Hip hop have always been energetic and free-form. Artists battle on stage to gain huge audience, the price going to the one who receives greater crowd approval. Hip hop is all about improvisation, lyrics created in the blink of an eye as fast as an opposing rapper can throw his own. The audience is known to be quick and merciless when it comes to what they like, and have no problem making their approval known. The exhilaration of each hip hop battle makes it distinct.
The appeal of hip hop comes from artists with something to tell and their desire to let their thoughts be heard. The fact hip hop originated from the deprived streets of the city makes it somewhat ironic that the efforts of the first hip hop artists to earn through other means led the music to mainstream center stage. Hip hop made a lot of noise, and with it’s wide use of profanity became the forbidden fruit of music lovers craving for something new, which in turn made the music grow bigger.
Previous artists like The Notorious BIG, P. Diddy, Ice T, Ice Cube, and Eminem showed not only talent and creativity but also their lives’ drama which appealed to people like an addiction. Actual violence between warring turfs and against law enforcers brought them to new heights never reached by other artists before. An entire sub-culture of fans was created as the notoriety of the music pushed the sales up.
Female artists were beginning to break records of their own and fought for their own place in the sun beside the dominant males of the genre. The likes of Queen Latifa, Mary J. Blige, and Little Kim presented a different feel of spunk and grace to what used to be vicious and demeaning nature of men’s hip hop. Others rose to fame and fell, being attracted to making easy money led them to career or even life ending choices.
Eventual changes in the music industry like music downloads softened the hype about hip hop. Record labels created during the craze were closing left and right. Artists who had paved the way were turning their attentions elsewhere, branching out into more commercial endeavors like acting in and producing movies and television shows, or launching clothing lines and other neutral goods, without a shred of hip hop music to them.
As the sparks die out, for a moment, hip hop seemed to have no place in the generations to come. Instead, it caused a softer side to the once violent genre to form. Instead of profanities, new artists TI, Ludicris, Neo and others, now sing sweet words to women, and are leading the way back to the communities they are originally from. They pay tribute to their predecessors in a method that is long time since last seen in music genres.