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Message: <blockquote data-quote="payn" data-source="post: 8601970" data-attributes="member: 90374">I mean it really goes back to glam rock. This is where you got the long hair and makeup. The acts embraced feminine and even gay culture and put out some great bumpin tracks and albums (Bowie, T-Rex, Roxy Music, NY Dolls, etc...). Then, along comes K.I.S.S with the satanic panic edge brand. "They wear makeup... but also leather and I just bet they smoke cigs. No way these guys are gay!" Then, comes Motely Crew, Poisson, R.A.T.T, etc... The songs all become about gettin chicks (girls, girls, girls, bangin them in my old man's Ford..) a backlash of hyper machismo. Late in the 80's a shift towards more emo cultural awareness started to grow with Soundgarden and Alice and Chains putting out stuff we didnt have since Black Sabbath. Grundge would soon follow.Hip hop and rap on the other hand was born out of social awareness and modern urban living. Jazz influenced, but from folks who didnt have the instrumental education or access. Technology and ingenuity allowed folks to make this modern music. It was very niche though and the burbs where extremely resistant. Enter Sugarhill Gang, Fat Boys, and The Beastie Boys. Samples from some of the most culturally neutral music and songs about chicks, food, and being foolish made the style more palatable.Once there was a foot in the door for hip-hop and rap, you got some outliers going. 2live Crew with their blatantly promiscuously misogynist sample tracks and N.W.A plus Public Enemy with their punk style criticism of American democracy gave hip-hop a forbidden edge that made K.I.S.S just look downright silly. Beasties though, would really break the mold and show how strong sample choice and a lean on jazz instrumentals would show a new path forward. A marriage of social consciousness and pop sensibility began to pour out in the 90's. Now you had acts like De La Soul, Diggable Planets, A Tribe Called Quest, and The Pharcyde. Finally, that urban African American sound and style would grow and prosper. For a time anyway, eventually the forbidden edge of 2-Live Crew, NWA, and Body Count would give way to Gansta Rap and so on.With all styles of American music you have a sort of cyclical process. Trend setters and cultural icons grow out of necessity to give voice to the voiceless. Eventually, it becomes exploited and enters a commercial brand era. So, on and so forth. No music style is immune to it and they all seem to fall victim of the cycle. One thing is for sure though, we can all agree a special place in hell exists for the person who invented Autotune...</blockquote>

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