To me, since hip hop began as four elements of art; 1. breakdancing, 2. graffiti writing, 3. D.J.ing and 4. M.C.ing, modern-day hip hop COULD be about; 1. the dance trends at the local clubs, 2. the illest graphic designs of the local artists, 3. the best beats by local producers and 4. the most creative/inspired rhymes by rappers around me. I don't dance much (except by myself) and the only graphic designs I'm interested in are going on my album covers, but what I DO is make beats and rap. In MY community, hip hop is an inclusive label to define someone as "a fan or creator of some current artform". In my LIFE, hip hop is a term that defines my DOING something creative that my community will appreciate...or not.
2. How do people see through the commercialized radio rap? Does it have any value? Does it have any relation to hip-hop in it's purest form?
From what I've seen, "commercialized radio rap" is the negative stereotype of how the larger record companies have systematically sought out ONLY that rap which will make them money, i.e. explicit, shocking, base music that targets young audiences with parents who actually pay for their music, and play those songs over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, until the rest of us can't wait for that song to never be played again. I see through it by not listening to it...unless it really is good, and then I'll buy it, or burn it from a friend. I don't have to watch MTV or BET or listen to Clear Channel to separate the grain from the chaff. The value of it is that although the market is flooded, you still finds gems and that makes it worthwhile. You also have to remember, most of the "commercialized radio rap" are real musicians who love what they do, and began as starving artists, but they might have signed contracts for money they needed or agreed to write something they normally wouldn't have written or ALL OF THEIR MUSIC IS NO LONGER THEIRS. Nowadays, I don't see it so much as a "hip hop verses rap" thing. To me, it's more like "pop music vs. the underground" or "money vs. love". Some people have friends and/or associates with a lot of money to fund their music (whether good or not) and most people have less resources and little-to-no chance comparatively, whether they are talented or not.
3. Where is the point in hip-hop's young history when its goal of evolving into a significant artistic art form to make a significant statement changed its course to become a "make money money, go shopping" mentality?
Once it collectively realized that it could...or someone would, if they didn't. If you want a point in the last 37 years of its existence, I'd say it was around 1988, when NWA released "Straight Outta Compton" on Priority Records. Before them, no one had yet found that golden calf that would be known as "Gangsta Rap". It made a lot of record labels go shopping for the best gangsta rappers they could find...and they all started releasing them in the early 1990's, especially after Dr. Dre went multi-platinum with his first solo album, "The Chronic". Hip hop was no longer trendy. Rapping about guns, weed, bitches and fashion was selling out.
4. What state do you think hip-hop is in currently?
I'm still the blind optimist. The internet is curbing the negative traits of the bigger record companies. They can't sell music very well when people want it (and get it) for free, and they certainly don't want to pay for it, unless it's REALLY good. That's leading to artists going further in their creativity and shedding old fears of "needing" a label to get them anywhere, when the World Wide Web can get them everywhere, and THAT's leading to a new breed of fans who sniff out commercialism (the chaff) to seek and find sustinance in heartfelt art (grain). I'm psyched.
5. Have you downloaded NANCY for free yet?
In an age where rappers wear make-up, get manicures and play with fancy toys, you have the NancyBoys. They are emcees who embrace their metrosexuality and flaunt it, instead of answering questions ambiguously with 'no comment'. Networking on the internet, they have joined forces to put forth this concept, the sickest yet from The Frozen Food Section, a collection of the biggest vets who create only what they can get away with...So let's get on with it...
http://thefrozenfoodsection.com/podcast.asp
[NANCY by the NancyBoys, artwork by Calc2]
myspace.com/thenancyalbum
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