Hip-Hop: Old vs. New

A little problem with a music-hosting site (I’ll explain in another blog) has me re-focusing on making my website the center of all social things to do with my DJ’ing. As such, guess who’s committed to blogging more regularly!

It’s been a fun year this far. I got to DJ a few times for the youth I work with at my day job and also our local community. Took a vacay to Cuba in July and some mixes I made for that trip were big hits every night at the hotel bar. DJ’d a few fun weddings recently – one alongside a live band, which created a great vibe for the guests and myself!

I also got to attend two concerts recently with Hip-Hop legends I grew up with, those being Outkast and Nas. Seeing those legends is something I’ll probably never forget. And what was awesome to see was a whole new generation bobbing their heads and spitting lyrics alongside older cats like myself.

It got me thinking about this whole debate in Hip-Hop: old vs. new.  A lot of people my age won’t mess with the new stuff – and for the life of me I don’t know why. Some of the stuff we listened to in the 90’s and early 2000’s wasn’t exactly “food for the soul”, but we loved it. And why - cause it sparked emotion, it was the sound of our generation. Aside from some real social-lyricists, we listened to some wack and obscene rhymes back in the day as well. Some of our biggest hits talked about the same nonsense we complain about in the new music. So why not respect some of the new stuff coming up, respect that it’s the sound of the new generation…and most of all admit some of it is good?

I don’t like a bunch of stuff coming out these days – I find it too dumbed down and lacking any musical depth. However, there are a lot of good beats, hooks and jams being put out by today’s artist. If I can bob my head to it and get as energized as my crowd by the sound, most likely you’ll hear me play it. Hopefully all of you will like how I mix it up!