It seems to me that more and more rappers (mostly "underground," "conscious" rappers) are being lauded for their "introspective" lyrics--music that explores the inner reaches of the psyche, portrays the rapper's psychological torment, blah blah blah. More accurately, I've observed a shift from the outward-directed braggadocio of early hip hop toward a more inwardly-directed approach.
Here's a "before" sampling:
It’s the B-U-S-Y the B-E-E
Not talkin’ ‘bout Muhammed Ali
I float like a butterfly sting like a bee
I’m not the latest I’m the greatest Chief Rocker Busy Bee
I’m so fly and you know why
If you dealin with the Bee you’re not tellin’ a lie
Because I rock so well I got clientele
And all those sucker MCs can go to hell
Chief Rocker Busy Bee at the Auto Bonn Ballroom, ca. 1979
I'm the king of ROCK, there is none HIGHER
Sucker MC's should call me SIRE
To burn my kingdom, you must use FIRE
I won't stop rockin' 'til I retire
Run D.M.C., "King of Rock," 1985 (NB: King of Rock,, not King of Rap)
No rapper can rap quite like I can
I'll take a musclebound man and put his face in the sand
Not the last Mafioso I'm a MC cop
Make you say "Go LL," and do the wop
If you think you can outrhyme me, yeah boy I bet
Cause I ain't met a motherfucker who can do that yet
Trendsetter I'm better my rhymes are good
I got a gold name plate that says I wish you would
And when rap begin then I gotta join in and
Before my rhyme is over, you know I'ma win
LL Cool J, "I'm bad," 1987
Fast-forward to the 2000s:
Hiphop started off in a block that I've never been to
To counter act a struggle that I've never even been through
If I think I understand just because I flow too
That means I'm not keeping it true, nope
Macklemore, "White Privilege," 2005
My father told me I would grow into a diamond
But since I've lost him, I don't know how to find it
I feel so unpolished, make me blindin'
In a lackluster world where nothing’s shinin'
Sadistik, "Cubic Zirconia," 2014
How have you become comfortable talking about depression that openly?I'm not too sure what, if anything, to make of this. Obviously I've hand-picked bits to support my thesis. I've been listening to quite a lot of local rap these days: perhaps it's just a feature of our local scene. Macklemore and Sadistik are both white, and I think I could make an argument that this introspective turn originated with Eminem. Is it a by-product of the everyone-gets-a-trophy, no-bullying generation growing up? Maybe it's an extreme reaction to the crass materialism of commercial rap?
Because music is my release, and I notice that once I started the conversation, then other people are like, “Well, Kevin Gates uses music to channel his depression.” Other people may be like, “I use basketball to channel my depression. I channel my depression through running, I channel my depression through yoga, I channel my depression through meditation,” or whatever it may be, you know what I’m saying? That’s what I just advocate that because it’s okay to suffer from a certain ailments. It’s how you treat those ailments, it’s how you deal with those ailments that matters.
(For an alternative critique, see this).
Thoughts?