The Voice of My Generation Hip Hop Edition

During the past few weeks of these columns, it has been brought to my attention the inherent flaw in the project itself. The flaw is that the entertainment industry is so fractured and consumer interest is so broad that it was be impossible to find just one voice of a generation because there isn’t just one person who could define absolutely everyone.

On the one hand, I absolutely agree that the task I have set forth is a difficult one. We’re a generation without a defining moment like Woodstock, and MTV is no longer the driving force behind music that it once was. We’ve reached a point in history where there is no centralizing force for people to look towards in terms of showcasing music. In short, no one is telling us who is important anymore and we have to decide for ourselves who to follow.

Maybe this project is flawed in that it would be nearly impossible to define everyone based on one person’s music, but I would argue that the emphasis is on the word “nearly” rather than “impossible.” The fractured entertainment industry has given us more options to sift through, but there has to be one person who most people in my generation can identify with because think about what it would mean for a voiceless generation:

1) No one in the music industry is commenting on society.

2) We have no one who speaks for us.

While I’ve made some nominations for the voice of my generation already, I would like to change the focus of the discussion from the demographic that the particular person reaches towards something more productive; what would it mean if this person was the voice of the generation?

Essentially, if Lady Gaga really is the voice of the generation, what does this tell us about the generation? It’s my hope that we can move from arbitrary arguments on whether a person is popular enough to be the voice of a generation and discuss what are the philosophical implications for a generation. Sound good? Good.

In the 60′s, folk music was a venue for social commentary. Today, folk music is antiquated in a sense, and the newer folk music just doesn’t seem to hit the same social relevance that 60′s folk did.

Basically, folk music can be compared to noir films. In the 40′s and 50′s, noir films like the Big Sleep, Laura, Touch of Evil, and the Maltese Falcon were stylish, dark and powerful films that looked at the seedy side of urban America. Most modern noir films try to imitate that style and sensibility, but this imitation doesn’t have the same impact that the original had.

Take L.A. Confidential, for instance. It was a film that had aspirations to becoming a modern noir film, but it was ultimately a hollow imitation; an echo or a parody from a time long past.

Folk music is the same way. Modern folk music tries to imitate the sound and the structure of older music, but without innovation, it can’t be as relevant as other forms of music today.

Therefore, I submit to you the new folk music; hip-hop.

80′s and early 90′s hip-hop was such an incredibly powerful force for social commentary that it would be foolish to not consider hip-hop artists as being the voice of a generation. Unfortunately, most of the really great social commentators aren’t really in the game anymore. I know that I’m stating the obvious that Tupac Shakur was great, but much like Kurt Cobain, he’s a product of Generation X and can’t be in the running for voice of my generation.

Maybe its just me, but most modern hip-hop lacks some of the social relevance from music in the past. Not all of it, of course, but radio hits have progressively declined in terms of quality. With this in mind, I’d like to submit three possible candidates for the voice of my generation.

Eminem – Before Marshall Mathers hit the hip hop scene, white rappers were jokes. From Vanilla Ice to Canadian sensation Snow to Average Homeboy, white rappers were viewed as being a joke. While most white rappers had their single hits and faded into obscurity (with the exception of the Beastie Boys), Eminem rose from their ashes to become not only the most successful white rapper, but also one of the best hip-hop artists in general.

I’m not an Eminem fan by any stretch of the imagination. His older music walked the line of jokey middle school humor songs to rage against his mom and his ex-wife. If Eminem is the voice of our generation, then his older work reflects upon our adolescence; a rage towards wanting to be accepted by the world at large, but without any thought to our place in it.

Picking one song that could be Eminem’s generation defining song is relatively easy, however. The theme from 8 Mile is easily the most palatable Eminem song and there was a time when it was called the “Rocky theme for our generation.” I’m willing to concede this point and I would be willing to consider Eminem, but I fear that his worldview is far too dark and I don’t want to accept him.

Common – Personally, I really want Common to be the voice of our generation. He is socially relevant, he is positive at times, and he just seems like an all-around good guy. Check out the first track from his absolutely perfect album Be.

How powerful is the line: “Waiting for the Lord to rise
I look into my daughter’s eyes
And realize that I’m gonna learn through her
The Messiah, might even return through her
If I’m gonna do it, I gotta change the world through her”

I just really think that -

“CODY! Codycodycodycodycody!!! Now, Imma let you finish about Common inna minute, but I just wanna say that Kanye West isn’t just the voice of the generation, but he’s the best voice of ALL TIME! I mean, look at my glasses! Look at ‘em!”

You do indeed have glasses, Kanye, but lets consider a few things:

1) Social relevance – you’ve got it in spades, kid. “All Falls Down” is a brilliant song.

2) Politically – Kanye has had his fair share of political confrontations, but he’s not particularly eloquent in his confrontations. My friend Ezell once said, “Kanye wants to act political, but he doesn’t really know anything about politics.” Watch the clip and decide for yourself.

3) Petty fights – Kanye loves getting into it with various celebrities, and I fear that this pettiness might actually define our generation more than his social relevance or his political agendas.

So, if Kanye West is really the voice of our generation, it should tell us that we as a generation are faux-political fame mongers.

Anyway, this will be my last article on this subject for a little while. I need to process a few things before I can get back to the subject. Please feel free to leave comments on it so I can think about this more. I know there are other hip-hop artists that I have left out that are excellent potential candidates, but I felt like these three were about the best of the best.