Is Hip-Hop in Perpetual Adolescent Mode?

Lil Bow Wow, Lil Romeo, Lil Wayne, Lil Kim, Lil Mo, Lil Jon, Lil Scrappy, Yung Joc, Yung Dro, Yung Wun, Yung Jeezy, Young Buck….who am I missing? Okay, fill in the rest, insert your locals here. Question to ponder is hip-hop stuck in a state of permanent “adolescence?” Now some might think, “it’s not that deep” it’s just a nickname that has nothing to do with age, or physical stature. At least in the case of some of the “lil’s,” most of the males were teens or pre-teens when they came out. As for the females, the “LiL” is like a moniker synonymous with “shorty.” Bow Wow has since dropped the “LiL” as is likely for others, but for these “yung” brothers, they came on the scene in their mid-to-late twenties! Now I know that’s not OLD by any means, but can a correlation be made as it relates to the current state of hip-hop and the names of these, young, I mean grown rappers?! If Janet can assert that 40 is the new 20, while others are saying 30 is the new 20, and those tracking the baby boomer generation are saying that 60 is the new middle age, what does this mean, if anything for hip-hop?

This is noteworthy for me, because I’ve long asserted that hip-hop is contributing to the prolonged adolescence of African-American men, heck women too in many instances as they follow the distorted lead of their male counterparts. In what other, non sports related profession do key figures ponder retirement at 30? This is a tragic proposition if one truly understands the artistic process, not to mention the mental rush of knowing that you can have access to millions of minds in a week via a CD release. I posit that Jigga, Dr. Dre, Eminen and the like, all of whom have either pondered or been in “retirement”, recognize the juvenile nature of their content as grown men and feel, guilty, like they should be talking about things of more substance. They are struggling to become grown as artists but their lives won’t let them.

Their counterparts in the industry like The Roots, Common, Talib, Mos Def, and a few others have distinguished themselves as artists who are at LEAST trying to deal with weightier issues than: ice, sex, guns, violence, drugs, self, and what have you and therefore they can forseeably tour well into their 30s and 40s and NOT as a part of some old school throwback show. If the Rolling Stones, (whose Bigger Bang tour was the highest grosser of 2006 with 437 million. Dag! That’s almost half a BILLION. A hundred mill plus for “each Stone”) The Eagles, Streisand and The Who among others can tour into their 50s and 60s and pack out STADIUMS, why not hip-hop? Have the MC’s exhausted all they have to say?

What I’ve observed is that many post collegiates, and young professionals who grew up with hip hop, feel that it’s now “beneath them” and doesn’t speak to their reality (not that it ever did if you want to be really honest) and they either “graduate” to something more “apparently” sophisticated like neo-soul or jazz, or wax nostalgic about hip-hop’s bygone “golden era.” However, there are many “fans”, who like their adolescent MC heroes, (who are really their peers) are also still stuck in mental adolescence and still turn out to see them in concert.

I saw this firsthand a couple years ago when Maji and I went to deliver Chuck D a copy of The Prequel at an “old school” show here in Detroit. We were tripping, even ran into old friends who are STUCK, in late 80’s mode, still sipping on whatever, still breaking their necks to gawk at whatever’s passing by in some tight Guess, oops my bad... Apple Bottoms. It’s hard to front like you’ve matured when you really haven’t. From an artistic standpoint, if there’s any semblance of pride, you’d think one would feel conflicted about telling women to “back that thang up” at 35, when they’re married with children? But you gotta give the people what they want right? Why not help them grow up?

Hip-hop has long betrayed it’s mantra of keeping it real and is now content to keep it fake. Kinda like pro wrestling. Years ago, the WWF, (World Wrestling Federation) came clean and acknowledged what everyone already knew, that it was all fake. To avoid confusion and endless debate about credibility, they decided, “let’s just call it sports entertainment.” WWF became WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) So now at 23, with fakeness acknowledged, Wrestlemania, the WWE’s biggest event is still thriving. Is this a parallel, a formula for success, fakeness = popularity, profit, success? Hmmm. [The irony of the WWE champ being a white rapper to boot is too comical not to note here]

None of this is to say that we can’t allow hip-hop to function like other genres (music and otherwise) and truly be a source of entertainment, nor can we expect anything but more of the same from unregenerate people. It’s just that given the stakes, still high, (urban centers in crisis) we cannot let hip-hop talk out of both sides of its mouth and big up itself as the “voice of the hood”, and use “corporate co-option”, CIA control, etc. as excuses for its immoral content. Are the individuals puppets without choice, extremely clueless, in denial, or all the above?

Couple cases in point. I recently saw a screening of a documentary called "Beyond Beats and Rhymes" which looks at how hip-hop has cultivated a warped image of African American manhood. One of the most telling points of the film was how inarticulate and mentally scatter brained Jadakiss and Russell Simmons were. One is a skilled, albeit profane, lyricist (makes me wonder if he had a ghostwriter for his song Why?); the other is the prototype of the one positive aspect of hip-hop constantly trumpeted before its critics, entrepreneurship (as if this exempts it from responsibility). Both were surprisingly clueless and rambled in response to the questions posed to them about the current state of hip-hop. I chalk this up to a combination of cluelessness and denial. Even if there was a ghostwriter for Why, we know that Jadakiss, like everyone at some point in their own way, ponders the deeper meanings behind the state of the world he lives in. Yet his “feed my baby” defense of the rest of (the majority of) his lyrical content was completely disconnected in his mind from the many questions he pondered in his own song. In Russell’s case it was denial more so than cluelessness. As an “elder,” (dressed in pink) he has clearly seen the growing influence of the music he helped nurture from infancy; however, his pride won’t let him admit that its influence is NOT all good.

Another example is The Source, which recently asked has “hip-hop” become a minstrel show? The answer is a resounding yes, and The Source (as the self-proclaimed bible of hip-hop music culture and politics) is partly responsible for creating and maintaining the minstrel show. Their denial is a part of why this won’t likely change soon. Lastly there is Nas. A relatively respected, and undeniably gifted MC, who now proclaims that “hip-hop is dead” but yet doesn’t fully acknowledge how his Nas Escobar era and questionable content on the album itself helped to kill it. Past singles like I Can, which like Jadakiss’ Why come off as “moments of clarity” between blunts, amid albums and careers of fence-straddling and contradictions. I guess this is why the scriptures teach us that;

This duplicity on the part of the shapers of secular hip hop comes with too heavy a price when you ubiquitously put such juvenile lyrical content into the mix with an unchurched generation from largely broken homes, dilapidated urban schools, and the absence of accessible leaders and role models. Reality becomes inseparable from entertainment, life begins to imitate art.

If you were reading closely as to my reasons above and the examples I gave, you might’ve noticed that I had no example of the current state of affairs being attributable to MCs being “puppets”. Yes, I can concede that the culture’s been infiltrated by corporate greed and those who’ve commodified gangsterism, thuggery, and misogyny and sold it back to us, but like in all things, God’s great gift of free will, volition, still remains. And the aforementioned “conscious artists” like Common are examples of that. Chuck D. said in the same documentary, that the problem is that “we haven’t had men, in hip-hop as MCs.” I was like ooooh, nice jab Chuck!

"Chain Hang Low" is the debut single from St. Louis-based 15-year-old rapper Jibbs. His hit is built around a chorus reworked from the children's Cartoon Blue's Clues theme "Do Your Ears Hang Low?" which is itself a variant on the minstrel show song "Turkey in the Straw" and "Zip Coon". This has generated controversy among urban music writers and scholars, but of course Jibbs claims innocence of the tune's origins, "I was unaware of that and so will the many KIDS who will buy it and cheerfully sing along to it." It's no surprise that Jibbs is ignorant to our history because we are definitely not teaching it. Which is why the saying, " Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it" rings painfully true.

Real MEN would not allow themselves to justify being pimped by corporate labels that subsequently export a global image of themselves as new jack minstrels, but boys blinded by the love of money, rabid for worldly success will. "…for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil." – I Tim. 6:10

I appreciate Chuck for always “keeping it real” but as a believer, I have to expand his description to say that hip-hop hasn’t had godly men. Even the conscious artists like his own Public Enemy have seen the futility or the “ceiling” of their best efforts at promoting knowledge of self and economic empowerment as panaceas. Seen what Flavor Flav is up to lately? Ahem, my point exactly.

What does all this mean for us as believers in this era where hip-hop’s global influence is undeniable. If MCs, and label execs. “got saved tomorrow” by the droves will we, as a Body be ready to embrace, befriend, encourage and disciple? Our role as believers and arguably “gatekeepers”, (those who “spit life”) albeit disenfranchised from the industry to truly function as such, is as follows: to understand the warfare in the spiritual realm, to “stay on our knees, so we can stay on our toes” (Jack – from No Fear; The Brix) keep it real with secular hip-hop even if it has long ceased to keep it real with itself, not grow weary in well doing in our respective ministries as a result of lackadaisical church support, agnostic ambivalence, resistance, etc. and foremost, continue presenting CHRIST as the remedy for all that ails our urban, suburban, and global woes.

Hopefully the “religious counterpart” as it relates to “adolescence” and hip-hop for us is not that we ‘outgrow’ it ourselves and abandon it for ‘real ministry’. Kind of like a burgeoning minister who “cuts his teeth” on youth ministry until he can fill a vacant pastorate. Only God and those who grab the steel to rep Him truly know if they truly see themselves as ministers, or merely entertainers and if they dread opportunities to build, life on life, as Lecrae or Quan would say “after the music stops.” Hip-hop is only a ministry tool for us, and our allegiance is not to it, but to Him who transcends culture for redemptive purposes, even as He imparts gifts to those within a culture, His remnant, to reach others in that culture, in any dispensation.

So as long as it is profitable for labels and rappers to be “adolescent” with their content, nothing will change, hip hop will stay stuck, and the harvest will remain ripe with much work to be done. So those in the trenches, remain. But those who might feel (or begin to feel) “too old” to RAP, or for whom it IS, “just a season”, we still need you as our HHH elders ready to avail yourselves to serve and mentor the “yung bucs” and help them to avoid the pitfalls of the ministry/industry, church/street conundrum and help them grow, help prepare them and local churches for the harvest that awaits The Body when the secular artists and fans alike, are ready to grow up, to put away “childish things.”

- vessel Yuinon Local 313
02.07.07