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Where are the Hip-Hop Classics?
Article by:
Kye Stephenson
 Remember when artists actually put their heart and soul into their project and yearned to have their album dubbed a "classic?" Neither do I. Those days are long gone, I'm afraid. Instead we've been force-fed sub-par efforts that smack of gimmicks and formulaic approaches. No longer do we see artists take risks. No, they wouldn't dare take a chance of losing their MTV love.
What happened to the good-old days? The late-eighties, early-nineties stuff?
Now that was quality music, boys and girls. Remember the first time you heard "C.R.E.A.M." by the Wu-Tang Clan? It was groundbreaking, fresh and straight gutter. And that was what made records like that so great; you really felt like those guys were literally straight off the block. Nowadays, after the artist has done his mixtape rounds and been marketed to death by one of the powerhouse labels that control us like a Hitler regime, he's lost all rawness and burned up whatever freshness he/she had.
Recently, some people have debated that G-Unit soldier Game dropped a classic album. That's a prime example of how starved we are of good material nowadays.
"The Documentary" is a superb album, but not classic. Classic is defined in the dictionary as "Belonging to the highest rank or class. Serving as the established model or standard: Having lasting significance or
worth; enduring." Does anything come to mind in the last couple of years that is enduring? Kanye West's "College Dropout" maybe. We will have to see.
In addition, back in the days, there really wasn't any major radio or video play for hip-hop artists. Therefore, when groups were in the studio recording tracks, they didn't worry about getting mainstream love because they knew there wasn't any. They simply made music from their experiences and what they knew to be hot shit. Did Nas have any commercial songs on "Illmatic?" Would any of his classic records on "Illmatic" get played on radio today? The point is, once the corporations came along and deemed what was radio quality work, artists were forced to comply or lose the chance at crossing over. But remember when crossing over was taboo? EPMD even made a song about it. Remember the lines, "Thinkin about a pop record/ somethin made for the station/For a whole new relation-/ship of a new type of scene/To go platinum and clock mad green/AKA, a sellout, the rap definition/Get off that boy, change your mission," that Erick Sermon spit on "Crossover?" That was 92', a little over a decade later and look at what's happened. No one can be knocked for trying to feed themselves and their family, but as loyal fans of hip-hop, shouldn't we demand more?
Magazines have even caved to the watered down music. XXL magazine will give almost any half-decent album a XL rating, which is one rank down from classic! Most of these so-called solid albums are just above average at best. The "Illmatic's" and "Ready to Die's" of the world still get mad burn not only because of their significance to hip-hop, but simply because of that nostalgic feeling you get when things were raw and real. And even though Dre said "Things just ain't the same for gangsters," that doesn't have to be in a negative way. We are hip-hop. We should do more than just sit back and wait for the next DMX or Jay-Z. We control this hip-hop shit cause we are it. So whatever we are and wherever we are going is where hip-hop will be. So let's make something to remember, something that will last, but most of all, something classic.
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