I know the question I posed seems like an easy one to answer, and it may be, but just think about it for a minute. When I ask the question, I don't even mean within the general public and what is being played on the radio. I mean would we, as hip hop heads, still be feeling those songs if they came out today? I think that it is easy to say that we would because they are songs that we love and respect and we know that they paved the way for what we have today. However, really evaluate what the game is like right now and just think if that is the true answer. It may be that you still would, but just think about it.

What I think would alter our perceptions most about old school songs if they came out today is the flooding of dance songs today into the market. You have to remember that back then, that's what the music was about; getting the party started and having a good time. That's really all it was about until just around the time that Grandmaster Flash dropped "The Message," which kind of ushered in the wave of reality and life in the streets in the lyrics. But before that, everybody was having a good time, parting until they couldn't anymore, almost care free. Now, we (once again speaking about those that consider themselves hip hop heads and take lyrical ability seriously) seem to disregard the party music and claim that it is not real hip hop. This isn't because we have lost touch with where hip hop came from, though. It is because most, not all, but the majority of the time, the party songs that come out now aren't lyrical in any way. It used to be that even when rappers were trying to get the party started, they would still pay attention to their lyrical effort. I think that Rakim's "Move the Crowd" says it all (we can even go further than that, but the name of the song and the artist were just perfect for my example). But since we get so much party music as it is, it would be easy to disregard many of the songs today simply because we would see them as all of the others. The song that really comes to mind as I think about this is the Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight." It is a song that we all know and love, but would we pay it much attention if it came out today? I don't know.

The other thing that I think would make it really hard for many old school songs to really get attention today is how advanced the art of rhyming has become. Of course this is expected and nobody can really fault some of the very first MCs that we may not have ever even heard of before for not being some of the best lyricist. As with anything, as you experiment with it and it becomes familiar, you become comfortable with it and are able to try new things until it becomes almost easy (or at least seems that way). All of the metaphors and rhyme patterns that are used to today were not integrated into the rhymes of the past, so if those songs were placed in the market now, it would defintiely be hard for them to gain as much attention as many other songs that we listen to.   

That's it for me. What do you think? Would you still be feeling the songs today, or do you think it is a possibility that they might fly under the radar? Of course everybody loves the songs that got us here, but in a different age, do they fit anywhere? Let me hear it with either a comment or at straighouttahiphop@gmail.com. And don't for get to listen to some of your favorite old school joints at www.live365.com/staitions/oak2msu or go to live365.com and search Straight Outta Hip Hop. And since I brought it up, here is the video for "Rapper's Delight."


Peace.