I copped the 200th issue of The Source today, mostly as a relic of days gone by. About 10-12 years ago, I used to swear by The Source. I think I kept that subscription going for at least three years. During that time, I guess I was beginning to get disillusioned with the direction hip-hop seemed to be headed, but the way I felt then is nothing compared to the way I feel now. Back then, I at least held out the hope that certain artists would come through for me and that the genre as a whole could be saved from itself. Evidently, I wasn’t the only one with those concerns. James Bernard, former Co-Editor-in-Chief writes,
We have failed, at our central challenge: becoming a social force, not merely a cacophony of merchandising and promotion. To be fair, this was always a tall order. Nobody else has gotten this right, so why hold Hip-Hop to a higher standard? Because we could be different. Because we owe it to our communities. Because we owe it to ourselves to become greater than the sum of our parts. Did we miss our moment? Perhaps. Did we even have a moment? Yes. Can we create another opportunity to become greater than we are? Not looking good.
And again I say, the best critiques of hip-hop do not come from people outside. As much as I like McWhorter, Crouch, and some of the other vocal critics, they ain’t sayin’ nothin that hasn’t already been said by somebody who actually enjoys and cares about the art form. James Bernard is a hip-hop critic, not a cultural critic – at least, not in the sense that Crouch is. Only thing is, for all our nuanced critiques of the direction that hip-hop is headed, where has it gotten us? I’d say nowhere.
The ‘toldja so’ part of me wants to say that I always knew that hip-hop never really had any revolutionary potential, but if I said that, I’d be a bald-faced liar. I ain’t gon’ lie, man, I used to believe. Being completely honest, hip-hop played a major role in my development of a political consciousness – to the extent that I have done so. At the time, I thought, or even expected that the same thing was happening for lots of other people. Maybe it was. But even if it was then, it had certainly stopped by the time I stopped subscribing to The Source. Did we miss our moment? I’d say yes. As much as I believe in capitalism, I think that it’s like fire. It can be used for some fantastic things if properly harnessed, but if it’s left uncontrolled, it holds extremely destructive potential. In the attempt to build a bigger fire, hip-hop seared its soul. For the most part.
Honestly, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that hip-hop as a genre is so based in the present.  The emphasis on newness is both the life and death, but combined with the fact that the most nihilistic tendencies are rewarded with the highest sales, it’s like the eviscerated shark that keeps eating its own entrails. Can it get better? I don’t think so. The box is open. If there ever was a chance for hip-hop to be a vehicle for making some significant difference, I that opportunity has passed. A part of me believes that another opportunity will come along, but if it does, I wonder if we’ll be able to recognize it and properly take advantage of it. Or will we commodify it and burn up any potentially transformative properties for the sake of profit?
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