Hip-hop music today is much different than the rap music of the 80s and early 90s. While a good portion of the current hip-hop music tends to focus on the negative, the rap music of yesteryear focused more on the fun. The pioneers of rap music took their grievances and rivalries to the mic with words and lyrics as opposed to shooting at other while driving down the highway.

Hip-hop today is derivative, with stale beats and unintelligible lyrics void of creativity and flair. “Bling-bling” has been run into the ground so hard it’s got gravel stuck in up its jewel-encrusted butt. In contrast, old school rap had fresh beats, using samples from more varied types of music and, and some of the founding fathers of the genre even employed the use of real bands.

And the lyrics ran the gamut from the poignant to the hilarious. Gone are the days of songs chronicling the funny exploits of a posse on Broadway and the eloquent ramblings relating the joys of a big booty.

Most awesome of all, however, were the posers from the early days of rap. Even when they were lieing through their teeth about where and how they grew up to give themselves more credibility, they were still entertaining and creative. Most enjoyable of the posers were the white rappers. Before Eminem came along, “Caucasian” and “hip-hop” were two words that weren’t seen as belonging together. Eminem didn’t pave the way, however; he just drove down that road. No, the path of white rappers was blazed by a select few.

A certain hip-hop artist in the early 90’s stormed up the charts with a bona fide smash hit. Against all odds, Vanilla Ice—yes, Vanilla Ice—became a household name with "Ice Ice Baby." He had a questionable (and eventually revealed to be false) back story, and his ridiculous hairstyle and clothing choices would probably get him beaten up and ridiculed senselessly anywhere other than at a costume party full of blind people. Still, he had a song that was pleasantly addictive. Unfortunately, he also crashed and burned pretty quickly, forever being included among the esteemed ranks of one-hit wonders. He was ridiculed for a long time afterward, but in recent years the wave of nostalgia has buffeted him once again into the collective eye of the public. Many are realizing that his one hit song was actually pretty sweet, and a whole new generation is finding themselves humming along to its infectious beat. I don’t know of many song lyrics that so many people can quote verbatim so many years after it was released. That alone attests to the staying power of the song.

This design is dedicated to that song and so many other hip-hop tunes that ruled the airwaves back in the 80’s and early 90’s. Here’s hoping rap music can one day return to its more lighthearted and creative roots.

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