audiences, it isn’t radio or club ready so it won’t last.
The critiques don’t carry much weight if you look at them in relation to other trends in popular music. Several major genres of music have their nostalgia phases. In the 80’s, rock looked back to the 60’s which revived the careers of the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and other acts. The kids who gravitated to this music weren’t alive in the 60’s, but they ate it up. In the 90’s R&B looked back to the 70’s, which is how we got the neo-soul movement. Maybe hip hop has matured enough for this generation to look back at the golden age whether they were there or not.
And if hipster rap isn’t commercially viable, how does that explain an act like Kanye? It could be that he mixes mainstream and hipster sensibilities in a way that is palatable to the clubs. Perhaps if more hipster acts want mainstream success, they need to follow his lead. But I think that would be missing the point. To the extent that hipster rap is a movement it doesn’t want to conform to mainstream concepts. It might be looking for the mainstream to conform instead.
Will hipster rap become the next big movement in hip hop? I doubt it. It will probably remain marginal with a small cult following in the same way Native Tongues and similar bohemian rappers have always had a small loyal following. But I didn’t think gangster rap would take off the either, so I’ve been wrong before. Maybe hip hop has room in it for the drug dealer aspirations of gangster rap, the alpha male posturing of mainstream rap, the fading appreciation of old school rap and the adopted nostalgia of hipster rap.
Have fun.
Gamal
Source: Jon Caramanica: The New York Times
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