2014 has been and urgent year socially. One could argue that with current technological advancements, a decreasing crime rate nationwide, even a African-American President, that things are getting better. While in fact there are improvements being made in certain aspects, there are still issues that need to be addressed and acted upon. This blog is not going to change that fact or even make things better in the slightest bit, but whomever reads it should at least think about it. As a young black man writing this, I have to address situations that are impacting me first before talking about issues that are irrelevant to the progress of people. This article in fact is a reflection into the recent issues going from Gaza, to Michael Brown and Eric Garner among others, but is one that is overdue because the problems that have manifested over the news are nothing more than open wounds from a harsh history that we are part of. This reflection is potent in the music of today, a once thriving art form that is now suffering from the imitation of reality.
If music is the paradigm for self expression, then Hip-Hop is (or was?) the most influential in representing the people. To be a representation in sound of not only your peers but the environment of a misrepresented class there is a lot of pressure, but one that our culture flawlessly exceeded within. Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five couldn't have represented the early 80's any better with "The Message". NYC in particular was on the verge of the crack epidemic, and the public school system at the time was on a decline. By the time Public Enemy came out with the It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back in April 1988 (two months before I was born), A declining economy, astronomical crime rate, and crack-cocaine was in full swing. Chuck D was the visual spokesman for the time with "Night of the living Baseheads".
All of this while a culture named hip-hop was becoming a cornerstone in expression for the underclass. This was result of policies that went as far back as post World War II: The passing of the G.I. Bill, of the migration of African-Americans in the South to the industrial peaking North for jobs, the Civil Rights and Women's movements of the '60's, Vietnam War and resulting peacetime of the 70's and so on. By the 1990's times had changed, and music did as well. In a sense music represented the times no matter what was good or bad was within the world. In the past decade however, there has been a shift in what the purpose of the music is for, namely hip-hop.
"You can't have music be one-dimensional. It's got to be able to grow and take on all different aspects of life. Social change is something people shouldn't be afraid to touch upon..."
- excerpt from Chuck D (Paste Magazine, 2004)
While there are protests throughout the world regarding injustice, flaws within the Voting Rights Act, there are also common personal issues we all are facing. Socially there is still an imbalance, we are divided economically as much as we are racially, so hip-hop is reflecting this right? Wrong.
Not to blame radio or commercialization totally for this, even if you search through the internet foe independent artists, more artists are chasing lust and materialism than the ones that are not. There is not anything wrong with today's subject matter in hip-hop, life is life, and reality is reality, the problem is that there is no balance, and a focus to the issues that are really important. Here lies where an artist of J Cole's stature stands out. Not only has he recently made music to represent his reality, but also social era in modern time. Who knew that his unnannounced visit to Ferguson this past summer in support of Michael Brown, an unarmed teen fatally shot by an officer named Darren Wilson, would spark a change in his music so soon? J Cole had nothing to gain by his visit commercially, but he did it rather for himself and his people, our people.
Not surprisingly most artists that are more powerful than himself have decided to not push the Ferguson issue, which is the sad part. Nevertheless it is not a surprise that Cole's newest release 2014 Forest Hills Drive is a call to arms in every aspect possible. No...it is not Nation of Millions, nor What's Going On. It is J cole's truth and an awareness to the issues reflecting young black men. This is about a kid who lost his childhood home due to foreclosure after going to college, who later chased materialistic things, only to realize that it was never worth it, and to return home with a better perspective. And then "Fire Squad" comes in.
The first song to leak from the album a week before it's release has grabbed the most headlines. Not because it's catchy and sugar coated, but rather dark, grimy, truthful, and sounds good. The third verse is the most important, calling out Justin Timberlake, Eminem, Macklemore, and Iggy Azalea for white appropriation within black music. The song is not so much a diss as it is an awareness to what has been going on for decades.
What hits the most is J Cole's "wiping away at the crown" dialogue at the end. Instead of respond to 'Control' (Kendrick Lamar's calling out of rappers, including Cole himself), he calls for unification. After visiting Ferguson, and dealing with his own self-awareness, Cole knows the reality of his situation, our situation, it's lack of unity. Without unity everything disintegrates.
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