Backpacking Back To Hip Hop

There is a shift occurring in hip-hop right now, and it’s reminiscent of the genre’s golden age.
Hip-hop circa the late ‘80s and early ‘90s was sitting pretty and there was plenty room for creativity. Musicians brought fresh sounds and original styles to the scene, in turn, consistently creating pivotal moments in pop culture.
During this period, the Native Tongues – a collective which consisted of A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Leaders of the New School, Queen Latifah, Black Sheep, and Monie Love – placed a heavy emphasis on dope beats and lyricism while establishing a sense of unity within the culture. Everyone had their individual crews, but ultimately, they all kicked it with one weaving a kindred thread through hip-hop. It was understood that the only way any one would succeed was for everyone to work together. Cue the Queen, “U.N.I.T.Y”.
Fast-forward to the early 2000s. An influx of monotonous hit singles and dance tracks made us feel like no one cared about content and just wanted to cash in quick. I’m talking about groups like D4L and Dem Franchize Boyz who were putting out songs with corny jingles and the dances to match. The Beast Coast movement followed up as clear response to the ringtone era of rap.
Today you have the new school of rappers who were kids during the ringtone era who feel personably responsible for restoring hip-hop to its pure form. We have young artists like Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole and Mac Miller who are all delivering creative content through the mainstream. But there’s also a not-so-underground sound echoing through New York City.
The Beast Coast movement makes sense right now. Their name is a play on East Coast (the coast where hip-hop finds its origins via New York) and the slang word “beast” which is another way for saying you kill shit, you do what you do, and you do it well. The collective is made up of Pro Era, Flatbush Zombies, The Underachievers, and Phony Ppl.
Flatbush Zombies tapped into a Wu-Tang Clan/Gravediggas-esque style with their blend of darker themes laid down on gritty production that often sounds like movie scores thanks to their in-house producer Erick Arc Elliott; the Underachievers proclaim their roles as Indigo Children, speaking extensively on the bearing gold souls; and Pro Era frontman Joey Bada$$ told us he was resurrecting boom-bap fromdatombs, and he wasn’t bluffing. His 1999 mixtape was one of the doper projects to come out of 2012 and got hip-hop fans excited about its golden era again.
And they all have a call for action: Open Your Third Eye.
Whether you believe in this unseen intuitive eye or not, it’s interesting that a group of young black hip-hop artists coming out of New York City are constantly talking about everyday life, taking psychedelics and spiritual enlightenment for their listeners.
And they’re doing it on ‘90s-inspired soundscapes while bringing back that group aesthetic, and sometimes actually over beats from producers such as Lord Finesse, MF DOOM and J Dilla.
But there’s a certain level of responsibility that comes with being labeled a backpacker or  “conscious rapper.” The minute you start to appear as though you’re crossing over into the mainstream your core cult following of fans will abandon or shun you and you will have gained a much larger fan base of listeners who probably could care less about you once they think your fire burned out.
Nas is no backpacker, but he was a hip-hop purists’ ideal; a rapper’s rapper. “Illmatic” changed the approach of rap music, but only went gold. “It Was Written” disproved rumors of a sophomore jinx but wasn’t doing the numbers Nas wanted it to. So he went a more commercial route for sales and put out “I Am” and “Nastradamas” linking with the likes of Puff Daddy to Genuine and other mainstream successes. The albums were barely up to par, though they both have some sacred songs on them. Nas’ core fans, those who were following him since his meteoric rise, wrote him off making it possible for Jay to takeover. Lucky for Nas “Stillmatic” saved his career and street cred.
Drake is a great example of a “backpack rapper” who went mainstream. In fact, he said it himself on the Kanye West produced “Show Me a Good Time” off his label debut Thank Me Later.

“Tell me can we kick it like Ali Shaheed and Phife Dawg
People really hate it when a backpack rapper get rich and start living that life, dawg.”

It’s true. I appreciated Drake much more when he was rapping on Dilla beats. In fact, when I first began exploring Drake’s music, ATCQ was also in heavy rotation on my playlist. They actually meshed well together. In the following lines on “Show Me a Good Time” Drake goes on to say, “Feels like when you get into that paper, hip-hop hates ya, They would do it just like I do if they could it’s in our nature”, and he’s right. Most artists that come out preaching about staying true to the art often abandon their theories when opportunity to get more paper comes knocking. Then there’s Wale. Since his crossover into the mainstream (more particularly the Maybach Music move) he’s widened his appeal but compromised the sound and subject matter that ignited his buzz initially. Remember when he snagged that Gorillaz “Dirty Harry” beat and rapped about his anti-radio views? Then the day came you couldn’t listen to hip-hop  radio without hearing “Bad” or the remix a couple dozen times.
When I met Wale at Rock the Bells in ’08 he seemed genuinely surprised that he had fans at the hip-hop festival where he was overshadowed by the likes of Nas, ATCQ, Wu-Tang Clan, Mos Def and other veterans.
In defense of Drake and Wale, young hip-hop artists are trying to eat and they don’t get into The Game to be dope, broke rappers. More power to them.
Balance is a better source of power than “selling out” completely. To hold onto what you believe to be true – that sound and subject matter that led you to make music in the first place – while also finding a way to make it more marketable, that is the real win.
As of right now, the Beast Coast collective is balancing both sides of the scale.
This revisiting of hip-hop’s golden era is important for the culture. It makes the ringtone era of rap music seem like the hell we needed to go through to get back to the exalted soulful music we are getting today.
Where to now?
Three Beast Coast Videos You Need to Watch:
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no0AKCKVd20
The Underachievers “The Proclamation”
 

Flatbush Zombies “MRAZ”
 

Joey Bada$$ “Fromdatomb$”
 
 
Three Golden Era Hip-Hop Videos You Need to Watch:
 

A Tribe Called Quest “Electric Relaxation”
 

Wu-Tang Clan “Protect Ya Neck”
 

Leaders of the New School “Sobb Story”