KnowledgeBass

We Are In Uncharted Territory

Hip-hop heads back in the day used to wonder what the landscape would be like in 20 or 30 years, once the genere became "old". What would the music sound like? Would it still be cool to be an rapper in your 50's? Would our kids have moved on to some new culture or style?

Many of those questions are being answered in real time. What is primarily taking shape are defining lines that are closely correlated to the lines between generations. Not to be confused with lines of sub-genres, regions, and the like - those have always been there. They often blurred, overlapped, shifted. These new lines are defining new ways to enjoy hip-hop that could have only happened thanks to time and technology.

Those that are looking for everything new and fresh are very well taken care of. That is, until what is new and fresh, to quote Grandpa Simpson, becomes "weird and scary". They will, inevitably, become like some older hip-hop heads, who pine for the good old days. These types arguably can have all that they need in music and art from the past. But the legendary artists themselves - particularly the ones that were the truest - are showing that they still have plenty of creativity left. The art they make make look or sound "old", but it is indeed as new and fresh as any other.

We could look to other music genres for ideas on how it will all pan out. Remember though, this is hip-hop we're talking about. The mold breaker. Further still, those genres that were around when hip-hop was born did not have the power of the digital revolution, the internet, behind them. This is different. This is a new frontier for all of us.