Canadian's Exclaim talks with author Dalton Higgins about his new book 'Hip Hop World.' Not only does Mr. Higgens discuss Hip Hop as an American cultural phenomenon, but oustside of our western boarders with reaching the rest of the world.
Exclaim: What do you think is lacking and missing in hip-hop today?
Dalton Higgins: When you look at some of what makes music culture thrive. Certainly some of the evidence especially in the West is that rap music has taken a hit, right? Let's take a look at who people acknowledge as the greatest MCs of all time Notorious B.I.G., Tupac. Tupac's posthumous CDs sell more than new releases y'know and people spend a lot of time pining wanting to go back to the golden era and pining for [Biggie's] unreleased studio outtakes or for Rakim to come out. People are constantly from teenagers to 30-somethings ― they are always pining for things of the past. That to me tells me there's clearly something lacking or missing in the present day format in what's coming out of the West, right? But also to be honest some of the most interesting articulations of rap music are not coming from the West. It's M.I.A., a Sri Lankan Tamil. That to me is a lot more exciting than some of the East coast rap inspirations that I grew up on. The same thing would go for somebody like K'naan who is Somalian proud. He's a nomadic guy; he's lived in different places. Some of the most exciting so-called hip-hop projects that are out now, they're not necessarily about progressive politics, globalization or talking about youth culture and issue-oriented things. They are also fun and good to dance to. It's K'naan and M.I.A., things like that I'm getting more stimuli from, to be honest you know.
Read more of the article here:
Exclaim - Hip Hop World author Dalton Higgins
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Amazon - Hip Hop World: A Groundwork Guide
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