State of hip hop .....

Well, we know it's been said and then said again....HIP HOP is DYING or DEAD. Everyone that is not into the current state of hip hop will definately moan and groan about how hip hop died in the mid 90's etc. Others will start bringing up obscure underground artists and say listen to them, they are real HIP HOP! Well, we say hip hop is not dead but definately struggling.

Hip hop has become a very important element in clubs and not only for urban nights but for mixed international nights as well. If you don't overanalyze song content to an excessive degree, hip hop is probably one of the best types of music to dance to. We are far from saying that we think house, rock, 80s, or international music isn't danceable but hip hop is top 40 and what do people want when they are twisted - TOP 40!

Any DJ will tell you, they are sick of playing the same top 40 hip hop crap and they wish they could play this or that. The thing is, when they break into this or that - you get 20 requests for the same top 40 hip hop song you just played less then a hour ago.

Hip Hop in the late 80's and mid 90's was something special and I believe that it has lost its way, well to a degree. It has become a sort of bravado music where most rappers rap to let you know how hardcore they are, how much drugs they can push, or how many girls they slept with. The thing is, hip hop started as a party type of music with the Sugar Hill Gang and to this day, most of the hip hop that comes out can still rock a party.

Overall, I am not a big fan of hip hop these days but there are definately some albums I buy and listen to. Alot of the type of hip hop I like now can't be played in a club. However, If I step back and see hip hop as a form of club entertainment, then I realize that it's not dead because people still want to dance to it. I think the best club nights are when they mix hip hop, with some house, international, 80's and just mash it all together.

Overall, Hip Hop will definately need a makeover though because everything that becomes saturated eventually dies out - look at the down spiral of true rock.