Some say that Hip Hop Music in the UK is struggling to compete with the USA, well considering Hip Hop was born in the USA this should not come as a surprise. However it is about time that the UK stepped up to the plate and came with something so mind-blowing that the US will not even know what hit it!
I hear you say this will happen, but only when pigs fly! This is debatable because the UK has some amazing talent; there are some unbelievable lyricists that reside in the many estates of London town. Where are they? Well they are here but the lack of exposure and marketing is making it very hard for these talented youngsters to actually break through. Not to mention the bad press that so called “urban” music has had. With Hip Hop and grime being blamed for the rise in gun and knife violence in the UK. For example in North London gun and knife violence went up 3% in 2007. Can we blame music for this? Surely music cannot be such a major influence on the youth of today that it's causing them to kill each other.
What we need to be doing is educating our youngsters giving them positive role models to learn from and then see what kind of music they are going to be making. Having said that however there are so many artists out there that are preaching a positive message but it seems to be only the negative imagery that gets beamed across the airwaves for the world to see. You need only to go on myspace to the see sheer talent that the UK is hiding, to listen to the beautiful beats and lyricism being produced by the likes of our UK youth. We need to be encouraging not discouraging positive creative expression. Look at artists such as Gee from North London based camp Roots ENT (myspace.com/rootsentg ) his lyrics are poignant, intelligent and thought provoking, this is a true example of a talented youngster who has failed to be recognised.
The UK Hip Hop scene needs an injection of positive energy not to mention a mean publicity machine behind it, and it might just go far. The youngsters need to support each other and steer clear of this so called “postcode war”. There is talent to be displayed and it needs to be exploited. Another example of such sheer talent is Harmony, a music producer who plays several instruments and has worked with some of the UKs finest artists. (myspace.com/hmoneymusic ) The list is endless but I won't bore you with such a list all you need to do is look for yourself and you will see the talent because it is out there!
The State of Hip Hop Music in the UK: By E.J
