Words by Marisol “Pinqy Ring” Vélez (@PinqyRing)
There’s always going to be the “Great Hip-Hop Debate.” You know it: Is Hip-Hop dead? What is “real” Hip-Hop? Is what’s on the radio right now ever going to satiate the purists palate? Isn’t Hip-Hop evolving? What’s so wrong with change?
Regardless of that (seemingly endless) discourse, my qualm lies within the quantity of what is given and pushed in the audio accord. I was listening to Big Pun’s Capital Punishment album the other day and it dawned on me:
Yo. Rappers used to give you three whole verses on a track. Sometimes an intro and outro. And if you were really lucky, you might get a bridge as the proverbial cherry on top.
It leads me to pose the question: Where in the eff did the third verse go? In comparison to a… well… most things heard mainstream right now, it seems songs have gotten shorter and the third verse got axed. But why?
I could look on my desk and channel all the scattered mess of research I compiled. University students attention span said to only last 10 minutes. Increased amount of Americans diagnosed with ADD and ADHD. Video games. Internet. Attention decreasing as technology increases. The quickness in which we move from the current “it” person to the next. Political sound bites being shortened from 43 seconds in the late 1960s to 8 seconds.
I could even call to my personal experience. The inability to focus on human interaction during (mostly bad) dates without grabbing my cell phone. The innate fear I have of moving to Japan this Summer without my MacBook, Skype and Facebook. The amount of time it took me to write this article between tweeting and flipping through my 68 stations on Pandora. Having 68 stations on Pandora.
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Artists lack the quality…..and fans attention spans suck
I would agree. But did artists shape the industry standard, or did the industry standard shape the artist?
I believe it does have to do with shortened attention spans. Rap songs today (note that I did not say Hip-Hop songs) are more pop-ish than back in the day. Because artist are reaching for that mainstream success they have to dumb it down for the masses.
Look at the popular young rap artist (I use the term artist lightly
At the end of the day, it’s all about the dollar. If people will accept two verses, you take the third one you wrote and push it to a different record and make a second verse to go with it. Artists/labels these days are eager to push out another record. As long as it’s good for air play, as long as it can be sold to play in a commercial or movie, maybe even a show.. whatever gets to the masses.
Then again, you have to consider what kind of ‘deals’ people are getting. The majority of artists, I can only assume, make pennies on album sales, maybe a bit on iTunes downloads, maybe a few bucks on concert sales (equipment, venue rental and staffing is no joke!) but what they really need is FANS to market themselves. This will bring them endorsements, they can slap their name on a clothes brand or watches or shoes.. or stereos/headphones.
So.. with the opportunity to have your own reality tv show, your own clothes line, free cars with some promotional pictures, etc.. people who can REALLY influence hip hop as we know it would rather take the cash, it seems. I feel far removed from the hip hop I used to know.. I don’t know but I thought it would be a cold day in hell when someone like Soulja Boy would actually have a song on the radio.. that one song is still being played somewhere in the world..
What GREAT insight. Like you, I also feel far removed. But, that’s why I continue rapping and teaching about the culture. And writing to create change. Someone has got to keep it alive. Industry standards have clearly shaped the product that’s being pushed. And that’s a shame, because we used to define our own Hip Hop culture.
PS: Sorry, I was unaware I was replying to your post and not just a general comment.. shoot me later, thanks. 🙂
I do also believe it has to do with attention spans. How are we feeding into that shortening of focus by shortening the music we predominantly listen to?
The kind of rap I listen to…the 3rd verse is still there. I listen to true hip-hop Jean Grae, Elzhi, Talib, Roots, Common, Joey Bada$$…real shit! Everything else is utter bullshit for people who are slave trained and nigga-tized!
Unfortunately, the artist with the third verse is not being funded by illegal activities for promotion and radio spins. That is where the third verse went!
Hmm… That’s a whole ‘nother article. LOL!
Dope!
Thanks for reading! 🙂
If more artists move towards self-publishing and self promotion the third could very well make a comeback. Then you’ll be hearing about the return of the great ‘vintage/back in the day’ third verse and a return to the roots of hip hop.
So who will be the first to get that stone rolling?
hmmm….
Haha! Vida, are you hinting at a particular Pinq person? 😉 Thanks for the awesome insight!
This is FSD fam, Since when do y’all give a shit about lyrics?!?! I check the site mostly to laugh at the short bus coons y’all put up (same reason people watch Maury) & to wait patiently for Lupe and Mikkey posts.
Well, it seems you now have another reason to read. Thanks for your time and reply. 😉
yo im really feeling this ..this is real yo.. I actually had a similar convo with my manager the other day..its crazy…but these emcees gettn lazy n listeners attn span is short..
Thank you! 🙂
i dont kno wat the last 2 paragraphs talkin about
In a nutshell: We’ve always had our voices taken away, why are we letting it happen now? …Clearer for you?
Nowdays in hip hop, 3 verses is too many! That’s a five minute song right there. Radio ain’t gon play that
They used to play it… Why are we feeding into this shortened attention span/lack of words/stifled voice?
in a couple of months you will be writing an article called “where did the 2nd verse go”? i believe music and most art are a mirror of our society, and if we look at the state of hip hop, we are definitely all tore up.the lack of any content or substance in most of todays songs is so drastic i havent listened to the radio in about 3 years, its GARBAGE and its getting worse by the day. i think if we sit and do nothing about it, we are cowards, there should come a time in every man and womens life when you stop caring about being popular and start caring about leaving this world better then you found it. if we dont reach that stage, i believe its a wasted life.
*raises hands and testifies* Yes. Yes. Aaaaand YES! Thanks for the insight, Marz. Hopefully a shift is imminent.
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WHAAAT A POST ABOUT HIP HOP WIT 20+ COMMENTS AWWWW SHIT ITS COMIN LOL…nice piece tho, good to see people dont feel forced to put critical thinking aside while listening to music. You can do both its still legal.
LOL! Change gon’ come. 😉 Thanks for reading. Thinking critically should be an everyday thing.
The 3rd verse is alive & well in Hip Hop. Lamestream coopted media hip Pop is a brainwashing tool of corporatocracy. Its about a quota of songs & the deliberate dumbing down of the youth to become good complacent slaves in a cyclical instant gratification consumer culture of planned obsolecense. The elite fears an educated inspired youth & so the social engineers have tried to control and surpess quality in exchange for quantity through media/tech to serve the political agenda of the elite. The paradigm is shifting axis.
The 3rd verse is alive & well in Hip Hop. Lamestream coopted media hip Pop is a brainwashing tool of corporatocracy. Its about a quota of songs & the deliberate dumbing down of the youth to become good complacent slaves in a cyclical instant gratification consumer culture of planned obsolecense. The elite fears an educated inspired youth & so the social engineers have tried to control and surpess quality in exchange for profit through media/tech to serve the political agenda of the elite. The paradigm is shifting axis.
I have several songs with 3 verses/ bridges/ intros/ and outros and the quality is never lost. Some people don’t have the creative network to pull it off thats all. click the name.