Listening to the new ASAP Rocky and consuming the Pro Era mix tape like it really was '96 makes me think a lot about this New School of Hip Hop and how it really is their time. My generation, the ones who are the same age as the genre, are having a hard time letting go and letting "them young boys" do their thing. It's funny. Hypercritical as hell. But funny at the same time.
I'll never forget being a Hip Hop kid back in the day. Football games in high school, hanging out with friends listening to tapes, chilling in parking lots. Listening to music and being amazed at how it sounded so fresh and new. I'm happy this generation is having the same experience and it's kind of lame for my age group to tell them how to be knowing we hated the same thing being said to us.
Our parents did the same. Most of our young ears didn’t realize the music we were so hopped on was recycled from previous eras. And even that music was recycled from a previous ones. As I’ve gotten older I’ve learned creativity stands on the shoulders of others and life is about the moment. You are inspired by the past but life is about the present. That is where you create. The present is all that matters.
Trust me. I’m a master of being caught up in the past or in not living in the moment because of some far off future shit that may or may not happen. Believe me. As someone who makes part of their living from planning it's very easy to get caught up in the future. And as someone who wants a lot out of their life and their creativity, it's very easy to get caught up in shoulda woulda choices and maybe if I thoughts.
And this is precisely why I love this generation. They live in the current moment. Their moment. And it AWESOME!! They are everything I remember about that age except it's of their moment- their era.
This current crop of MCs, producers, and artists are talking about the experiences: living in a post race, post fuckign everything society. Even though it reminds me of my youth it's the present. At that age, if you told me what would happen how they would reinterpret, I would say bullshit. Mainly ‘cause, at that age I was back then, I would be so excited that what our experiences would live on and inspire others. That we would reach across the ether of space and time and speak directly to a generation of kids who while different are still like us. Moved by their excitement. Driven by passion. Sharing their truths. So many years later it would still be around.
I remember many conversations with my non hip hopper, i.e. white suburb friends, saying how rap music was a phase, that it would die. That Hiip Hop wasn't a culture. How the music took no skills.
Was there harassment back then too? Of course. We were black males teens. Public enemy number one. There was no official stop and frisk, but it happened. It sucked. It was rough. We hated it. We put it in our music and in our art. We danced it out to the bass lines and lyrics of our favorite MCs that spoke directly to our experience.
Here we are many decades later. Life is the same and life is different. So it's really back to being the same. The only constant in life is change. I would add something to that, “and human experience has been the same for thousands of years.” Technology has only pushed cycles faster, but we still love, cry, hurt, yearn for more than we are at the moment. Want to know who were are and create identities out of whatever we can.
I'm reminded of that young kid through these young kids. I am excited because of their excitement. I live in my own present because their present is so bright, so real. It makes me remember this is what we dreamed would happen. Not only this New School and their moment, but our own current moments. Being older, being grown, our lives, pursuing our dreams.
Currently I'm in a place where my life will change dramatically within the next couple of because of the conversations and meetings I have in place. It's an amazing time and I thank this new school for reminding me that life is lived in the present. I thank them for reminding me when it’s your moment you have to go for it. You have to live.
I am super thankful for the soundtrack they created for this moment in time. As much as I love the music from my era it's nice to be reflective while still being present.
So go out. Listen to these incredible artists making history before our eyes. And once you do let's chat it up and talk music, art, and living life.
- Till Then
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