Someone shared this scene from the 90’s classic movie “House Party.” This scene took me back to my young teenage years.?But it also made me think of something else. It made me think of what’s missing from today’s hip hop scene.
The innocent fun is the main thing. In the clip you see how we used to just enjoy the music, everyone was just looking to have a good time. Yes we had much more rare violence at parties, but it was usually the occasional fist fight or argument. Not much different from any other kind of party with young people.
The positive tone is also something I miss — how we wore bright colors, the style embraced African culture, and mixed it with American Hip Hop for it’s own “flava.”
Hip Hop Artists also had messages — powerful messages. When Rodney King happened, the number one song on the radio was “Fight The Power.”
Young people were much more politically minded. Social conscious hip hop dominated the airwaves; there was a sense that we were coming upon a new age “Harlem Renaissance.”
Then, almost overnight, the tone changed. Corporate Rap began to dominate the airwaves, and bored white kids who got tired of listening to metal got hooked on “gansta rap.” And here we are today.
But I’m not really going to focus on that issue in this article. I would just like to invite y’all back into a time machine, back when hip hop artists were “Fresh.”
Here’s the video.
