Is Atmoshpere "real" hip-hop?
I had a sort of epiphany in regards to what makes hip hop authentic after class on Thursday. I was listening to my I-pod on shuffle and Atmosphere’s “Summer Song� came on. Now, as most of you know, Atmosphere originated out of the Twin Cities and I’ve listened to this song on numerous occasions before I heard it on Thursday, but something about the song struck me this time. consider Atmosphere to be real hip-hop, but I'm not really part of the hip hop generation, so in theory, would my opinion even be relevant in the world of "real" hip-hop? Authenticity has been the biggest issue for me to wrap my head around in class because it seems like the message behind the music should be what determines whether hip-hop is authentic or not, not the color of the artist’s skin or what neighborhood they grew up in.
I I also was thinking a lot about the point that someone in class brought up (I think it was Sierra), about authenticity versus success, and whether you can really be authentic if you “sold out� to be successful. From what we have learned so far in class, do you guys think that Atmosphere is considered real hip-hop? Are artists that became successful and “sold out� any less authentic then they were underground, even if they are playing the same songs and rapping about the same things they did before?
I know this post may seem totally random, but I have just been struggling with what “real� hip hop is, and more importantly, what makes it “real�?
Comments
to complicate things...
slug, of atmosphere, is of mixed races. do do artists have to fit in ethinically with one racial label? does being african american and having white people in your crew make it some how not real hip hop - or the african american person somehow more real just because they look like they come from a particular race? and whay about brother ali - he's albino and from white parents (which is very rare). how do we fit in into the discussion of who can make real hip hop...
Posted by: jackie kellett | February 9, 2009 7:16 PM
I think that is very interesting Jackie. Many of the authors that we have read talk a lot about hip-hop as being defined by a time and a space and also a race, (that rhymes!) But more so the people who have been left voiceless. I think at first this did not apply to white people because white people are the majority and have for many many years oppressed the minorities. This made rap and hip-hop for black Americans unique because there was not a presence of whiteness involved. Then Beastie Boys came out. Then it was Eminem. Eminem had a certain authority and understanding because he was a poor white kid with a many family issues and seemed to understand hip hop in a very intricate way. I don’t know, I think that there is definitely space for white men to be involved in hip-hop but they have to pass several tests before they can truly be respected by the hip-hop community. Kind of like how Vanilla Ice never quite made it. He did not have anything real about him.....
Posted by: Tara | February 10, 2009 5:27 AM