While the emergence of emo and pop-punk revivals hints at a longing for the past, it also underscores the gradual fading of Rock's cultural significance.
Rock, often synonymous with rebellion, is drawing its last breaths of cultural relevance, surviving through the younger generation's rediscovery of iconic bands from previous decades. The torch of edgy music for the youth has now been firmly passed to rap, which has occupied the throne for an extended period. However, as with rock, the question looms - will hip-hop follow a similar trajectory of aging and lose its status?
Released by Danny & the Juniors in 1958, the song "Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay," which proclaimed: "Rock and roll is here to stay, it will never die" unknowingly set the stage for the rock genre's self-referential nature. Indeed, it seems rock and roll has been concerned with self-preservation from the outset, and it needed to be. With attitudes ranging from dismissive to explicitly racist-decried as both the un-serious object of affection for teenage girls and a catalyst for sin and the unraveling of the moral fabric of America, Rock and Roll was an embattled genre. This attitude would persist, and Rock music would become synonymous with youthful rebellion. Though initially regarded as a passing fade, the genre persevered, becoming the dominant force in the music world. Even as Rock became the de-facto basis of pop music through the '60s, '70s, and '80s, its self-aggrandizing aspect remained intact well past its need; '80's anthems like "I Wanna Rock" by Twisted Sister and "Rock and Roll All Nite" by Kiss, feel corporate and hollow, even in their time. By this time, Rock was established and respected-the true music of rebellion was Hip Hop.
Originating from the Bronx in the 1970's, Hip hop developed as part of a broader hip-hop subculture defined by its urban origins which, in addition to rapping, consisted of DJing, breakdancing, and graffiti art. Diversifying in the 1980's the genre hit its stride in what is considered the golden of hip hop in the mid-80's to 1990's, primarily due to the advent of the gangsta rap subgenre, which focused on the lives of inner-city African American youth and often contained references to sex, drugs, violence and the struggles with poverty. Hip-hop became a best-selling genre in the mid-1990's due to its popularity with audiences whose experiences were represented in the genre, though it went relatively unnoticed by the white, suburban population. Eminem, a white rapper from Detroit, brought widespread attention to the genre, which then became the top-selling music genre by 1999.
Rock and Roll and Hip hop have an interesting relationship that is both adversarial and collaborative. The two share a similar past: Rock and Roll was largely derived from the artistry of African Americans, particularly Gospel and Blues music, though with added elements from Kentucky Bluegrass. Though it pre-dated him, the genre was propelled into popularity by Elvis Presley, a white musician who was raised in a predominantly black environment and thus admired black music. Similarly, hip-hop was created by and for African Americans and later propelled into the wider cultural context by Eminem, who was similarly reared in the predominantly black city of Detroit. While Rock had morphed into a decidedly "white" genre, Hip hop remained a predominantly black genre with a few notable outliers.
As the 50th anniversary of Hip hop draws to a close, rap music has remained a cultural powerhouse, while rock music seems to be all but abandoned. There are a few notable exceptions, and indie and alternative rock remain prevalent, though the genre has never re-reached the heights of the popularity it once maintained. In fact, many rappers, like 'Lil Uzi Vert, have taken it upon themselves to produce rock-inspired music. Rap has effectively taken Rock's spot as the de-facto genre of the youth and has yet to be dethroned. Still, as the genre's popularity persists, it seems to have lost some of its rebellious credibility. The mainstreaming of hip-hop culture is not without its consequences; as younger and younger fans get into rap music it loses its edge, even while rap music continues to be innovative. Just as Rock became a fixture in the corporate world, the same fate seems inevitable for Hip hop.
The commercial viability of Rap may eventually be its downfall-it is often used, or at least mimicked, in advertisements and commercials, rap legends from the golden era increasingly involve themselves in the corporate world, promoting products and integrating into the world of daytime television, game shows, children's media and other ventures that seem antithetical to the dangerous image Hip hop used to project. Even as subgenres like Drill rap maintain an aura of violence and counter-culture, those subgenres are increasingly appropriated by acts like 'Lil Mabu, a New York drill rapper who was raised in a wealthy and privileged environment.
The torch of youth rebellion has unmistakably passed to rap, which, much like Rock in its heyday, now faces the looming question of whether it will follow a similar trajectory of aging and losing its cultural dominance. The cyclical nature of music's rise and fall continues, leaving us to ponder whether the next transformative wave will reshape the soundscape once more.
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