Contemporary Rap: Searching For The Beat

I'm searching for the beat, the heartbeat of a music style so hard to find. I remember hearing rap for the first time and envisioning the world that the rapper told because it was a world I knew and could understand like so many of my peers.


Somewhere down the road, the images described through the platform known as rap transitioned into a world of spoken images detailing only the artist. Repeated sentence fragments called chorus combined with samples from true musical artists paint images of fake lyricists calling themselves rappers.


Why am I so harsh? Because I can't listen to most rap music due to the images of ego and disgusting narcissism that pop-up in my head. All I see in my head is a bucket of money swinging over the heads of so many and it's just sad.


The continual beat of a chorus that condescendingly discusses how I can never be like them or I can never aspire to their dreams. Why would I wanna hear crap that talks down to me and any other listeners?


Music is about expression. Rap used to be about an expression of social commentary and thought provoking stimulation of the young masses. Both rap and hip-hop have fallen to a level of unknown depravity that only reflects the greed of the world in which we exist.


Greed-based commercialism on money-soaked airwaves continue to blast negative images of lost storytellers who cannot find their way back to the path they initially sought with a vengeance. There exists some storytellers who get no airtime on money-soaked waves because their controversial stories tell anti-commercial stories that go against the grind of making money.


All I can offer to young listeners is this piece of advice. Listen to the words and look for the images told. If you can't see yourself in their words than cut them off because they don't deserve your support. I train my children to hear the words and feeling expressed in the music because it is important for them not to be mindless sheep in the epidemic called consumerism.