"Run-DMC first said a DJ could be a band/stand on its own feet/get you out your seat..."
- Chuck D, "Bring The Noise"
It has been easy before this to say that hip-hop's fallen stars hastened their own demise. Eazy-E died of AIDS after plowing every female in the greater Los Angeles area. Tupac and Biggie were shot after years of glorifying violence and "thug life" in their music. Big L...well, Puffy short-circuited his path to fame, so we'll never really know if his death could have been avoided...however...
Jam Master Jay's passing is something entirely different. No one saw this coming. Run-DMC as a group never advocated anything resembling violence, and even if they had, Jason Mizell was the silent partner. He spoke with his hands. We can't be sure if someone knew something we don't -- perhaps Jay had an affair with someone's wife or something -- but on the surface, this appears to be a complete shock. Whatever he did do, if anything, certainly didn't merit this result.
Jay was the backbone of hip-hop's most important pioneering group. Run-DMC was the first rap act to go gold, first to go platinum, first to hit MTV, first to fuse with rock, first to get on the Walk of Fame...you name it. If a hip-hop act has done it, Run-DMC probably did it first. As Chuck D said, "These are our Beatles." The Public Enemy frontman likened Jay's death to Lennon's...only Mizell didn't have an annoying succubus of a wife, and his music was far better.
Though Run-DMC has ceased to be relevant for a solid decade, their impact will never be forgotten. No platinum rap artist would have their success without Run-DMC. In a backhanded way, I suppose we can blame them for the horrible excuse for hip-hop that plagues current radio, but they've also paved the way for the likes of LL Cool J (the pre-1992 incarnation), De La Soul, Wu-Tang, NWA, Nas and Eminem. Rap might still be a cult thing in the inner city...Run-DMC brought it to the masses, and we've eaten it up.
While you pour out some liquor, milk, water or juice for Jason Mizell, let's take a look at the current state of the hip-hop world he left behind:
- Labels: Yes, a lot of artists (Dre, Em, Jay-Z, etc.) have become large enough to get their own labels, and that would have never happened 10 years ago. But is that a good thing? On the one hand, record labels allow creative genius (Eminem, Rakim, Pharoahe Monch) to be heard by a much larger audience...but how much of the material is force-fed? Would half the rappers out now talk about Escalades, jewelry and champagne if labels didn't push them to do so? Would Sir Mix-A-Lot have made so many "butt" songs if his label wasn't so intent on a follow-up single? Would Vanilla Ice have ever existed? Labels bring music to the masses, but they also have too much control over what gets brought. Creativity is being stifled, and we get a VERY watered-down product, especially because of...
- MTV. Video killed the radio star is right. Ugly ass dudes with a plain image (see Sermon, Erick) have to work twice as hard to get ahead in the video era. Talent isn't nearly as important as a gimmick, which is why the biggest-selling rappers, talented or not, all have a visible gimmick. Nelly sucks, but he has the whole wannabe-Bone Thugs flow, and girls seem to go for the face-caught-in-a-truck-grill look. Ja Rule sucks, but people love a guy who does a bad Tupac impersonation with a poor copy of DMX's voice. Em is dope, but he sells largely because he's white and crazy (and sooooo cute, Carson...play his video WHOOOOO!!!). If you have looks, a marketable image, or a dope voice, you get over. If you have lyrical talent but none of the above, you'd better ghost-write. None of this explains Puffy, but Biggie's coattails were substantial...and apparently dopeness comes by association in a lot of people's eyes. Or...pimp your dead friend, and use his loot to buy airplay for yourself, even if your shit sucks. Whatever. MTV helped expand hip-hop's audience, but it's slowly poisoned the entire genre as well. But they've had a witting accomplice...
- Radio. Most "urban" stations are owned by one or two media conglomerates, and they, along with MTV, form people's opinions for them. We're playing Ja Rule...so like it. We're playing Puffy...you better dig it. We're not even going to tell you about Pharoahe, Chino XL and Rakim, because their labels aren't paying us enough. Just dig what we tell you to dig, and stay tuned to win Lil' Bow Wow tickets...only on Power 92...#1 in the streets. (Female dogs and bundles of sticks that they are...watch yourselves.) These stations play only the worst of what we might loosely term...
- "Artists." Think about what is being force-fed to the ignorant youth right now. Nelly. Ja Ruin. P-Shitty. Nas and his once-dope, sell-out-to-Murder-Inc. ass. Ashanti's talentless roach carcass (note: FHM fueled their own demise by calling this grommet the "hottest woman in music," ahead of such specimens as Christina, Mya, and Natalie Imbruglia). R. Kelly and his stable of elementary-school hoes. Anyone in the Lox (Esperanto for "most overrated group in rap history). The only worthwhile talents getting any airplay now are Eminem, Missy (hey, her lyrics are wack, but it works) and...well, that's it. This spawns a generation of...
- Ignorant fans. Kids now are led to believe that people like Puffy and Will Smith and Ja Rule and Nelly are the best there is. They will memorize these idiotic songs and mold themselves in the shape of these talentless leeches. Proof of ignorance? My man Sev Statik (a nationally-signed emcee with no promotion) works in a group home. One of the kids there asked him "who's this old guy that just came out on that song?" He was referring to Rakim.
(Side note: Sev's label, Uprok/EMI, puts no money into promotion, and doesn't advance ship worth a shit...so if you go into any Best Buy or another music chain, go to the manager and ask if they have his album. Even if you're not going to buy it, request it, and the store will buy at least five. My man's been putting it down for years -- he's opened for KRS, Redman, Onyx, Common, and a bunch of other heads, and has at least earned enough love to get a video on MTV2. Get his product into stores near you...and buy it yourself too.)
Rap is, indeed, out of control...and now Jam Master Jay can't save it. Chuck's right...whoever did this can never go anywhere now. Let's just hope the genre he helped build can start going somewhere again soon.
-- O
2:52:51 AM 
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