Fast Food and the Johnny Carson of Hip-Hop
With the number of times that people have said that hip-hop has died and come back to life, if it was a pet it would be a cat named Jesus. I am not trying to be the aficionado of what is or is not hip-hop but to quote a great movie Thank You For Smoking “…you don’t have to be right to prove someone else wrong…”.
Try to figure out what the following adjetive Webster’s Dictionary is referring to:
“designed for ready availability, use, or consumption and with little consideration given to quality or significance”
Mr. Trebek what is Hip-Hop? No sorry the correct answer is fast food…fast food. When I was younger I used to beg my mom to go to Wendy’s and she would never take me. One because she didn’t want to waste her money when we had good food already at home but every now and then out of convenience or just to satisfy a quick hunger she would take me. Fast food was never intended to be apart of a person’s every day diet because you know its not really good for you, yet here we are today consuming and less and less people know how to cook for themselves. Oh how this story is starting to sound familiar.
I always found it funny how someone could sue a fast-food place saying eating there everyday made them fat and its somehow there fault. Like how the hell did you not know that eating a cheeseburger everyday for breakfast, lunch and dinner isn’t going to give you abs? But with every generation those with the power of influence dilutes the community at large to forget what really sustains them and to rely on them solely. These fast food places are master influencers, advertising collectively targeting communities with the greatest buying power to consume their product readily. Everything from the menu down to which corner they will build on has been painstakingly thought out and planned. Their goal being able to create a daily demand for a meal only meant to be consumed sparingly. However when this is promoted, advertised with the intention to influence and change your behavior its not as simple as them washing their hands and saying well you don’t have to eat here. I am sorry, you cannot reap the benefits of your manipulated consumption yet take zero credit for the consequences.
As you can probably tell with my analogies where I am going with this artilce, the music industry today is no different than fast food joints especially when it comes to hip-hop. The same way consumer advocates protest fast food and tries to hold accountable the industry for not properly informing consumers what they are consuming, in music there are artists and platforms in the world of hip-hop trying acting as our consumer advocates.
To kill the body sever the mind. I see a shift happening in music. This “trend” of being woke and conscious is grounded in a grass movement campaign to bring real music back. As with eating fast food you will be real quick to take a shit and get the bubble guts but if you get a nice independent home cooked meal you will go back for days and never get sick of it. I blame no one for the state of what hip-hop is today or the artists that are caught up in making wack music, make your money but you will suffer equally the consequences of reaping the benefits by any mean necessary.
Think about it when McDonalds became successful there were copy cats of other fast food burger joints but McDonalds would kill the competition so people began to differentiate themselves and not sell burgers, so they would sell chicken, tacos, make salad bowls or make a better burger experience. Now don’t be fooled all of this is still fast food by the way, its just clever marketing to still ultimately keep you away from making food yourself at home.
With all the drama going on with the mumble rappers…which is the ultimate oxymoron. I however see a shift and changing of the guards in music…real music. Not this fast food stuff that the powers to be are constantly shoving into the airwaves as if its good music. Which leads me to the Johnny Carson of hip-hop.
As with Johnny Carson set the standard when it comes to interviews and breaking new comedians on the scene, Sway Calloway and his 5 Fingers of Death on his hit show Sway in the Morning on Sirus XM Radio is the standard when it comes to real music. Just as Michael Jackson was not the person who “invented” the moonwalk, I would say it’s a safe bet to say at some point there may have been other hosts that played random beats and asked people to freestyle over them. However Sway does it the best and has the highest standard in my opinion and YouTube as well. If you want to get an honest opinion read the YouTube comments on a popular video.
The 5 fingers of death will make or break an artist or fraud. Not everyone can handle it. I remember watching an interview where I wish he would call out the frauds by name where he would bring artists on and they themselves would say I am cool with the interview but I am not trying to come in there and rap. That’s like me having a show on TV where I interview basketball players where people tune in to here me talk to athletes about the fundamentals of basketball and them telling me I’ll talk but don’t ask me to dribble, shoot, or dunk though.
If consider yourself to be a lover of music regardless of genre, love a real MC, can appreciate hip-hop check out King Los. Literally one of my favorite artists that Sway introduced me to via the 5 fingers of death. Check out the below video below of the epic true freestyle flow of a real MC destroying the mic. This is real talent, real music.
For more music and culture check out the SwayUniverse
For the latest and greatest from King Los check out his latest work God, Money, War on iTunes
#SWAYINTHEMORNING #HIPHOP #KINGLOS #REALMUSIC #REALHIPHOP #swayuniverse
