an unfinished thought.
I just want to talk about music. All of the time. It bothers my fiance and it alienates those around me. Sure it’s all well and good when you first meet me. I can roll an introductory conversation into a discussion on your musical tastes and let the beast out for a little bit. But it doesn’t last long enough, before you know it, you’re bored and moved on and I’m left with just my nightly research routine, and I guess this bit of writing. No one will ever read it, but I guess I can get my thoughts out.
I’ve been thinking about the shift in hip/hop in the early nineties. When the golden era of the MC, gave way to a darker time. A time, much more financially beneficial to those involved but ultimately a darker time as well. I’m talking about the rise of Gangster (gangsta?) rap.
More specifically, I’m thinking about how certain albums of the time, went on to influence an entire genre, almost effortlessly. No one person did more for the sound of hip/hop than Dr. Dre. That G-Funk sound that he is so well known for; high pitched synthesized strings over a 70’s funk bassline and slug to the chest drums are his trademark and a sound that has been often (and I mean often) imitated.
In ‘92, after N.W.A. dis(banded?), Dre entered into his most creatively rich period. He signed his skinny friend Snoop Dogg and dropped an album of smooth, funny and brutal truth. The Chronic is one of the best examples of a timeless hip/hop record. With alot of rap recordings of the time it was all influenced by popular sounds. Dre produced a record that came out of the 70’s and modernized it with an easy, thick and posturing flow. This is music that makes you feel cool. Whether you’re walking with your ear buds in, or cruising (in your ‘64, perhaps) You can’t help but bob your head.
After this album dropped, the game changed and most high profile rap acts new that to stay current and relevant they were going to have to start churning out some darker and grittier stuff. Much the way grunge came and pulled the rug out from under hair metal, gangster rap was the final nail in the coffin of “party rap”. At least in the limelight. De La Soul, Kid N’ Play and MC Hammer all had to make room for OG’s but not without some rather strange crossover attempts.
Hammer was bleeding money, and needed a hit album if he was going to stay on top (I think we all know how that turned out.) So he went in to the studio with some producer and came out with “Da Funky Headhunter” which was a riduculous and shameless copy of the G Funk West Coast sound. Tracks like “Something for the OG’s” and “It’s All Good” that tried to recast hammer as a hard hitting, from the streets, take no prisoners type. Though he doesn’t utter a single curse word on the entire record.
