From the British publication "Prospect" comes an article that wanders around in search of a salient point but never really gets there. Though the journey is interesting. The goal seems to be provng that we're nearing the the end of rap or that rap is dead. Sadly the evidence supplied is weak and surface. Frankly some lines of argument are just plain stupid : "Rap has a problem with originality. Its habit of salvaging old hit records in the service of the new (for those who can afford copyright clearance) means that it has a limited repertoire of material to plunder." Except that's like saying that English is limited because we only have a certain number of words or only 26 letters. The recombination and alteration of those letters, words and symbols has served us fairly well.
The most interesting part of the article argues that the essential form of hiphop/rap--that of a music that shocks and challenges is dying because of the mainstream acceptance. How can rap/hip hop reclaim "otherness" when they are so absorbed into our mainstream culture (from fashion, to dialect, etc).
Sadly this point is lost amongst really shoddy journalism..and questionable writing. "By 'keepin' it real,' prescribed tribal codes are maintained." Tribal codes. Hmmm...
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