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The Reinvention of Rap
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Author: Peter Shuttlewood Article source: http://www.freshread.com/. Used with author's permission.
I blame Eminem.
Prior to his sampling of Dido on his 2000 track Stan, I would have assigned Rap to the domain of angry disenfranchised African Americans like Iced Tea, Tupac Shakur or Snoop Doggy Dog. Now it would seem that most of the Top 40 is riddled with Rap Artists.
So when did Rap become mainstream? Is it that Rap Music has become more melodic or have we just broadened our listening tastes?
Basically Rap is a form of rhyming lyrics spoken rhythmically with a musical backdrop and, love him or hate him, Eminem has managed to bring Rap squarely into the Top 40 realm. Witness the turnaround of mainstream commentators who once claimed he and his lyrics would poison our children?s minds to his 2002 Oscar win for Lose Yourself from the film 8 Mile. The comparisons to the King himself, Elvis Presley are inevitable. And like the Rolling Stones, who helped translate blues to the white mainstream, Eminem?s lyrical talents turn stinging lyrics into hum-a-long pop tunes.
But Eminem is not the first white artist to create crossover hits from the Rap genre. From Bob Dylan?s 1965 Subterranean Homesick Blues to Blondie?s 1981 Rapture to 1986?s Aerosmith Run DMC collaboration Walk This Way and even Vanilla Ice?s 1990 Ice Ice Baby. And now the likes of 50 Cent, Nelly, Ludacris, Beastie Boys, Missy Elliott, Beyonce, Outkast, Usher and The Game continue the tradition.
Is it mere coincidence that Hate It Or Love It on The Game?s 2005 CD The Documentary reminds me of PM Dawn?s 1997 hit Set Adrift On Memory Bliss?
Is it the increasing reliance on sampling of other hits which have permeated our subconscious or using broader instrumentation and orchestration or the synthesized electronically programmed equivalent that pushes these tracks up the charts? Or is it the catchy choruses? I mean it may be just me, but who, but the most street cred Rap connoisseur, understands the allegorical coda of these yrics, while we can all hum or sing a long to the chorus just enough to want to buy or download the track and maybe even the whole album.
And it seems now that almost every rapper has at least one or two ballad style tracks, preferably with an R & B style mainstream artist to assist with that crossover. 2002?s Dilemma duet of Nelly and Destiny Child?s Kelly Rowlands or Work It with Justin Timberlake from the same album proves the rapper can also sing in these fusions of Soul meets Rap which hit the top of the charts and stay there.
So has Rap become mainstream or does the likes of Eminem merely represent a contrived marketing plan by Record Companies to pick up where Pop has sadly left off. Now that boy bands have almost died out and the titanic phenomenon that is American (or substitute your own country here) Idol has steamrollered over the singer/songwriter traditional pop consciousness has Rap merely mellowed to fill the void?
Sadly I cannot answer these questions definitively. The music industry and the record buying public are a fickle lot. Technology brings a two edged sword of making more music more available by downloading but also shrinking the market place income to the need for record companies to rely on ?sure things?.
And Rappers aren?t that different to any other musician or anyone else with something to sell. They may be in the industry for all very noble purposes of being an artist or saying something important with their lyrics. But ultimately they too want to sell their records and make money and live comfortable celebrity lifestyles.
So Rap music over time has become more commercial and more digestible to the mass black and white audiences. Melodies are now familiar to Generation X, Y and Z and the Baby Boomers. Remixed to suit nightclub or coffee shop audiences.
And ultimately no matter how cynically we want to look at it, the more variety of music there is out there the more diverse our listening habits become.
And that can only be a good thing. Peter Shuttlewood is the author of webzine freshread which contains articles on Popular Culture with an Australian slant. freshread - the everyday in a fresh way.
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The longest song to reach number one on the Billboard charts on LP was "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" by Meatloaf, the shortest: "Stay" by Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs.
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