“I be in the club like it’s my house” – Miley Cyrus was definitely turning it up when she was featured on the 23 track that was produced by Mike Will Made It. Most of these songs have become hits. They turn people into dance magnets; you could be chilling at a party and as soon as you hear a song that makes you flex you are bound to enjoy yourself.
There’s nothing wrong with turning up now and then. That is the exciting thing about Hip Hop music – it fuses all these different lyrics and elements of music. But the question is are a lot of rappers producing turn up songs to become more “known” or famous in order to stay relevant? Even if most of their songs consist of dope beats but no lyrical strong content that carries a message across to their audience? Has Hip Hop turned into a culture that is more obsessed about being current rather than focusing on quality sustainable music that will be still remembered in the next five to ten years?
Take for instance rappers like the late Tupac Shakur. His music is still talked about to this day. He still inspires a lot of artists because he understood that Hip Hop to him meant that he should share his life story and remain real. In all honesty we see a lot of Hip Hop artists these days bragging about women and having lots of dough. But is this the life they really live? Are they popping bottles on the daily, or actually hustling hard just to land the next biggest gig? Has the pressure of fitting in become so hard that rappers would rather flash what they don’t have instead of rapping about working hard to get that stack of cash?
“We can’t change the world unless we change ourselves,” said Notorious Big. That means the Hip Hop industry can’t grow unless Hip Hop artists are genuine about their grind and they are not afraid to tell their story of how they plan on making it to the top, or inspiring people out there. After all that is what will sustain the true essence of this industry; the longevity of the stories being told, the experiences that have been shared and the memories that have been made.
By: Nomsa Motale