Hip Hop is Changing: Meet the New Players
By: Kendall | in: Music |Every so often, music goes through a change. The guard swaps up, and a little freshness starts to waft in. Hip hop is changing. It’s getting really really good. Here’s some of the youngsters you should already know, and if you don’t… well, get familiar. Here is a few of the best we’ve seen cropping up in some time.
TIME MACHINE - Members include Biscuit, Jet Set Jay, DJ Mekalek aka Gramps, and the ever-elusive Stoerok. They bring it back old school, and they make it FRESH.
Website: www.glowlikethis.com
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/timemachine
B.o.B. - Out of Atlanta, the crunk has been removed, and clean and catchy has been brought back to the menu
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/bobatl
KID SISTER - Hailing out of Chicago, she has been drawing gobs of attention. Most notably from Kanye West, who has taken it up himself to lend a hand. She blends elements of dance music, with old school.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/kidsister
Cool Kids – What do they sound like? They put it best on their myspace page : The Dope Shit. Minimalistic and raw, Chuck and Mikey, bring don’t need over produced tracks to make it happen.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/gocoolkids
Playboy Tre – Also out of Atlanta, following some of the same lines of creativity as B.o.B, they even did a song together.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/playboytre
Blue & Exile – Blending a smooth jazz vibe with a lick of soul, and a flow similar to The Roots and Common, this is a sure to please mastery of the art
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/alexile
Band site: http://www.djexile.com
Posted on March 26, 2008
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6 Responses to “Hip Hop is Changing: Meet the New Players”
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I’m glad to see that change is coming…Although to my untrained ear a lot of still sounds the same. There’s still a lot of the beats over elevator music which really puts me off (you can call it smooth jazz, but it’s still elevator music, no matter what the guy is rapping about).
Some of them are really fresh though, and some are sort of getting back to the old days when it actually mattered what you rap about. Great post Kendall.
I have to take issue with what you said about your definition of “elevator music.” The sound you’re hearing is a Rhodes MKII electric piano that was prevalent in the 70’s and was used heavily on recordings from that era (most notably Stevie Wonder). So, if you think that the sound of the electric piano (which I think is quite nice) amounts to elevator music, I think your ears are sorely misinformed. I hope this causes no offense, just trying to spread the love and the knowledge.
gpAll! You are my keyboard hero.
Nothing do do with the Rhodes MKII, in fact that’s one of my favorite instruments.
It’s about what is played, originality, complexity, and escaping tried and tested formulas.
I love rap as a form of expression, but not many artists actually take the time to put great music to it as well. I think it’s equally important.
There’s a big gap between what Stevie Wonder plays and a 4 chord loop over a standard beat.
I sure hope it really happens. I used to listen to hip-hop/R&B exclusively with 90% hip-hop. Even the gangsta rap was actually quite revolutionary back in the early to mid-90s. Now all the tales are like 4th-hand smoke in a dank pub.
When you think about it, lyrics are the saving grace because 90% of those rappers can’t sing worth a damn. There’s so much more room for the expression of ideas, philosophies, and stories that just wouldn’t translate into a song format.
I find myself gravitating towards classic rock these days thanks to watching Supernatural (featuring some of the best rock out there). Regardless of the genre, too much of the music out there is either shallow or too self-absorbed (if it’s good). I want something more “universal”. There aren’t enough songs out there that’ll send a lightning bolt through your body the second you hear the first verse.
One of the songs I like listening to even now is Sometimes I Rhyme Slow (skip to 1:09) which samples Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myqQGg_s-Pw
“Waiting on a cab, standing in the rain
Under my heart deep clouds of pain
She got the best of me
What was her destiny?
Maybe I should lick her with my nine millime…ter
My mind is in a blur ”
You just don’t have any narrative or poetry. It’s ironic because rappers like Tupac & B.I.G. might have been the catalyst for all this hedonistic gangsta rapping but their songs had a lot more to their lyrics.
Personally, I wish they would make it illegal to swear in rap music because these retards substitute verbs, adjectives, and nouns with the same four letter words so much that it’s like some dude singing in the shower and humming the parts he doesn’t know.
Oh, and the last one is Blu & Exile, you can find their album on amazon.
kid sister…she is good…i like whats on her head…some kind of fur…nice cap