I have been sitting in front of this monitor for about 2 hours now. 2 hours in front of a 22" touch screen monitor hoping that inspiration would reach its hand from within the screen and touch me. I wanted to write something witty and interesting. But I got nothing.
So instead I decided to go back. I guess some might say I went way back. Doesn't seem like that long ago to me. But it was certainly a different time. I am talking about hip hop in the 90's.
When you could listen to an album and learn something. It was a time when those albums actually got rotation on the radio. I'm talking about Tupac, Notorious BIG, Black Star, Gangstarr, and Common before Electric Circus, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Freeway, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, Red Man, Wu Tang Clan, The Pharcyde, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, Missy Elliot, Queen Latifah, The Fugees, Wyclef and so many others. This was a time when hip hop moved, and made you move.
Most of the stuff you hear today just doesn't do that. It's more about flashy lights, shinin ice, fast cars, and having the most chicks. Don’t get me wrong, some of that existed back then as well, but it was the exception and not the rule. In high school I went to more concerts than an underage girl should be allowed to attend without adult supervision. And I and my home girls paid for those tickets ourselves. I worked from the time I could get a permit not so that I could buy new shoes, or a new outfit, but so that I could go see the Hard Knock Life Tour, Summer Jam twice in high school, The Spitkicker Tour, Wyclef and Black Eyed Peas at UCI before they had a female lead, De La Soul, Pharoahe Monch, and The Roots at Universal. I've seen Common at least three times, Kanye twice, Nas, and I've been lucky enough to have legends like Slick Rick, and Doug E Fresh show up to some of these performances. I've seen Biz Markie, and countless DJ's. These were the days; when the release of a new album was something people looked forward to and actually bought from the local music retailers.
What was the last concert I went to you asked? Well actually it was a Mary J concert at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. A year ago I think. Times have changed and with it the music. I don’t know if it’s that we don’t live the way we used to. We aren't as honest as we used to be or if the focus is no longer on innovation. Whatever the reason, I'm just glad that the soundtrack to that time in my life sounds so real, so raw, and so full of emotion. See below for a list of some of my favorites.
0 comments:
Post a Comment