It ain't what it seem, life's a bitch, but at time's it's a dream

Hip hop music, particularly rap music has been a passion of mine since I was a weeee little boy. The title is an iconic line from Nasir Jones' life's a bitch,.


I just finished writing up a paper for my first year soc course about hyper masculinity in rap. Although I've studied rap music in the past, I came upon some pretty mind boggling statistics that I wanted to share

1/15 African Americans are in jail
1/9 African Americans aged 20-34 are in jail
43% of African American university graduates enter university but never graduate
63% of African American at Michigan University enter the university but drop out within the first two years

I hope just acknowleding these statistics will put into perspective a lot of the struggles and pitfalls associated with rap music, rather than just the glamour and glitz pop-rap that seems to consume the top 40 charts week in and out.

What happened to conscious hip hop? Virtually NOTHING on the airwaves has anything remotely close to the ghetto ballads of Tupac Shakur, or the effervescent stylings of Nas, what about the activism promoted through Public Enemy's fight the power? It seems that every genre has its golden age and I can also finally admit (after denying it for years), that the lineup of hip hop artists these days just don't cut it when compared to the legends who defined the scene. It seems like hip hop has lost its flair, its desire to be creative, edgy and inventive. all we get these days are recycled vocoders, way too flashy bling, and one hit wonders. Maybe I'm part of the minority but it is clear to most people that the quality of rap music is deteriorating, and although there is a great pool of talent, it seems that fewer and fewer artists are actually pure hip hop artists, and seem more interested in the lavish lifestyles associated with hollywood. But considering that most hip hop artists come from impoverished living conditions.......can ya blame em?