In the wise wise wise words of Common, I wholeheartedly agree. The ‘Jiggy’ era in Hip Hop was… painful to say the least.
I fell in love with Hip Hop for a few reasons, and one of them was the message behind the music. The social commentary, the demand for change, the struggles to rise out of situations beyond their control. Emcees in the Golden Era really put a spotlight on these things and that is what was so powerful about this form of music…
It could bring forth change! And then along came… the Jiggy era.
The message of equality, social change and history was replaced with…money, cars, fame and having a good ol’ time at the expense of everyone else. Nothing wrong with having a good time but man, this was a tough pill to swallow.
So many shiny suits.
So many ‘iced out’ medallions.
So many cars.
So many lost.
Maybe I’m a purist. Maybe I’m an old soul. But I just couldn’t understand people’s fascination with this direction Hip Hop was headed.
I didn’t hate it, more so I didn’t understand it. Here was a form of music that was changing EVERYTHING and then along comes the shiny suits to take people’s minds off the things that really mattered.
So around this time, I started listening to a lot more Rawkus Records and drifted away from Diddy and his Bad Boy imprint. But to many the new sound of Hip Hop really did ‘Feel So Good’ so who am I to debate… maybe I was a hater after all?
Watch UAD’s 12-inch vinyl review of Mase’s ‘Feel So Good’: