vexer you said some things in this thread which i agree with , like this:
If insisting on skillz is "1994 criteria" then Hip-Hop really is dead and in that case in Dr Dre's words "f*** rap u can have it back".
but this i disagree with:
Honestly, I think Morale's content is too limited to reach to the latter group of people.At the end of the day only a few people will relate 2 his shit bcoz of the paradigm his lyrics come from.
what about a paradigm which is american and meterialistic.people are indentifying with THAT perspective in the sense that their albums STILL sell more than our own people's music regardless of whether the South African meterial is more concious or not.
Is the American truth , then , closer to home than Morale's.
Do & can the same petrol pumping people identify on a personal level to what such rappers are saying?
I think not.
I dont agree with everything that Morale raps about either.but he speaks from the lifestyle he actulaly lives,not one he imagines to be real,ehich I can respect on some level.
Anyways - vote with your rands - if you dont like it dont buy it.
I see what u mean.However, the issue for me is primarily that Morale is an SA cat and as an SA artist I feel like an american paradigm is not truly speaking his primary point of reference given that he actually lives in Africa.
I think that most people listening to Hip-Hop being that they actually live in SA will undoubtedly have an African point of reference for the simple reason that that's their everyday experience.
If Morale drives a BMW I've got no problem with him rapping about that bcoz its true that people in Africa drive BMWs.
The issue for me is that he deals with urban material in a very simplistic and unsophisticated way.
The end result being that his stuff sounds disconnected from the streets he stomps on everyday.It sounds more like American street shit.
For me the street niggaz in SA must relate to the shit we put out.American Hip-Hop is built on American streets and nothing else.
If ur shit sounds pussy and gay to the street niggaz in ur own country yet u claim to represent the urban street life u must know something is wrong.
This is what I mean by him coming from a paradigm most people will be unable to relate to.
Scarface, Jay-Z and them sound as real as hell to their own people.This includes the average and grimy cats.
Does Morale really come across with the same clarity to his own people?
I don't think so.
At the end of the day only time will tell.But I would luv for our own Hip-Hop to be so true and clear to our own people that when Niggaz say:
My lyrical verse filled with so much pain/
To some Niggaz it hurts (Tupac).
That shit will be so true bcoz they feel it so much due to the way the artist has struck a chord with them.
Clarity of expression is critical and getting thru to ur own people by using their reality as well as ur own to get the point across is vital.
Anyway, good luck to him and like I said only time will tell.
I will not attempt to claim I have a monopoly on what "real South African or African Hip-Hop" is and I will leave room for fate to take its course
