Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Houston Rap: Why the Dirty 3rd is/and Will be a Force to Reckon With



West Coast and East Coast are the prominent ideal of hip hop that the country blindly embraces. A conversation involving hip hop inevitably leads to an argument over who is the GOAT (greatest of all time): Tupac, Dre, Biggie, Jay-Z etc. What is often left out is the contribution that 3rd Coast has made to rap. I use the word rap as opposed to hip hop because Houston embodies the idea of rap as they were presented to us in the early days of rap music…. when rap music was fun. Before rap became a platform for social change and/or selling drugs, rap was an outlet to have fun and express oneself in a recognizable manner that is native to those listening. Listen to Grandmaster Flash, Sugar Hill Gang, or RUN DMC; they don’t rap about social injustice and the plight of the underprivileged. Then New Jack City came out and N.W.A. came out, and we forgot all about the side of music that isn’t trying to change the world.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my societal aware artist just as much as the next man. I can hear both Bobs, I feel Tupac on another level, and Common sometimes has some deep things to say. However, there is the type of music that just makes you bob your head to, without having to deal with social issues centuries old that are still unsolved. Houston rap offers absolutely that. What would you rather hear if you were in a relaxed mood: the single mother with three jobs and five kids and how she is battling cancer which her health insurance won’t cover; or listen about big body cars, trunks that pop, (A purple colored drink that is mixed with Sprite, who can turn that down!?) and playing hoes like SEGA? I take the latter every time. I will now proceed to my 94' Impala, roll a Sweet of that chronic, grab one of my 25 lighters off the dresser, and let the top drop.
Peaces and Creases
TBN

No comments:

Post a Comment

It is What it Is

You wake up, look at the clock and realize you have to be at work in 2 hours. As you rub your eyes and attempt to shake off the fog from the...