RHH: Associate an Hip Hop Album with Each Season?

Completely agree with what Craftsman said, for the first time I think. The whole "hip-hop is dead" theory or discussion has too many contradictions because of Hip-Hop's timeline, and the many trends it's gone through. Newer sub-genres that emerged at the time they did (like gangsta rap) are/were viewed as a negative thing by some, but viewed as essential progress towards a young, popular genre by others.

Mainstream music, or music with no subject matter, is viewed as the main problem with hip-hop today by some, but essentially Hip-Hop was mainstream music (or party music) since the jump. Going platinum used to be the epitome of a rapper's career in the 90's. Now, anyone can make a hit single and do it in half the time other rappers did, and get the same praise for it.

Knowing all these things, I find it tough for any hip-hop fan to pick a side on these types of discussions. That's why I hate the "Hip-Hop Is Dead" phrase and hate it when respected artists like Common and KRS-One incorporate those messages into their music, by calling their music "real".

Because if so then hip hop was dead all throughout the 90's which everyone here loves so much. Was it when hip hop's subject matter stopped being about street shyt? Funny considering that hip hop in the early 80's wasn't hardcore at all and was about partying, sex, and money.

Was it when the music in the mainstream stopped being good? I mean all the good rappers are underground now, so it must be dead right? I'm not defending the mainstream, but if hip hop is only alive based on what's on TV then it was "dead" in the 70's when the whole culture was underground and no one had put out a record yet.

The same thing with sales. If hip hop sells no records is it dead? Cause no one was buying hip hop records in the 70's and not even that many people were buying them in the 80's either.

It seems to me that as long as people are downloading the music and listening to it, then it's still alive. And if Puffy killed hip hop in 1997 then I guess Moment of Truth, 2001, Train of Thought and all of the great albums that came out after that weren't hip hop. Sorry man, but I can't buy that.

Hip Hop isn't defined by the mainstream. MTV and the radio can play all the Puffy's and Lil Wayne's and T-Pain's they want, but as long as there's real cats in the underground spittin', scratchin', writing, breaking, and doing hip hop right, it'll never die. Also I think it's ironic that Common is b*tching about hip hop being dead in 1994 which most of you think was the best year for all of hip hop.

@KNOIZE: Whoa, don't get it twisted. I'm not standing up for the mainstream. The mainstream right now does suck.

KRS-One and Common are real hip hop and the sh*t on the radio now isn't. I'm just saying that hip hop isn't dead because there's still real hip hop coming out in the underground and the reason the stuff on the radio is bad isn't because it's party music, or because it has no substance. Edit: Well, I don't think KRS was serious when he said that, but that's true about Common.

Whatever, either way we can agree that hip hop isn't dead.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.