The Future of Hip Hop!

The other day, I walked into the lobby of my apartment building with two little boys, both multi-racial and of indiscriminate ethnicity, maybe 10 or 11, one squat and compressed, the other tall and stringy with the makings of a very impressive Jew-fro. They looked like Mini-Me’s of two of The Strokes. 

One of the kids lives here and the other was his friend. They both were leafing through the latest issue of XXL Magazine, which contains their annual feature on the 10 most anticipated hip hop albums of the coming year. In the minute it took for the elevator to arrive and get to the 3rd floor, where they disembarked, I was treated to a conversation that warmed the cockles of my aging hip hopper’s heart. As best as I can remember, it went like this (imagine squeaky pube-less high-pitched breathless voices):

“The Roots are number ten? They should be number one!”
“Who’s that...?”
“That’s Ghostface! He’s great!”
“Oh, I couldn’t see the whole – I thought it said Scarface. He’s great too.”
“Why is Mobb Deep in here? They shouldn’t even be in the Top 100!”
“They used to be good.”
“Yeah, they USED to be good – when they first came out!”

That was as far as it went. Incidentally, these kids were probably pooping in diapers when Mobb Deep “first came out.” And they WERE really good back then. And both Ghostface and Scarface ARE great. And the Roots probably SHOULD be number one.

And when I was their age? I think I was still listening to the Beatles, Barry Manilow, and the soundtrack to "Annie."

'Nuff respect to next-gen precociously hip Manhattan kids. 

Comments

[Leora]

I'm almost ashamed to admit that it was my 11-year-old niece who introduced me to Coldplay!

[Queen of Ass]

My son just jams out to Disney Radio. I'm so happy with that!

[Nina]

Incidentally (and somewhat pathetically), it's my mother that I depend on to introduce me to "cool" music. Last year she took my husband and I to see Radiohead at the Hollywood Bowl when they were in town and she often declares that Eminem "is a genius!"

[Stephen]

The Roots really should be number one!

[landismom]

What was their position in Tupac? or Biggie?

MD, I need to know!

[B.Roberts]

I live in an idyllic suburb up in Maine so I'm always fascinated reading about precocious kids who grow up in cities like Manhattan. Like you've always said, MD, it's not that one place is better than another or anything like that. It's just interesting to witness the differences among children growing up in different places.

My own kids are 9 and 13. I don't think they know anything about hip hop. They really just listen to kids music. The older one listens to some pop but certainly not anything hardcore (unless you cound the times when she blasts Hilary Duff on the stereo and I have to tell her to turn it down!)

I find it cool, frightening, intimidating, and interesting that those kids are so precocious. But that's what makes life more interesting, right?

[CroutonBoy]

I don't "anticipate" hip-hop albums...I ignore them.

But as much as I do, I give those kids credit for being able to take a stab at intellectual discourse on the topic. I challenge anyone of our age to have a similar conversation about Air Supply and Kiss when we were 10.

"Toto's number ten? They should be number one!"
"Who's that...?"
"That's Phil Collins! He's Great!"
"Why is Christopher Cross in here? He shouldn't even be in the top 100!"
"He used to be good"
"Yeah, he USED to be good - when he first came out!"

[AWE]

You can't keep up with the kids anymore.

[Susannah]

Hee hee...I'm picturing a very cute & young MetroBoy, sitting on the floor and singing "The sun will come out tomorrow! Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow..!"

[dutch]

yo annie was tight. ms. hannigan was all like, "you can't have that orphan!" and that stuck up bitch that hung out with that old bald dude was like "why not" and she was like "because she's a drunk!" and you were all like whoa I didn't know annie was a drunk but really it was punjab who was the shit. was he a black Indian or some shit? remember how he threw that bomb right back at that motherfucking bolshevik? he was like whoo hoo hoo all like a helicopter and shit. and remember how he climbed that giant roller coaster thing at the end and hung off the helicopter with FDR in it and shit while rooster and bernadette peters were all like "shit!" but really it was all about mr. bundles. he was the SHIT.

[Ruby and MissL]

Oh Mister Bundles... So much Flotsam and Jetsam!

2 1/2 year old MissL watches Annie quite frequently, and being a single mother, I'm starting to have 'certain feelings' for Mr. Bundles.

[Leo's Daddy]

MD, I'm 38 and I have no idea who those rappers are! Of course, my wife has always told me that I've got the absolute worst taste in music. She also tells me I'm a total geek. Hmm..I think those little kids are much cooler than I am!

[Pattie]

Okay, The Roots are one of the very few hip-hop groups I know and like. I agree they should have been number one.

Thanks for the Annie soundtrack reference; I listened to mine all the time. I still have my Annie LP downstairs, along with The Muppet Movie soundtrack, Bad Girls by Donna Summer, and Barry Manilow, INXS, and U2 LPs, among others. Ah, memory lane.

[CityMama]

LOL! I love those boys. And yes, the Roots should be number 1.

[LeeMarvin]

When my kids want me to listen to what they think is music, I break out the Run-DMC and the Public Enemy...nuffsaid!

The Roots are cool, but the new rap cannot compete with the old school rap. Where would Kayne West's Gold Digger be without Ray Charles' I Got A Woman? Where would 50Cent be without Eminem? And where would he be without Dre? All very talented artists. But I don't think that they will last as long as a Ray Charles or Quincy Jones.

I was exposed to all sorts of music as a child, but my world was turned upside down the first day I heard Parliment's The Mothership Connection. I was done. No other music mattered. It was like a light switch was turned on. I couldn't get enough. I can understand what these kids go through; they hear something that reaches down into their soul and resonates.

My wife and I have a electic music collection...from The Carpenters & The Mommas & The Poppas to James Brown, Prince, Parliment/Funkadelic.

I think the key is to expose them to all kinds of music, and they'll find what makes them wanna dance in the aisles...

[daddyinastrangeland]

The Pumpkin's shown a preference for Latin Alternative (the Julieta Venegas track on KCRW's Sounds Eclectico compilation is her jam) and the kind of modern rock they play on Sirius' college indie channel (she likes the Vines, the White Stripes, and Elbow). Of course, I'm trying to round out her musical education with helpings of Charlie Hunter, Bob Marley, Jurassic 5, Lyrics Born, and, yes, the Roots. She is, after all, almost 15 months old. She's a head-nodder, to be sure.

[tpon]

hey, what ever happened to DeLaSoul?

[Mr. Big Dubya]

Man, if I'm gonna drop it old school, it's gonna be A Tribe Called Quest, PE, BDP, NWA or Run DMC - and The Roots are up there.

Scarface, huh? Think they know that he was kickin' it with Bushwick Bill in the early 90's - "Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangster" and "My Mind Is Playing Tricks on Me" - gotta love the Geto Boys.

[Nothing But Bonfires]

Yeah, I'm still incredulous that my little sister has just started going through her Required Nirvana Stage; she was maybe five when Kurt Cobain died. It just seems so weird. But maybe that's how my parents felt about me "discovering" the Doors.

[Chocolate Makes it Better]

The Roots are in Australia at the moment and I one of the guys on our youth radio station triple J

The sounds that guy makes using only his mouth is amazing

[Rita]

Funny, MD. We were in NYC over the holidays and we couldn't help but notice how many hip little kids there were. We saw a ton of pre-teens who looked like they could have been in The Strokes. I loved it. They all looked so adorable with their mini-shags!

[dakims]

My pre-pubescent nephews are into stuff like System of a Down. I'm like, "dudes, you guys are Filipino - where's the hip-hop, where's the cha-cha stuff?" Blank stares. And though I'm known as the "hip aunt" (yay!) - they insist I turn down my stereo when I drop them off at kajukenbo class. I guess I already embarrass them!

[crazyvirgo]

holla! give it up for pacnw hip-hop like blue scholars and common market.
hells ya.

[Phat Daddy]

The Roots should be #1, but I am really looking for a new Blackstar album. I was really disappointed by the last effort by Talib Kweli. What I'm really anticipating is that grime and dubstep will actually make it into the US mainstream.

[Jeremy]

Damn, those kids are hip! They know more about hip hop than I do!

[metin2 yang]

holla! give it up for pacnw hip-hop like blue scholars and common market.

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