To Hip Hop,
Hey friend and Happy 50th! Hope you’ve been doing well! I’m sure it’s shocking to you how much different your music is now compared to the 70s. To think that you’d go from the street poetry of 70s New York to the modern sound now must be a very surreal experience!
Thank you for creating amazing classics such as Rapper’s Delight and for giving so many of my favorite artists a platform to share their art. Biggie, Tupac, OutKast, JayZ, JCole, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, honestly it’s amazing how many artists were able to make a living on your craft! Hip hop is probably one of the most iconic and recognizable genres of many generations and I’m so glad that it exists because of black and brown people.
I love that old school hip hop samples iconic soul and funk tracks such as Debarge and even movie sound tracks like Annie! Hiphop truly is so versatile and plentiful in creative opportunities! I love that new hiphop uses unique sounds, concepts, and choreography to appeal to the younger generation, even if it’s clear that modern music caters more so to the social media algorithm.
I do empathize with the fact that people outside of the genre’s target audience always have to impose stereotypes and false narratives on you, and whether or not it’s true, it isn’t right. Granted, I do hope that you’ll be more conscious of impressionable youth who may take your artistic ideas as mantras to living life, like being a part of hood culture and other similar things.
I hope you can take this into consideration, and I hope you know that you’re already doing great and I can’t wait to see where the future takes you!
Sincerely,
Morgan Fannin
