The sophistication of 90s HipHop

in #hiphop7 years ago


So lately I have been downloading some memorable 90s Hip Hop and R&B. A video I have been playing over and over is Total's Can't You See. One thing that I notice is how little focus on the girl ass there was. Then I started looking at the video itself, the production and the scenery and also the mood it sets. I have to say that some of these videos look so much more sophisticated than now.

The sepia color of this video is a nice setup of the art gallery or church where these video take places and the constant flashing on the background make it look classy but also modern. The way the cars are flashed also are not in your face to the viewer but just modeling on the background. This combination makes it look like they have money and yeah they are flashing but the video is not abou thte things they flash, but about the group and singer, and not on their asses but on their looks.

Having the girls all on leather outfits make with a sophisticated look, not twearking or just doing sexual inuendos but just looking cool.

I am not going to act like I dont liike that, but I gotta say that if I wanna watch asses, I have porn for that. I want to make the video to complement the lyrics and overal look of the video.

Another thing that I notice is the hard pianos and the overal instrument these song plays. Making it also sophisticated making the sound effects come loud but not annoying it all. Now if you have these videos in context with other videos like Monica, and other R&B groups at the time, looking cool and fresh was a thing. I think this has somehow been replaced to look sexual, which again I dont see anything wrong, but just everyone doing it, gets a bit tired.

And btw, I am not saying that the 90's was sex free, you remember Tryna, Lil Kim and others also being oversexualized, but I think the combination of hiphop and R&B usually was pretty cool and more sophisticated from a video production perspective.

If a video got produced like that on 2017 will it ignite shit up?


JZA

About me:
Steemian, crypto fan, like to listen to 90s hip hop, and loves to chat about Linux Python and Free software. Runs a local Tech club in sunny Cancun, and enjoys hopping on planes and landing somewhere else.

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Miss these days...

Word, me too.

There is still great new music, especially Hip Hop - being released every day you just need to know where to look. I know a station on Mixlr called Hip Hop Philosophy Radio who sifts out all the trash for you. They have a show called "Monday Night Fresh" full of world premieres & shit they never played before - they never play the same thing twice. http://mixlr.com/hiphop-philosophy-radio/
Some dope new music out if you wanna check em out, - Last Jazz Club, Mello Soul Black. There is still amazing Hip Hop being released today it only ever gets better!

There is always new music and new trends, but I am speaking strictly from the mainstream perspective. Even with these videos there were the underground street videos and the west coast videos with girls twearking on cars that bump with hydrolics. But most of the mainstream was a bit more polished and such. Right now mainstream has Rihanna twerking (which is not wrong) but is just a whole different concept, and musically it really hasnt change that much as far as polishness.