Industry Hipsters?
We’ll get the obvious out of the way first – this was clever and pretty funny.
Besides that, what’s the deal? Is Big City Phil a frustrated, out of touch rapper? Or is he just looking for attention and trying to stay relevant? Or both?
In all likelihood, he was just messing around and put this together as a joke, but it does raise some interesting points.
There is certainly a backlash within the hip hop community against hipsters (cultural appropriation, blah, blah). But, I don’t necessarily classify Spank Rock, Cudi, Lupe, or Kid Sis as ‘hipster rap’… it’s just rap. Period.
So it isn’t really the so-called ‘hipster rap’ vs all other rap…. it’s youth culture versus old, isn’t it?
Hip hop has evolved like any music genre should and those who complain about it are comparing it to a time that has long gone. As an artist, you move forward creatively or you get left in the dust. All the artists he mentions in this video have reached some level of success… why? Because they all made creative and original rap music.
That said, it would be fair to say that there is an antiquated notion of hip hop that plagues the genre. Many rappers, signed or unsigned, think they have to wear size 40 Polo cargos to be considered a rapper. If they wear painted on Cheap Mondays or shop at Big and Tall, it shouldn’t matter.
Rappers who complain about ‘hipster rap’ need to worry more about producing creative, original material and less about what a stereotypical rapper should look and sound like. The Golden Era was amazing, but that’s over and rap has moved on without you. Time to play catch up!
Grip Plyaz – Fuck Dat Hipster Shit
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- Mar 4, 2009: Topics about Music » Industry Hipsters?
you know what else is wack? talking about all of that robbing, killing & hate. that shit is so 1991. You think your tough? why don’t you go to Iraq or Africa. So much posturing. All this, im from the streets bullshit. How do you even look at your self in the mirror.
Unfortunately as clever as the video and song is, nobody is going to give a fk because this is the same old bullshit, your catering to the new soft rock favourites crowd…
Gotta keep moving, word up. The past is like an impressionist painting — looks better the farther you get from it.
i dunno fellas… i still know plenty of kids who have a genuine love for hip hop. and this new shit isn’t hip hop – it’s just the labels’ attempt to reach new markets. if you look at the evolution of beats, you can see timbaland made the simple boom bap sound obsolete with his complex drum patterns. but the boom bap came back because it has inherent value and beauty. even these hipsters are using old classic drum patterns in their shit. so the classic style of rapping, infused with the frustration of street life – that will come back too. and it looks to me like this is just the tip of the iceberg. but that’s just if you ask me.
Great points. Time has shown that trends repeat themselves every 20-25 years, so I expect hood-hop to be back in form, oh I would say in about 18 more years.