I just read today about the creation of Hip-Hop. There were people like Grandmaster Flash, DJ Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa, who were doing it for the music.
Now it's all about image and making money and bangin' girls...

It's depressing that such a unique artform has changed so much.

you probably should go rent this movie called Scratch, it is a good documentary movie about the art of scratching and DJing.

I agree, all that gangsta rap is so boring... it is either about money or hos, can they rap something new? or their life experiences are just about money and hos? what a boring life they lead. ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz or they just bad mouth other rappers, so damn childish...

I think it's like in any genre...some people are in it for the money and then some people are doing it for the music. It's not hard to find rap groups/artists that do it for the music.

I actualy just read a DJ Krush interview yeaterday and he was saying he didn't care what the media did or if people liked his music...he was just in it for the music and he didn't care if it fitted into any category. I thought that was pretty cool.

really, I believe that hiphop is just an instrument for expression.

I feel really mad that this unique tool has been misused in the past and I do think that the pop music community is idolizing gangsta rappers who rap about guns, girls, and drugs.

In reality, gangsta rap didn't used to suck. Early NWA stuff was awesome! I loved rap then because people were using this means of expression to the peak.

However, rappers shouldn't stop there at gangsterism. They should ultimately progress to express other facets of life other than clubs, drinks, and hoes.

I would not be dissappointed or even taken aback if a student rapper from Harvard rapped about college life and its pleasures and pitfalls. Hey, hiphop is a way of expressing oneself, why not express the stresses of studying? A large majority of people could identify with that culture. It doesn't need to be about drugs and guns to be "cool."

i dunno much about hip-hop, but i can see the upcoming new hip-hop scene.
qwerty is right that mutation takes placed in all genres of music. Its a general trend.
Rap music.... this revolutionary style and sound was 1st honed by young africa americans who mixed records and practiced breakdance moves on make-shift platforms in parks, playgrounds and nightclubs, predominantly in new york city. it was then captured on vinyl and commericialized over the last 20 yrs to become one of the most popular and influential world-wide musical genre.
but it mutates on its way of commercialization.
wat i can find now in some of the rappers is not the soulful, rythmetic sound, but just mouthful of pointless words.
rappers dress and sing in a hip-hop-alike way, but thats not hip-hop.... i can still notice the difference from the earlier hip-hop music though i'm not a hip-hop fan.

Sorry, but I can't agree with you that the current popular rap is not hiphop.

It is still hiphop, but it is just an overdone, overplayed, insipid, meaningless type of hiphop.

But to say that it is not part of the genre is being just as ignorant as the wack ass rappers these days who claim they're the shizz.

It's funny you say that... currently, it seems that the trend in hip-hop, and moreover rap, is that people are trying to move towards positive messages more often than the previously droll "bitches and ho's", "cap yo ass", "get me a 40" lyrics. Not that I disagree in the least that these artists have every right to express themselves in whatever way they see fit - but finally people are starting to take an active roll as an influential figure, rather than "the guy your mother hopes you never become". I, for one, am quite happy to see someone in the genre - take Nelly, perhaps - come out with a song that says "You can still be cool, but do all the right things and set yourself up for life. Not everyone gets a record deal, and I got lucky."

okay, i re-arrange my statement in this way:
it is not the hip-hop that it is used 2 be.
would that be okay this time?

yeah, iss not a real big problem

I agree totally with you that hiphop's focus has shifted away from its original purpose, and I personally like the old school and golden age stuff a lot better than any of the hiphop these days.

yeah i pretty much appreciate the old hip-hop. they are so much betta.