Posted in: Hip Hop by Robert Tidwell on November 25, 2009 | 1 Comment
Last night while watching the American Music Awards I realized that Hip Hop is heading in a direction that will change American Music for ever.
Last night we watched as Rihanna sat in a matrix like environment, nude but with all the private bits covered, and then she was born, she came out and danced in an outfit that looked like it was inspired by the film The Fifth Element and then an incredible light show lit up the room.
It was pretty awesome, admittedly. I love seeing the hip hop world heading into a more Sci Fi frame of mind because nothing makes more sense.
When Kanye West and Daft Punk did the song Stonger at the Grammys in 2008, I thought, this is what hip hop should be. Hip Hop has always been about being cutting edge. It’s about being the first to own the newest phone and the newest shoes. It’s all about being the biggest and flashiest.
Image via Wikipedia
Kool Keith released some Sci Fi related albums in the past, Black Elvis / Lost In Space being the most obvious.
Also Hip Hop is the most commercially available form of electronic music, which is kind of space aged in and of itself. Drum machines, samplers, synth keyboards and so forth.
Many people think that African Americans have no interest in Sci Fi, but this is a stupid stereotype with no basis. Will Smith has done a countless number of Sci Fi Movies, Octavia E Butler is one of the best Sci Fi writers of all time. Recenty on the show Stargate Universe, Janelle Monae was featured at a club some of the cast had visited.
There are many types of Sci Fi that are found in various forms of literature but the one that I think would do best in Hip Hop is cyber punk.
Gangsta rap is a bit dark, its edgy and violent and anti authoritarian. It is the most rebellious music out there, even compared to punk rock. It is anarchistic and hostile and aggressive.
The average cyber punk story features:
The average Tech N9ne song has:
There are only a few things that seperate the two entirely. If Techn9ne were to rap about cars that, rather than have GPS, can drive themselves, if he rapped about te government or corporations oppressing people, or if he rapped about the next gen of ipones and video games, he’d be rapping a cyber punk story.
The video for Slacker is essentially a cyberpunk music video.
kungfupoo December 11th, 2009 at 5:35 am
Very good article. I would love to see hip hop continue to innovate.