#letsbereal with ourselves and the situation. The days of the “golden era” of hip hop are no longer here and it will never be like that again. That is not to say there won’t be another golden era or that great times are not ahead. It is just to say that we need to stop looking to replicate the past.

I think part of our frustration with the state of hip hop today is not a lack of creativity and energy (although that is a huge problem), but it is that we are so hung up on the past that we can’t appreciate the present or look forward to the future. This could be applied to many things in life, but especially in hip hop.

I know that we want that old feeling back; we want the essence back. We can still find it. It may not be as abundant as we wanted it to be, but then let’s do something to change that. We act as if because things are at their peak now that we can’t achieve the feeling we once had. We can collectively work together to create the feeling again, just as long as we don’t do it with the expectation of duplicating the past. Let’s generate the same feeling with a new outlook.

What are your thoughts? What can we do to, musically and otherwise, to regain the essence of hip hop? Are we too focused on the past? What can we take from the past to help us with the future? Leave all thoughts and comments below. You can also send e-mails to straightouttahiphop@gmail.com.

Peace.