The Hip-Hop Generation and the Politics of Disconnect

My first (and more than likely only) Utah Christmas has come and gone. What does this have to do with hip-hop you say. Ah, only everything. One of gifts this year was Jay-Z's new memoir titled 'Decoded', which purports to break down the story behind the songs. I was a little skeptical at first, but the book is very insightful (whether he wrote it or not) and the layout is real nice. But I digress.

A major theme of the book is the role hip-hop has played in defining this generation of African-American males and just how terrifying that definition is to most of America. Jay quotes a famous Biggie line that concisely displays this them:

Look at our parents, they even fuckin' scared of us...

Jay-Z's life is undoubtedly worthy of a memoir. The story of the rise of a young black man from the Marcy projects to being in Forbes magazine is enough, and really Jay-Z's entire career has been centered on telling that story from start to finish. But what has always made Jay-Z's music special is that his story is incredibly normal despite it's exaggerated nature. While he may tell it eloquently, the theme has always been the struggles of what has come to be known as the hip-hop generation

But even the label of hip-hop generation is misleading, for the message of the hip-hop generation is omnipresent, but it is one white America is often hesitant to confront. Go to any urban center and you will see the same problems. You will see the dilapidated public schools, corrupt local governments, police brutalizing, and the ever-increasing amount of young black people being put into the prison system. Despite this, there seems to be a consensus from white America: we have done enough.

It is no secret that America's discussion of race has stalled. And what this has led to is a view of African-Americans that is still defined by a homogenization of stereotypes. This can be said for hip-hop as well, and it is something that Jay-Z indirectly addresses throughout his memoir. He often complains that there is much more to his music than many have given him credit for, and this is a statement that applies on a much broader scale. In his book Decoded he writes:

To tell the story of the kid with the gun without telling the story of why he has it is to tell a kind of lie. To tell the story of the pain without telling the story of the rewards is...a different kind of evasion. To talk about killing niggas dead without talking about waking up int he middle of the night from a dream about the friend you watched die, or not getting to sleep in the first place because you're so paranoid from the work you're doing, is a lie so deep it's criminal.


Jay-Z tells the story of the hip-hop generation with this statement: there are more complexities existing within the hip-hop generation than many care to admit. And this gets to a much deeper point. Not only do many not want to examine these complexities and lend a critical thought to what it means to be black in America in the present day, but there still exists a deep, visceral fear of African-Americans that many refuse to confront.

And this applies very much to my rather liberal Utah community. There seems to be a notion that most will vote for a black president and espouse liberal ideals, but for most people's comfort levels concerning race ends. Jay-Z once wrote on The Black Album that he had '...demons deep inside that would raise when confronted'. This is an incredibly telling statement for the hip-hop generation. And while Jay-Z has made a career from speaking for the hip-hop generation, is a message that still hasn't been heard by most.

#1: Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

For this selection, there was no doubt. Kanye West may have created not only the best hip-hop album this year, but the best album period. As the release date for this album approached, people were expecting big things. Kanye was on a roll with his G.O.O.D. Friday series and even went to the lengths of creating a short-film to promote the album. We all knew that RZA, Pete Rock, Pusha, No I.D., and Q-Tip were hanging out with Kanye in Hawaii as he was putting the finishes touches on the album, and we all struggled to predict what would be the result of an album they all said was incredible. But even with all these factors that pointed towards My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy being all sorts of fantastic, I don't think anyone expected anything like this.

What Kanye has created with his latest album may very well be his masterpiece; his album that helps redefine what rap music is, and this is due to multiple factors. As with every Kanye album, the production is unparalleled. From the triumphant 'All of the Lights' to the more understated 'Blame Game' and 'Runaway', Kanye seems to be able to combine where hip-hop has been to where hip-hop should go. But one of the most common knocks against Kanye is that his rapping skills would keep him from creating that era defining album. And then he created 'Gorgeous', a song that may be the lyrical song of the year:

I was lookin' at my resume
Feelin' real fresh today
They rewrite history I don't believe in yesterday
And what's a black beetle anyway? A fucking roach?
I guess that's why they got me sittin' in fuckin' coach

But this album is more than just the epic beats and Kanye's best rhymes to date. This album is something only Kanye West could have created. From the moments of unrelenting bravado on 'Power' to the self-deprecating moments on 'Runaway', the album shows the power hip-hop (an all music) can have when raw emotion is channeled through a talented vessel.

Almost a decade ago, Jay-Z created the now legendary Blueprint and it's supposed theme was that it would be what all hip-hop artists would try to emulate going forward. People did try to emulate it, but what made it so special is that no one truly could recreate it. When listening to Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, this realization comes back even stronger. It's easy to see that this album, hyperbole aside, will be the benchmark for the coming decade. It is, in essence, the next decades blueprint. But it's also easy to see that it will be a blueprint that all will fall hopelessly short of, perhaps even the creator himself. This is a testament to the completely uncompromising work Kanye West has created, and it certainly is not only the best album of this past year, but an album many will be trying to catch up to for years to come.

#2: Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

In many ways, Big Boi's long delayed album Sir Lucious Left Foot represents the state of modern hip-hop in it's current retrofuturism movement as it is attempted to be molded by the record label forces that be. Big Boi's album had become as famous as Dr. Dre's Detox for it's seemingly never ending delays. But while listening to this album there is one question that pops into one's mind: Who in there right mind would delay the release of this album?




Big Boi has often been thought of as the other guy in Outkast, and when many heard that his solo album was finally going to see the light of day, many were skeptical. It was possible to think of Andre without Big Boi but impossible to think of Big Boi without Andre. It's now fair to say that there is no 'other member' in Outkast as Big Boi has proven that he was more than a passenger in creating Outkast's funked out southern beats that have come to define the Atlanta duo. That same sound that defined Outkast is in full force on Sir Lucious Left Foot.

However, to say this album was just a throwback to the Outkast days would be missing the other half of it's greatness. On songs like 'Follow Us', Big Boi succeeds where many have failed in creating a hip-hop song crossed with a dash of indie rock as Vonnegut makes a guest appearance. But the theme of this album is there is always more, and while the unbelievable sound of this album is enough to wow the listener, the lyrics are what elevate it to the next level.

Big Boi celebrates the past while reminding us all that he is still one of the best rappers in the present. He plays the part of street connoisseur, conscious rapper, disgruntled veteran, and the sweet talker. What it all combines to make is one of the most refreshing albums in hip-hop. It is neither revolutionary nor formulaic. It has the songs that are clearly meant for mainstream play (like Shutterbug and Tangerine), but they still have a certain twist that Big Boi throws in to make them a little more unique, whether it's the thumping bass on Tangerine or the funked out Shutterbug. It's just one of the best albums of the year, choke full of great songs from start to finish, that never seems to get boring to listen to. And all from one of the most unappreciated artist in hip-hop.

Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

#3: Cee-Lo Green - The Lady Killer

Ok, I know, it's not a hip-hop album. But Cee-Lo is perhaps the greatest dual threat when it comes to singing and rapping. From his days with the legendary Goodie Mobb to his more recent works as the singing member of Gnarls Barkley, it's fair to say that Cee Lo's talents are diverse. And for that reason, coupled with the fact that Cee Lo's newest solo album titled The Lady Killer is irresistibly great, Cee Lo finds himself on this list.




Of course, when most people think of Cee Lo these days they think of the smash 'Fuck You' which is most definitely one of my favorite songs of 2010. But Cee-Lo's album is so much more than the one hit. Cee-Lo's gift, whether he is rapping or singing, has always been his soulful voice and it is on full display here as he creates an album that immediately transports the listener to the time of Motown and soul.

In an interview conducted in the midst of the the 'Fuck You' madness that swept across the country, Cee Lo said that the song was about the music industry, and on closer examination this makes perfect sense. The music industry has been notorious for it's mishandling of a talent such as Cee-Lo. And you have to wonder if 'Fuck You' wasn't a demand by the label in order to have an easily marketable single.Of course, in true Cee-Lo style, 'Fuck You' is not your normal single. It's still musically glorious and, of course, has the profane chorus that is undoubtedly directed at the music industry. But despite the enigma that is Cee-Lo, he has managed to create what is not only one of the most unique albums of this year, but one of the albums that is simply the most fun to listen to. And, for once, people are finally realizing his talents.

#4: The Roots - How I Got Over

The Roots have become hip-hop's consummate professionals. Evidence of this fact can be found on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, but it has more to do with the remarkable consistency of The Roots without the benefit of a true smash hit or what one would define as a typical classic album. Still, The Roots not only perform one of the best live shows in hip-hop, but they are also able to put out a new album every so often that sounds like it's just a little bit further ahead than everything else everyone is trying, and that is certainly the feeling that their latest album, How I Got Over, presents.

The album features the same unbelievable production that seems to be formulaic for The Roots, but would be revolutionary for everyone else. It also features the rhymes of Black Thought, one of the most underrated rappers of this era. But the Roots also branch out slightly on this album, calling on the services of the Monsters of Folk and Joanna Newsome.




With all of the indie rock guest appearances and the late night show, it's easy to think The Roots have gotten complacent. That their music has perhaps become a little too business. However, on multiple listens to How I Got Over this thought is easily dispelled. For most other groups, The Roots subject matter would immediately earn them the label of conscious rap. The Roots, for the most part, escape this categorization. This is mainly because The Roots have created their own lane in rap, and there is no other musician (or group of musicians) to even compare them to. In an age where flash is one of the several defining themes, The Roots still manage to make great music and people still manage to depreciate it.






The Roots - How I Got Over

#5: Big K.R.I.T. - K.R.I.T. Wuz Here

Hip-hop is motivational music. It's hard to listen to legends such as Rakim and Jay-Z and think that you are doing enough with your life. This makes sense when one studies hip-hop and realizes that one of the defining themes in the genres history is making something out of nothing. This is why hip-hop was birthed out of the concrete jungle of the South Bronx with little other than a crate full of old disco and soul records and a speaker system.

However, with the multi-billion dollar industry that it has grown into it's tough to recognize those roots sometimes. With artists like Kanye making a short-film to help promote his own album, it's fair to say hip-hop is no longer an underground genre. However, the modern music industry presents complications. With record companies completely unwilling to take risks in an era of depleted record sales, many artists are left to fend from themselves. And where most artists flounder under such weight, Big K.R.I.T. rises with one of the best, and certainly the most motivational, hip-hop album of 2010.





In an era of hip-hop consumerism, Big K.R.I.T. stands out as an artist on his own. Complaining on the song 'Viktorious', "I'm making my own beats what the fuck!" this album displays the thoughts, ambitions, and frustrations of a young artist with the music industry that he desperately needs to break into. Even the title suggest a person anxious to leave their mark on the world whether others want him to or not. And even though he had to write insightful lyrics, produce his own beats, and ultimately distribute his own album, it's fair to say that mark has been made.

Days after his K.R.I.T. Wuz Here was released, labels came knocking at his door. They will undoubtedly be looking for the next 'Country Shit' or the next 'Children of the World', but what is on full display in the career of Big K.R.I.T. is the embodiment of hip-hop traditionalism. He is an artist that no label expected anything from, and while that is a shame and it shows the continued dysfunctional relationship between hip-hop artists and hip-hop labels, it have been for the best. In an era of hip-hop consumerism, Big K.R.I.T. was forced to return to the hip-hop tradition of making your voice heard by any means necessary and with it created one of the most unexpected hits of this year.

Big K.R.I.T. - K.R.I.T. Wuz Here

#6: Shad - TSOL

Hip-hop, like any genre, is subject to classification. Hip-hop fans obsess over categorizing what is real hip-hop and what isn't, whether something is conscious rap, cocaine rap, gangster rap or any of the other countless subgenres. This practice is hardly unique to music, it can be found in studies of literature to cinema. But every once in a while their comes along a musician, artist, or author that seems to defy classification. They seem to defy everything their genre portrays and stand out from the lineage of progression along which most others can be found.

This is certainly the case when listening to Shad's TSOL. Make no mistake, the album features your traditional hip-hop beats and it's focus is still the clever wordplay that has been the focal point of hip-hop for over two decades. But none the less something about Shad seems different. Perhaps it's that he's from London, Ontario (which is perhaps the least likely hip-hop setting of all time) but Shad seems to be outside of the hip-hop tradition yet steeped in it at the same time.

A fine example of this can be found on the song 'Keep Shining' which decries the absence of woman in hip-hop in what is the most appropriate example of self-reflection any hip-hop artist has displayed on the subject in a while. And in reality, the song not only applies to hip-hop but to American society in general. Shad pin-points a fact that few can grasp in a mere three minutes: equality has less to do with a shallow mirage of acceptance and more to do with a deep understanding of the other and this can only be gained through letting others do and speak for themselves. This lyric can truly be transformed to almost every aspect of American society:

I talk to women I just can't talk for women, that's for you
We need women for that, more women in rap


Shad will undoubtedly be labeled a 'conscious rapper', and this is truly a shame. Not only is his wordplay some of the cleverest I have heard all year, but to pigeonhole an artist like this is a mistake. Shad is so unique it's tough to make sense of him. He raps about typical conscious rap subjects but does so in his own creative way that still focuses on creative writing as well as important subject matter. He's a Kenyan born Canadian bred rapper working on his Masters in Liberal Studies. He's an artist too unique for specific categorization and that's what makes this album so uniquely great.





Shad - TSOL

#7: Freeway & Jake One - The Stimulus Package

Sometimes the familiar is best. In a new age of hip-hop where ringtones can make a rapper it's comforting, and in some ways precocious, to go back to what made hip-hop what it is. This is not to say that modern hip-hop is dead, as so many like to say, and I hope this list proves at least that. But for every album like Black Milk's Album of the Year, which strains the limits of what we thought hip-hop could do, it's important to have an album that falls back on hip-hop's traditions, a meat and potatoes album if you will.

In this age of hip-hop futurism, Freeway and Jake One have delivered that classic hip-hop meat and potato album that is full of all the genre's staples. Freeway's tough talk rhymes are laid perfectly against Jake One's head nodding beats full of soul samples. And if you had any doubt of what this album was going to sound like, Freeway and Jake One clear all doubts with the opener, 'Throw Your Hands Up', which just has a sound that seems to perfectly describe what a pure hip-hop should be.

And while the formula may seem simple, Freeway and Jake One prove that less can mean more. With the passing of Guru of Gang Starr it's becoming increasingly clear that the close relationship between rapper and producer is disappearing. Very rarely is an entire album produced by one person as artists increasingly focus on appealing to a wide audience and hire different producers to create the soundscape they desire. But it becomes clear that with Jake One producing the entirety of The Stimulus Package that the producer-rapper relationship is still incredibly important.




But this album is about more than simply trying to recapture the golden era of hip-hop. Upon one listen of this album, it's clear that it's not incredibly marketable. It wasn't going to get a whole lot of publicity and it wasn't going to garner much financial success. But Freeway lays out the purpose of the album later in the album when he raps:

I am not going to hate on the state of hip-hop
In fact, all I'm here to do is give you real rap

While a simple line, this type of work is becoming a scarce commodity. In an age when far too many rappers are trying to grab a piece of the seemingly boundless hip-hop market, Freeway and Jake One deliver something that many people are forgetting: real rap.

#8: Reflection Eternal - RPM

It's no secret that hip-hop receives it's fair share of criticism, and sometimes rightfully so. But one of the criticisms that I have always felt has been completely ungrounded is the argument that hip-hop is far too nihilistic; far too angry. The argument typically goes that a certain old person heard some random rap song on the radio (which usually isn't the best barometer for what most fans of the genre would consider truly good hip-hop music) and were disgusted by how angry it sounded, how in your face it was, and how it lacked any constructive message like all that great music that was released when that person was growing up in the 1960's.

It takes little immersion in the hip-hop genre to realize how ridiculous the argument that rap is hopelessly vapid is and the latest album for Reflection Eternal, comprised of Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek, sheds light on the absurdity. Rap excels at being the modern realist poetry and truly great rappers are able to rhyme about something many people are feeling but in incredibly complex and nuanced patterns. This is precisely what Talib Kweli does on the song 'Ballad of the Black Gold':





There is no other genre that could possibly display the far-reaching consequences of our societies addiction to fossil fuels in such a nuanced way as when Talib Kweli pens:


Loyalty to petroleum royalty spoiled the economy
We won't get it poppin' till we oil free
If you're oil rich then we invadin'
They call it occupation but we losin' jobs across the nation


But perhaps it isn't that hip-hop is as nihilistic as it has been portrayed. Maybe it's just proudly declaring a message that most of America doesn't want to hear. But in this fact lies hip-hop's greatest strength. At it's best, it is almost viciously unapologetic, holding up a world that most would rather ignore. When one listens to an album like RPM they can't help but notice that most hip-hop is not vapid at all, but instead irresistibly engaging.

"STRANGERS" TALIB KWELI & Hi-Tek feat. BUN B from Reset Pictures on Vimeo.

Reflection Eternal - RPM

#9: Nas & Damian Marley-Distant Relatives

Collaboration albums always seem to come out a disappointment. This may be the result of the initial collective fan freakout that inevitably follows when it is discovered that successful artist X is pairing with successful artist Y for a full length album and the resultant let down when all realize it's not an instant classic that will redefine rap. Too often concerning hip-hop collaborative albums, the whole is not greater than the sum of it's parts, but less than. Sorry Aristotle.

While collaboration albums always seem like a great idea in theory, they have proven to be incredibly difficult to numerous pairings in reality. This may be because it's difficult enough to create a coherent full length album as an individual, but once another artist with entirely different artistic visions enters the fray the album becomes disjuncted. Or it may be because collaboration requires just that, full collaboration, and without that close artistic relationship the album is doomed to mediocrity.

With all the potential pitfalls, it was understandable that when Nas and Damian Marley announced they were uniting forces for a full length album titled Distant Relatives the fan reaction was split between skeptical and anxiously anticipatory. After all, collaborations are tough enough, but uniting two artists from two different genres seemed like a daunting task. Leading up to the release it seemed fair to ask if this would be a hip-hop album, a reggae album, or both. And if both, could the two artists make it work?

However, where other collaborations fail, Distant Relatives excels as both artists feel at home at all points on the album and neither feels like they are being pulled in a certain direction. This may be due to the focused topic of the album. Most collaborations lack any unified feel and the listener leaves feeling that the two artists just went into the booth to showcase their individual talents and see what happens. This is not the case on Distant Relatives. Both Nas and Damian Marley have become famous for their ghetto stories and becoming a voice for the voiceless. In this sense, the uniting of these two artists makes perfect sense and provides the strength that brings their album onto this list. As is usually the case, Nas' lyrical verbosity is on full display throughout the album and he gives a very apt description for the entire hip-hop generation in a mere two lines when he raps on the song 'My Generation':

Can you blame a generation subject to gentrification
Depicting their frustrations over ill instrumentations

This theme of being the voice for the hip-hop nation is what makes this work so ambitious and so powerful. It goes beyond speaking simply for those in American ghettos all across the country and acknowledges the fact that all of the problems that have created our American ghettos and the racial underclass exists around the world. For over a decade now, hip-hop has been a global genre celebrated and loved around the world. This album, with two seemingly very different artists, creates a sound that may be defined as global hip-hop, and without the collaborative effort I doubt the message would have been so powerful.





Nas and Damian Marley - Distant Relatives

#10: Black Milk-Album of the Year

While Black Milk's ambitiously titled album may have fallen a little short of it's namesake, it is still one of the most forward pushing albums of the year. Known for his producing more so than his rapping, Black Milk attempts to push hip-hop in a burgeoning new direction away from prototypical hip-hop beats and into something that more closely resembles a cross between soul/jazz/funk/rock/whatever else you may think of. With most hip-hop albums one listens too, it's tough to conceptualize how it would play in a live performance. However, hip-hop has grown and with it the expectations for live hip-hop has grown as well and fans are starting to require unique experiences that go past a DJ in the background waving a towel around and shouting into a microphone every fifth word to pass as musical accompaniment.

And in this sense of expanding what live hip-hop is capable of, Black Milk excels. With several big acts now touring regularly with a live band, Black Milk reaches even further and creates an album that begs for a live performance. This is the case for songs such as Keep Going and Gospel Psychedelic Rock as on the former Black Milk creates a beat that seemingly only he could create and on the latter creates a beat that is oozing with Detroit's musical heritage.

However, the album is not without it's missteps. At times, it feels Black Milk is reaching too far artistically to pioneer that brand new sound that hip-hop and it's fans are constantly searching for. But it's hard to truly be upset by the missteps. Black Milk has constantly prided himself on progressing hip-hop, particularly as a producer, and when trying something that has rarely been tried there are sure to be missteps. But overall he produces a work that few else could or would even dare to try, and even though I may be showing a slight hometown bias, I believe he deserves the credit.

Top 10 Hip Hop Albums of 2010

The year is indeed winding to an end and with that ends another year of music that has been quite amazing. While T.I. and Weezy have both seen the extended jail time that will occasionally become intertwined in the career of your favorite rapper, hip-hop is also witnessing the rise of it's next generation with stars such as Drake, and depending on who you ask, this may be the next death of hip-hop.

Whether you have love for the new stars that are emerging or not, hip-hop is strangely becoming a genre that revels in it's albeit rather recent antiquity while still striving forward, and this makes the current of era of hip-hop quite interesting. Hip-hop has always been a genre defiant of the ever-present 'establishment', but it is increasingly becoming a genre divided against itself. This may be a result of the now well-documented transition of rap from a grassroots to a commercialized genre or it may simply be a generational difference. A new generation of hip-hop fans are coming of age, and to these fans hip-hop's golden age is nothing but ancient history.

However, for every movement there is a counter-movement and as the new generation of fans have flocked to the likes of Drake and the rest of the Young Money roster, it has forced other artists not just back to the booth to attempt to redefine the greatness that was exhibited in the Golden Era of hip-hop, but also to push the genre forward. So here hip-hop stands, a genre defiant against itself, grasping at it's past while pushing itself towards the future. And I believe many of the albums I will come to describe do that incredibly well.

But before I go any further, let me stress that while I may view this as a top list, it is just that MY top list. I went by nothing other than my pure enjoyment and paid absolutely no mind to record sales, 'hotness', or whatever else you may think of that might cause disagreement.

Before I get into this sure to be epic list that I'm sure will come to define hip-hop music in the year 2010, here are some of my favorite tracks/videos/mixtapes that simply can't be ignored.





Sweet Jesus. I know Rick Ross is a huge phony. I know that the whole persona this song is based on is fabricated and I've never really been able to fully get into his music because of it. But, once again, Sweet Jesus. The best way to describe this song: HUGE.





Another enormously popular song from this past year, and for this one I can't for the life of my figure out why I love it so much. I am, admittedly, susceptible to a nice city anthem (Whatup Pittsburgh!) and the question of whether I have or have not been to that city is completely irrelevant. Or maybe it's the infectious hook and celebratory beat. Or maybe it's just that Wiz Khalifa sounds so excited about having a huge year and this sound oozes with excitement. Whatever it is, I haven't been able to tear away and haven't really wanted to. As previously mentioned, it was part of a big year for Wiz as his Kush and Orange Juice mixtape also got heavy play.





If there is one fear I have that is totally lacking in an experience, it is rural poverty. That statement is even truer concerning rural poverty in the south. It's a terrifying world that seems completely foreign. The sense of nihilism that Yelawolf portrays in 'Pop The Trunk' does nothing to alleviate these fears but rather exacerbates them.

Speaking of hip-hop trying to get back to it's roots while still striving forward, the Cool Kids manged to get away from their seemingly unceasing label drama to release one incredibly solid mixtape titled 'Tacklebox'. Chuck English really comes into his own as a producer on this.




Speaking of label troubles, it's a real same that this song wasn't on one of the albums that is one of the ten best albums of the past year because it was one of the best of 2010. Hip-hop versus hip-hop labels are one of those never ending conflicts.

Andre 3000 and Big Boi- Lookin' For Ya