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Let’s
face it UK
hip hop stars are not making any money! Obviously
the likes of Dizzee Rascal and Miss Dynamite have
changed things a little, but, on the whole UK hip
hop is still not recognised by mainstream labels
and media. Is this a bad thing? Is this why UK hip
hop’s integrity remains? If British rappers
were rich and well off what would they rap about?
In
an increasingly self-indulgent world, where money
and wealth mean more than soul, UK hip hop is trying
it’s hardest to build a non-egotistical platform
to produce music of a different caliber.
UK
Hip hop is different. It has different fundamentals,
different ideas, different perspectives and different
values. As a country, we have taken a predominately
American art form and given it a typically British
slant. With a kind of sensible charisma UK hip hop
has taken a satirical side swipe at the other side
of the pond. We have created a community built on
respect and an understanding of the phrase “keep
it real”.
But
why are we different? What makes our music plunge
to undiscovered depths and what gives UK hip hop
artists the desire to be different and progressive?
Is it our geography, our history or our society?
Is it our pride in our musical antiquity? Do we
still feel obliged to live up to the self manufactured
idea that we are the greatest musical nation in
the world?
Increasingly
UK hip hop is starting to reflect the American ideas
of wealth, aggression and power. UK hip hop producers
are becoming obsessed with money and commercial
success. Have our producers and rappers had enough
of UK hip hop’s underground nature? We have
US successes pushed in our faces. Through the media
we see the trappings of a high-profile music career.
MTV Cribs, clothing lines and super star status
become the main goal for a wannabe UK hip hop producer
or rapper.
As
a result levels of musical creativity and progression
decline. As one half of the UK hip hop community
starts to emulate the US formula for success so
the distance between the two sides increases. We
see a polarization of the underground and the over
ground. Hip hop has essentially become two sub-genres.
I like to divide them like this: hip hop and rap.
Which side are you on?
"I
hate rap music, which to me sounds like a bunch
of angry men shouting, possibly because the person
who was supposed to provide them with a melody never
showed up." Dave Barry
