Where's the Mystery in Today's Hip Hop?

Partying, sex, drugs, blowing money, living a flashy lifestyle, this is what hip-hop looks like from the outside looking in.  Music plays a huge role in people’s lives, and if an artist is powerful enough, they can evoke any emotion conveyed through their music to their fans.  Generation Y has grown to embody the lyrics that rappers and singers promote, which could be considered a good thing, if a positive message was commonly portrayed.

Let’s be honest, the hip-hop industry is an industry that has rarely taken responsibility for their role in society, especially within the black community.  Yes, everyone has a mind of their own, and can decide whether something is right or wrong, but it is human nature to follow the trends.  Here you have Gucci Mane rapping “Party, party, party, let's all get wasted!” One of many anthems that are well known and glorified.  Teens and college students are no longer secretively drinking and getting drunk, they are using social networks like Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace to let all their friends and followers know that they are “wasted,” or “all the way turn’t up.” Binge drinking isn’t a new thing, but today’s hip hop brags about how many bottles people are buying in V.I.P, like a cup or two isn’t enough for a couple hours at the club, let alone one bottle of vodka or champagne.  Celebrity boasting and life styles are sold to a naïve ear as a way of everyday living.  This is bad, now there are people living within a Kool-Aid budget with champagne dreams.  College students are buying bottles of Moet and Grey Goose at the club, but refuse to pay for a book that cost half the price of one night of partying. 

You also have older artist like Usher, who have been nationally recognized for their talents with Grammy’s and other honors, that are coming back into the hip hop spotlight, with a different message.  It’s natural for an artist to mature and change as they age in the industry, but Usher went from being in love in all his songs, and singing “You remind me of a girl that I once knew,” and humming sweet nothings into the ears of millions of fans across the world, to singing about three-somes in a vulgar manner.  In his recent song that was released this year featuring the self proclaimed “Harajuku Barbie, ” rapper Nicki Minaj, Usher said  “I'm about to go have a ménage with this lady and some freaks at the bar.”  Reality shows like “The Bad Girls Club” and “The Real World” are displaying how trendy it is to be bisexual, so Usher saying that he only wants a girl that is down to sleep with other girls is affecting those younger fans that listen to him, especially young girls who are just growing into their sexuality, because some feel the need to fit the mold of most hip hop songs. 

      If Generation X were to say “I got that real thick quarter pound best believe it’s going down all you got to do is call me,” then someone would think that they were working for McDonalds or something of that nature, Generation Y knows that that description of a burger is the  female artist named Just Brittany in her early 20’s singing about her butt in comparison to a burger in a song called “Call me for that good.”   Brittany is an attractive well-spoken young lady that could easily be a role model for admiring youngsters.  She is promoting casual sex, that seems to be equivalent to just breathing in natural air, with lax lyrics like “If you want it, I got it, all you got to do is come get it, I’m with it, I ain’t trippin’ really.” 

There is little to no tact and class left in the mystery and allusion of sexuality and partying compared to songs by 90’s R&B group SWV, like “Downtown,” which could have easily been as vulgar as Just Brittany’s “Call me for that good” song, but SWV left an heir of mystery. These artists are often playing a role when they rap and sing, so as parents and mentors, adults should monitor their children’s intake of music just as heavily as the shows or movies a child or teen watches.  Just like you can watch a commercial and be sold into wanting a good deal or a meal that’s being advertised, hip-hop culture and mannerisms can be sold through music.  The music is the center of what has grown into a culture that plays a strong hand in how people, dress, talk, act, and interact with others.