'Who Killed It' Pt. 1: "Dancin' Became Cool Again"
“Wasit when Lil Jon showed dudes you could sell without rappin’/Was it ‘LaffyTaffy’/I thought they was kiddin’/Shawty Lo said ‘They Know’/I reallydidn’t/Dancin’ became cool again/then came walk it out/but I ain’t knowwhat the f*ck n*ggas was talkin’ bout”. These lines are found toward the very beginning of the song and I think it is a great place to start the series. Within a few lines, Joey actually touches on a few different points, but I want to discuss two in particular. The first of these being how Lil Jon at one point was really the face of the hip hop scene. The only problem was, he was never really rappin'! He was more of a hype man, yet he gained so much success doing what he did. There is always the discussion that all you need now to gain recognition is a hot beat and something for the club and if you have that, it doesn't matter what you're saying on the record. Lil Jon may be the perfect example of that; and that's not to take away from what he did or to say that what he did was horrible because it was very innovative at the time (and he did have some bangers). However, the fact that he (as the main artist) could get on a track without rappin' at all and gain such a following may have been more detrimental to the music than we actually thought at the time.
The second point Budden makes that I want to focus on is how dance came back and revolutionized (whether good or bad) hip hop. I would say that the dance is almost the second generation to what I just mentioned with Lil Jon. Instead of having just a hot beat for the club, you can give people a dance for the club! Who wouldn't enjoy that? If you think about it, it makes sense. (Speaking as an artist) "One of the best places to get heard and recognized today is in the club. Since people don't really listen or care about lyrics in the club, all I need is a hot beat in the background and put my name on it. I gain some recognition this way. But wait, I'm gonna offer them something else to make their experience more enjoyable. They don't really care what I'm saying on the record, but if I tell them how to dance while their in club, I'll gain even more fans." Once again, very innovative in the beginning, but the saying "too much of anything will kill you" is so very true in this sense. One person does this, than another follows, and then another until it becomes the thing to do. Eventually, you can't survive in the music game without doing this.
When I think about where we officially took a turn for the worst, I don't really think about the "bling bling" days or things of that nature. I look a little later than that to when Dem Franchize Boyz came out. Now I'm not saying that they are the reason for where we are at by any means, but I'm saying that the success they had may have led to it. As mentioned before, there was first Lil Jon with strictly club bangers and then people decided to have club songs that told people how to dance. The dances were still pretty new, but this is where I think it gets ugly: Dem Franchize Boyz (who already had hits with "White Tee" and "I Think They Like Me") came out with the song "Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It". I know that there is some dispute as to who "started" or "created" snap music, but from my vantage point, this was the song that really jumped started the whole snap music movement. After this, one song after another had the snap element in it and it completely took people's focus of the music, creativity, and lyrics. "Lean Wit It" incorporated both the dance itself, the tight beat, and the snap element. An all inclusive formula for spins in the club.
Right here is probably the reason why a lot of people want to blame the South for what has happened to hip hop, but I don't blame the South at all. I mean this sound may have come out the South, but everybody from every region ran with it! Dem Franchize Boyz (with Jermaine Dupri's help of course) just created music that was going to get them spins and that (at the time) was something not many people were doing. Unfortunately, artists got trapped in this mindset and eventually fans weren't being fed anything of substance, so things began to spiral out of control. I'm sure that this also spawned song such as "Laffy Taffy" and "They Know". The phrases just became another element and a way to expand upon what was already being done.
It's important to note that dance and snap music is by far not the only thing that has contributed to hip hop's problems. To be honest, even today, after the snap and dance has become less prominent (or at least not as blatant because it still plays a role in today's mainstream music), there is still more ignorant music than ever. I do believe though, that when people try to analyze where we went wrong, that they often point to this type of music.*
What do you think about the re-emergence of dance music in hip hop? That's what hip hop was founded upon, but is today's "dance music" different from the past's? Did it really affect hip hop that much, or is it being exaggerated? Comment and let me hear any and all thoughts. And of course you can e-mail at straightouttahiphop@gmail.com.
Peace.
*I want it to be clear that I am not simply analyzing and doing this series for the sake of doing it. I think that it is important that we recognize these certain issues so that 1) we can stop anything that we are still doing that is detrimental, 2) so that we can recognize where we went wrong and prevent it from happening again, and 3) so that people that may not be aware of how low we have sunk can start to realize it and try to do something about it.
Posted by H.E.R. Lover at 9/2/2010 9:56 AM 
Categories: 'Who Killed It' Series
Tags: Lil Jon Slaughterhouse music hip hop Joe Budden Dem Franchize Boyz
Categories: 'Who Killed It' Series
Tags: Lil Jon Slaughterhouse music hip hop Joe Budden Dem Franchize Boyz
I like what you have to say and love the concept of breaking out sections of the Budden track. I cant say that "dance music" killed it for us, but probably paid a small part. When we started with hip hop being ALL about "P.L.U.R & Fun" (peace, love, unity, respect & having fun), but around the time or maybe little before the big club anthem and snap music phase, hip hop became more about "money, power, respect & raising to the top".
I think that the dance music is being exaggerated. We do have to change with the time, but I think we have to show a fair support and balance. Now days, the music is about who can stay on top the longest and who can put the most bullets on the charts. The BBoy era is moving forward again since it is making waves on TV, and we are hopefully moving past the "snap music" (I think the new dance is "The Dougie" now)
For your readers who haven't heard the Joe Budden track -http://www.agentspits.com/joe-budden-who-killed-hip-hop-full
This is the full track and lyrics to go with. Play it, download, cop the lyrics and study it. If you didn't respect Joe Budden before, you will after this track. Your favorite rapper has never done what Joey did on this one. Just imagine how long he was in the booth for just one track.
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