Red Man's thoughts on Kendrick Lamar's Control Verse and Hip Hop

        On August 12th, 2013 Big Sean dropped a single featuring Kendrick Lamar and Jay Electronica called "Control".  This song lasts a full 7:32. When this song first hit the radio it was not popular in its entirety but for Kendrick Lamar's single verse. In this verse Kendrick Lamer goes off for 3 minutes not just saying but showing that he is one of the top mainstream rappers today. Also within this West Coast rapper proceeds to say that not only is one of the best MC's of today but that he is also the "king of New York" and king of the West Coast. He continues by calling out rappers by name that he considers to be competition. For the next month the rap game was on edge, talking about how they perceived this audacious verse. And within these next few months numerous artists, mostly from New York released response tracks, the majority aimed at Kendrick but many also claiming to be the best MC.
       From the generations that precede us, there are comparisons between the hip hop music now and hip hop of the Golden Age. The golden age of hip is characterized by some as the most innovative and creative period in hip hop music. It had many artists such as LL Cool J, Public Enemy, EPMD, Big Dddy Kane, Eric B. & Rakim, N.W.A, Boogie Down Production, and Biz Markie. Today critics say that Hip hop does not have the same type creativity and respectability that it had in the 80's and early 90's. While some of this is true there are still artist that continue to carry on this "Golden Age" tradition even if they don't live in the same time period. Redman, a rapper from New Jersey who became active on the heels of the Golden age of hip hop and has worked with golden age artist such as EPDM and Wu-Tang, comments on hip hop today.

      Redman approaches this subject with caution. Despite all of the talk floating around about hip hop, he makes the statement that he loves hip hop for what it is. He also make the statement that everything he hears on the radio is not necessarily hip hop, but music. His ideology is not condemning, but a supporting one. He believes that people now have the freedom to take hip hop in many different directions. But he believes that it is important for people to recognize who blazed the trail to give them that freedom.

     When it comes to Kendrick Lamar, Redman gives his stamp of approval saying that this verse was healthy for hip hop. As the response tracks began to be released many artist who have been lying dormant for years returned to the scene. It seems that this verse, for the time being, placed many into the competition of becoming the best MC, forcing many to work hard to create new creative material. What is probably most important to remember is that hip hop will shift and change and evolve. So even though hip hop is changing it is important to acknowledge that there is growth within this art from whether it looks like the golden ages or not. Redman's philosophy of first understanding what hip hop is and then allowing it to go in its own direction is probably best advice to give someone who is stuck in the "Golden Ages".