Remember When Hip-Hop Was Plain & Simple?

I know yall read that topic and was like wtf? What im trying to say is, remember back then when rap was all about dope beats and rhymes? When innovative ideas was really simple & smart? When the gear wasnt over the top and expensive? As u see now a days, hip-hop has became way too complex, over the top & expensive! Its sad it got this way, but it was gonna happen regardless over time as hip-hop has got bigger and bigger. But who's to say we can revisit that time? Can we go back to just plain & simple ideas and concepts hip-hop used to be?

To take a matter of fact..... videos. Why are are all the videos from the 80's & 90's are considered classics with no major money spent on them? Most of those videos was shot like in a party scene, round the way, outside, parking lot or a simple venue. But they were all dope and the visuals made it seem more than what it was. U gotta give Hype Williams a lot of credit for the slow motion in videos that made them seem more than what it was. Take a look now. Millions are spent on videos and the outcome is way trash! Matter of fact, videos are now almost extinct!!! There is no way this would happen in the 80's & 90's cause videos was a very important tool in getting ur music out to the people. I know the internet has changed things, but there is no way videos shouldnt be considered necessary anymore. They are a vital part of hip-hop, go back and check out the classics and u can reminicse about when u 1st heard that particular song and where u was at. Also remember in the mid 90's when rhymin on top of a dope ride in ur vid was on some next level stuff? It wasnt major but it was very creative, innovative and simple compared to nowadays with high tech visuals and other unnecessary stuff.

How bout the actual concept of puttin together a record?!! Back in the golden era hip-hop, the standard way of doin a record is a dope beat and hard rhymes. I mean u had to come with ur A game to be respected back then. It wasnt about how many records u sold. It was about what he said on that record. What type of style he comin wit. The producer just had to produce a nice hard beat and be original in ur own style whether it was sampling or organic. Producers didnt need no damn hi-tech studio to make classics, they made it at they damn house!! Marley Marl made those classics at his house!! Naughty By Nature made OPP at Kay-Gee's house on the ave.!! Organized Noise made those Outkast classics in a damn bassment!! Do yall see where im goin with this? Now, producers think they need a big studio to make classic records. The artists think they can just say anything on a record, dont have to use no rhymin skills at all but just rap. Somewhere the lines got blurred. Producers back in the golden era didnt have the expensive equipment that they have now to make music. But they used that equipment to make timeless records, nowadays producers have all that expensive equipment but not even using it up to their potential. They just wanna make the same ole music as the next. Emcees had to come correct back then, keepin their reputation as a nice lyricst was the world to artists back then. Wasnt about the money or record sales, it was about dope rhymes and innovative concepts.

Next up is how far we gotten away as in hip-hop gear! Back in the 80's, hip-hop gear was very accessible for ordinary people like me to obtain. U saw artists wearin Polo, u can go out and get it. U saw artists wearin custom made outfits by Dapper Dan, u can go right into his store in NYC and if ur paper was ok u can get one made. U saw artists wearin Nike, Adidas, Brooks or Filas on their feet, u can go to the store and get it. In the 90's it was the same way. The artists was wearin clothes i can just as easy can get so i can be like them. Starter jackets & hats, Jordans, Nike gear, Karl Kani, Polo,Guess, Girbaud, Tommy Hill and etc. was very easy for us to get in stores. Heck believe it or not when Biggie brought out Versace & Coogi, it was kinda easy for us to get and that was pushin it. But when the new generation came around in 2000, the lines again got blurred and money was doin the talkin!! Expensive clothing lines started coming out makin it hard for ordinary people like me to dress like our fav. artists and look dope like them. Iceberg, Sean John Velours, Parasuco, Rocawear leather jackets, Avirex leathers and mad other lines was shooting for the stars as in dollars. Even Fubu & Phat Farm was up there in price for some of they stuff. Then the sneaker boom happened and thats when things started to get outta hand for real. Sneakers now can fetch up to a down payment on a car!! What part of the game is that? How did we get to the point when sneakers are now a high priced asset? Back in the days, hip-hop gear was nice and simple man and it was availiable to everyone. Just walk into the store and get it. Now u got artists gettin stuff custom made and just for u to obtain that certain item u gotta pay hundreds of dollars to own it. Dont make no sense. Go back and check the footage from hip-hop in the 80's & 90's, see how simple it was but it looked dope and nice. It was all about how u put it together to make it seem more than what it was.

So do see now what im talkin about? Do u see what makes me so vexed? As we look back and see how things were, why could it stay that way? The old saying is, if it aint broke dont fix it. What was broke about what we had going? Why did it change for the worse instead of the better? The present generation thinks that this is what hip-hop was always like. But like my father used to tell me back then about music, that back in the day it was all good and i used to look at him crazy. Now here i am saying the same thing, it was all good back in the day when it just plain & simple.