WHO'S GOT NEXT?
it's me, suckas!
During my travels with the Rap Sessions tour this spring, one interesting question arose: is there an emergent post-hip-hop musical style? In other words, if hip-hop took out rock music as the dominant American musical form, what's going to take out hip-hop?
This question, I think, has cropped up for two, interrelated reasons. First of all, hip-hop emerged in the last 1970s right around the same time rock was turning 25 years old (assuming you pinpoint rock n' roll's emergence in the mid 1950s). Well, hip-hop has now turned 25 as well and people who are fans of history-repeating-itself are now wondering if rap's reign can last much longer. The other factor too is the impression espoused by many that hip-hop's days as the rebellious, upstart new genre on the block are long, long over and it now occupies the same kind of dominant (and by extension, uninteresting) space in American pop culture life as rock music once did in the generation before.
There are obvious limitations and challenges to both presumptions but it is an intriguing question. I've certainly met people who treat hip-hop as the alpha and omega of youth/musical culture, as if nothing of real import existed before hip-hop and that the music's dominance now is eternal. I find that approach to be disturbingly parochial and ahistorical: hip-hop didn't exactly emerge fully formed in the world and while it may not disappear tomorrow, there is simply no way it's going to be the top dog forever.
Of course, I have NO idea what will replace it. Six months ago, you might have heard whispers about reggaeton, but not so much as a direct challenge to hip-hop's rule...more like an off-shoot that'd be popular enough to steal some fans away but isn't trying to gun for the throne. What I do like about that idea however is that it's not U.S-centric and it introduces the idea that you can have an emergent, popular and significant style that may have roots in American music but isn't necessarily centered in America. It also acknowledges the rising influence of Latino culture (albeit, very much an Afro-diasporic Latino culture) within American popular culture.
That said, I doubt too many folks really think reggaeton is that "next style," but regardless, this idea of a post-hip-hop music is worth considering. It's not even necessary for hip-hop to be "dead" in this context (though a few are pushing that point) - it's just that rap music will have to give way, at some point, to something new. Or will it?
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