Hip Hope: A Bit Of Inspiration in Bleak Times

Let me talk about American Pop - or indeed, Pop music in general. I don't like it.

This is not to say that it's all bad, however, a good blanket statement is what one uses to start a conversation on what you find, for the most part, irritating. There are certain pop songs or artists that I find show us the good face of something turned ugly.

"Wait, Mike. You're post title mentions Hip Hop. Why are we now talking about Pop music?" I find that any music that makes the MTV/VH1/BET/Space Shower (etc.) scene Pop, despite the genre.

Now. Hip Hop has been Pop for more than 20 years, and in my view has gone the way of Rock and True Pop has in a much shorter span. Into the garbage. Lame lyrics and messages. Worthless, recycled beats. A focus on those who would believe that there is nothing above floor level.

However, recently, I have been fortunate to take some risks in what the Japanese CD rental sections call "Jazzy Hip Hop". Fortunate in that I've found some real gems that make me happy with Hip Hop again. Here...



The Good People
New York-based artists emskee and The Saint work hard to bring their soulful, thoughtful beats and concerned-but-angsty rhymes to a world full of those who require the Hip Hop, but not worthless people stuck on that previously mentioned floor level.
This Is Real Music : The Good People

Kero One
This Korean-American from San Fran eases you into a complete sense of mellow. Though my heart doesn't melt at his flow, as it would with someone like Del That Funkee Homosapien, his words are a cup of though-inducing tea that lull you along with his production.
Plug Label : Kero One

Hocus Pocus
I have no idea what these guys are saying. Really, at all. Why? I don't understand French in the slightest. That doesn't stop me from enjoying they're varied and well-worked stylings. It gets close to Pop, then kicks it in the nuts. They're song Hip Hop, with their friends The Procussions, swims in the idiocy of what Hip Hop has become in the Pop world, poisoning it with it's urine of justice.
last.fm : Hocus Pocus

I'm going for Multi-racially-cultural work here...

And here's an interesting post from Anarchist Graffiti called Breaking Dawn: Are We Officially in the Post-Hip Hop Era?"