A Shot of Incilin

In 2006 prolific rapper Nas opted to give his underwhelming album an overreaching title, a title that mused that “hip hop is dead.” Hip hop purists were either screaming (ie typing on the net) that hip hop would never die, or that hip hop had been dead for years and Q-tip had said as much in interviews in the late 90s, or that Killer Mike had already made a song with a similar title (“Rap is Dead”).

“Hip hop aint dead. Rock is dead, and no one wants to admit it,” wrote Elliot Wilson, in Vibe’s September 08 issue. “All praise due to Kurt Cobain, but he’s gone.”

Wilson’s point should be taken in stride; rock music hasn’t produced a true superstar since the days of Cobain. Although it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why no one is able to produce fresh young superstars, they are certainly needed now more than ever.

But don’t get confused; there are still great rock acts that still make good music. But none of those bands are true sensations in the lieu of U2 or Aerosmith or Kiss. Sure, {Insert your favorite band} is great, but does your mother know who they are? Much less who their front man is? Didn’t think so.

In 08, hip hop was able to repackage Lil Wayne–an old artist–as a sometimes rock star (even though he can’t play the guitar for shit) and in turn, he became a megastar who sold out stadiums and is now an 8 time Grammy nominee. But Wayne’s claim of being “the best rapper alive” might as well be changed to “best singer alive” since “Lollipop”, his biggest single to date, didn’t have any actual rapping on it. His newest single, the excellent “Prom Queen”, is just further proof of his spaceship of talent taking him into a galaxy beyond hip hop.

Another stadium filling hip hop artist who’s starting to show signs of wear and tear is Kanye West. In 08 Kanye went out on a limb and broke the whole branch when he released an album where he didn’t bother to rap and instead sung (poorly) with the aid of an Autotuner.

Somehow, hip hop’s biggest stars-Wayne and Kanye—think they’re rock stars (only in the destructive, partying all the time lifestyle) who can sing (Thank you T-Pain). But rappers aren’t the only ones feeling a bit confused.

“R&B is dead,” said Vibe’s Sean Fennessy.

And he’s got a good point as well. R&B’s biggest superstars seem to be convinced that their rappers, often times opting to have hip hop producers make their beats. Rihanna’s latest song to hit number 1? Produced by Just Blaze. And every Beyonce song I hear sounds like it might as well be produced by Swiss Beats (Who actually produced the chart topping “Check On It”)

And if you still don’t believe that R&B is in full fledged identity crisis mode, look no further than the most bizarre beef of 08, the one that had Ne-Yo and Chris Brown “battling” over Lil’ Wayne’s “A Mille.”

Things have become so difficult to categorize, so tacky to describe, it seems that every time you use the word “rapper” or “singer” you have to put them in sarcastic quotation marks. The quotation marks are there to note that the artist isn’t actually a rapper or a singer, but they are just pretending to be one, and are succeeding just because their competition is just that awful.

Let’s face facts, in the age of internet there is a lack of mythology in music. Any artist can get taken down at any time on blogs, forums, and commments sections. With so much hate floating, no genre of music seems able to produce hits on par with the genre’s history or meet the standards of its purists. Maybe it’s because hip hop is so ingrained into the DNA of contemporary music that no form of music is safe, even hip hop itself. The most intriguing music being made today is from artists who don’t fit any mold and are finding inventive ways to fuse various styles together.

Look at M.I.A., after finally getting her due in 08 thanks to a 30 second preview of her song “Paper Planes” on the trailer of Pineapple Express, her buzz got so big “Paper Planes” became Grammy nominated for record of the year.

What kind of song is Paper Planes? Is it a rap song? Well, yeah. Is MIA a rapper? Well, not really. But the harder it is to categorize her, the wider her appeal becomes.

Same story for Kid Cudi–a man from a moon that only orbits hip hop–and his infectious stoner anthem “Day N Nite.” Sure, Cudi—who was working a day job just six months ago—rhymes a verse or two, but he sings most of that song, and sings most of his other songs. Does that make him an R&B singer like Ne-Yo? Probably not. Does that make Ne-Yo a “rapper” like Cudi? No.

So what is a rapper? And what is a singer?

Suddenly, those are tricky questions, and they’re only going to get tougher to answer. Whether we’ll still be calling artists “rappers” or “singers” in the traditional sense remains unseen, but with artists like Cudi and MIA posed to have big year in 09 it won’t be because their following any traditional path, but because their making their own.