Kendrick Lamar & Black Hippy: The modern day Tribe Called Quest

The debate on whether or not Kendrick Lamar is worthy of all his recent praise was particularly buzzing on all social media platforms the night after Kendrick Lamar and his fellow Black Hippy members, Schoolboy Q/Jay Rock/Ab-Soul, along with fellow TDE signee Isaiah Rashad stole the night at the 2013 BET Hip-Hop Awards with their cypher. I won't even attempt to summarize their cypher because no outside analysis can do it justice. Long story short, the shit was mean.

Left in awe by the verse I did what any person would naturally do, went on twitter; however, I waited.  I didn't want to hear people's reactions to the verse immediately after because, as with any new shit that just drops, everyone's a fan in the beginning. So it wasn't until the next day while waiting in the gynecologist's office, I know what an odd place to be contemplating the state of hip hop, that I perused through twitter to see what the people had to say. Per usual there were the hype beasts, but what I was more interested in were the nay sayers. I came across several tweets from a friend that felt as though sentiments that kendrick has the potential to be the greatest of all time were premature and solely founded on typical popular culture group think. His tweets went on to list current rappers that could rap circles around Kendrick. Funny thing was, I agreed. Kendrick Lamar by no means is the #1 best rapper of all time. Is he talented as all fucking hell? Absolutely. But there was merit to the idea that Kendrick Lamar buzz is not and cannot be a sole byproduct of his rapping ability. But despite my agreement I am too a Kendrick Lamar stan which left me wondering, what is it about kendrick lamar that has everyone so excited? While I agree he may not be #1 rapper of all time, I do believe there is something unique reminiscent about his music. In the same way that The Notorious B.I.G. rose to fame not simply on his lyrics but on the aesthetic his music created, Kendrick Lamar is a part of a movement bigger than himself.

As I was thinking about this, still at the gyno, I suddenly, without any notice or effort, knew what it was that makes Kendrick Lamar's music so enticing. More than just Kdot alone though, I realized why Black Hippy is garnering buzz with great inertia. Kdot and all of Black Hippy are the west coast reincarnation of the Tribe Called Quest movement. Their presence in hip-hop reminds us of a time when rappers put the brotherhood before everything and nerd chic set the pace for culture. In both cases, of A tribe called quest & of Black Hippy, their music makes you feel as though you are a part of something dynamic, unlike the current trap music phenomenon that only makes you feel like you are a part of a generation of twerkers....which is hardly dynamic to say the least.

Running with this thought, I used the documentaries 'Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest' & the TDE documentary 'On The Road' found on complex.com as research to see if there was any weight to my thought. To my surprise the two movements are comfortingly parallel. Although the role of locality in each movement does have a say in aspects of their respective aesthetics, their similarities transcend whatever small differences exist in drug usage, relationship to gang life, style of dress etc. What is more striking is that in each documentary, both A Tribe Called Quest & Black Hippy articulated that the philosophy's that define and drive their movements were:
-the unit
-loud & in color communicated through their creativity and style
-a constant nod to the streets that raised them
-dedication to a culture
-commitment to blackness
-arrangements of music that mashed up genres into a result that is always hip hop
-the rise of the social mishaps that were dedicated to remaining social mishaps
-modern day weirdos that were geeky nerdy borderline freak show but never short on cool
-raps that were about the 'everyday' that are devoid of melody but still have pattern
-esoteric but still dragged into the realm of human understanding accented by a hard edge
-honest self expression
-& most importantly empowerment & prosperity of a culture

I could go on and on, but the point is that Kdot & Black Hippy are, as A tribe Called Quest once was and will remain so forever, the coalescence of proud individuality with an interdependency that has social justice woven into its fabric. In both movements, the typical hip-hop flashiness is traded in for a covenant to honesty, the fans, and the music.

"We didn't run to mainstream, we made those mother fuckers come to us"
~Kendrick Lamar~