Bridging the Gap: Hip-hop and the "Lost" Generation

We used to listen to the greats... Wu-tang, Dogg pound, Tupac, Redman, and many others. The music in my era was golden and a lot of it possessed a message.

Even when it was gangsta rap they spoke of why they were doing what they were doing and spoke a lot about the consequences. Now in music there is billions of dollars worth of drug sales, a whole lot of murder with non arrests, no persecution or very minimal penalties.

But aside from all that, the music is small and has seemingly no substance.

The things that the greats used to fight for in my generation are the things that these kids let stroll right through the door. But walking into the nearest bar or club, I find myself at the highest point of hypocrisy. The same music that most of the time I despise. I find myself bopping to the beat and a lot of the times its what I look forward to hearing. I try to pick sense out of the nonsense sometimes but other times I find myself right in the middle of it, dancing the night away. Have they turned me? Yes...

with some reserved shame. I am guilty of cutting a retro Jay-z song short to listen to the newest star made famous by YouTube views. I'm guilty of having arguments with my brain and having my iPod caught in the middle.

Its not fair to it, or to me. As I grow, I can say that I've lost a seemingly self-made battle.

I can say that I like a bit of "ratchet", and its not bad being in your big boy clothes, being a bit inebriated and dancing to some "trap music" . I've learned its all about the balanced. Can't have the bad without the good I've heard them say. This new type of music that I'm giving a hard time to will be what keeps my generation relevant. What keeps them remembered. It will give J. Cole an opportunity to apologize to Nas for "letting him down" and it will give Jay-z the chance to "money dance" with the younger folk and not be judged for it. It's the music that bridges the gap. Honestly, This new generation isn't a far cry from our generation. We weren't understood and whereas the big clothes is a sign of rebellion to the new generation, but to us we just wanted to be different.
A lot of what this generation has picked up was left here by our past generations.

A lot of the time if you sit these young people down you will see they were just like the people we grew out of. Dreamers... not rebels. People you should talk to and not talk at. Communication is key.

It will unlock confusion to show that we're all here for the same purpose and have a lot of the same beliefs. Let no voices go unheard. They don't have to.

The bridge doesn't have to be over. Bridge it. Don't break it.