S. Samuel
With 2011 approaching, rapper Bubba Sparxxx recently sat down with SOHH to share his insight on what he feels is one of hip-hop's biggest weaknesses heading into the new year.
From Bubba’s perspective, hip-hop needs to find its uniqueness and limit swagger jacking of other artists.
“I don’t know [what’s going on in hip-hop] but I know I’m going to be original,” Bubba told SOHH when asked about his take on the state of hip-hop. “Any music people hear from me, from this point forward in my career is going to be original. It’s going to be music that only I can make and if I get frustrated with what’s going on when I listen to hip-hop, it’s with carbon copies. I like Soulja Boy because what he did was original. I’m a big Ying Yang Twins fan but I get [mad] when I hear so many carbon copies of what the last person was doing because of it being successful. That’s when I get a little frustrated [with hip-hop] because I’m like, ‘We’re all individuals here.’ Every person that’s been born into this world was born as an individual with things that separate them from others. For me, that’s what music or just art, period, is about. It’s about making that translate, whatever is unique about you, it’s about making it translate.” (SOHH)
Earlier this month, fellow Southern rapper David Banner said he believed hip-hop has lost touch with the fans.
“I just have a problem with the lack of balance,” he explains. “Everything about rap music now has everything to do with the music but the ability to rap. It’s who has this n*gga killed? Who is he beefing with? Does he have swag out the roof, shawty? No, it should be, dude, can you rap? Is the beat tight? … We have allowed corporate entities to reduce our music to a download,” he says. “Our kids now they don’t really believe they should pay for rap music. So there’s a bigger problem that we don’t see. They have now replaced the artist and the talent of the artist with general concepts like swag and being gangsta.” (VIBE)
50 Cent also recently said he felt hip-hop lost its connection with the core audience.
“When I offer aggression, I offer it from an author, a real place,” Fif said in an interview. “It’s who I am; it’s who I had to be. Not even by choice, but to survive where I came from. So a lot of actual artists don’t have it. They don’t have that thing. Waka Flocka, ‘Hard in the Paint,’ Gucci [Mane], those guys have that…It’s just a lot of the other artists, I don’t believe them. I believe hip-hop is in a struggle of being artistic or [having] authenticity–which one matters? Because a lot of them that write music that has a street-life theme to it haven’t actually been exposed to very much of that. It’s starting to feel like it doesn’t matter. I’m watching it, and I’m like, Okay, it sounded great, but ya lyin’.” (XXL Mag)
Recently, ex-Flipmode Squad member Rah Digga talked to SOHH about artists needing to make a return to the basics.
“I think the females and everyone out just needs to keep making their music and bring it back to the basics,” Rah explained to SOHH. “A big problem with not just females but artists in general is that they think they have to make some kind of grand stand re-entrance or they have to put on some crazy production or something to make it in the industry when the answer is real simple and plain, take it back to basics.” (SOHH)
Check out Bubba Sparxxx’s “There I Go Again” below:
