According to Dexterway on Urban Dictionary, 'the wave' is defined as 'the hype like what everyone is doing', which pretty much summarizes my understanding of it.
I, personally, am not with 'the wave'. I legit had to filter through Urban Dictionary definitions to understand thoroughly.
I gather it's a collective of popular events, music, artist, etc. Whatever's popular to be exact.
Which is where my issue with the whole thing begins.
Not too long ago XXL released their highly coveted Freshman cover issue which included artists who, despite disagreement, represents the current 'wave' in Hiphop.
When I first saw the cover I disagreed with their choices.
It wasn't until after the cover dropped that I realized that one of my favorite record 'I Spy' was by Kyle.
I was shocked. The whole time that I was talking crazy, I was banging the record.
The Freshman cover put a face and name to the song for me. Perhaps I'm being too literal but doesn't that sound like a Sophomore situation.
You know, they started a buzz Freshman year and now people want to know the person behind the hype.
Thinking of things that way made me look at Hiphop media outlets as whole differently.
In this particular case, the artist on the cover aren't really 'Freshmen', they're just really really popular.
I would think that the Freshman class in Hiphop would be artists that are struggling for studio time while building a strong buzz. Not the one's rocking rollies on their arm already.
To be clear the people on the cover aren't an issue, it's moreso the low level of innovation behind the cover considering it's objective.
Shouldn't big platform's that take the time to explicitly acknowledge, explore and invest in recognizing new talent be assisting in determining what the wave is instead of just agreeing with popular opinion?
As a sucker for a good ad I can confidently say people will by anything if you market it correctly. Sales, which heavily influnces an artist popularity, can skew the number, the data, the facts.
This is not to slam XXL, if watch their interview on The Breakfast Club discussing and of their covers releases, you'd see that a good percentage of the 'almost made it' artist mentioned by name end up having somthing pop for them.
Young M.A, G Herbo and Cardi B to be specific.
They know talent when they see it, but don't take a chance on it like I feel an outlet as such should.
Like all major Hiphop outlets should.
Not only that, but also, step outside of the box. An all female cover, an all producer or DJ cover.
I'd personally love to see a senior cover. Rappers with 10+ years in Hiphop, but I digress...
So many people talk about Hiphop being trash, yet they share, discuss, and inadvertently promote the same music they talk badly about.
CatchMeOutside, her video is every where. Now how does that work?
I do not understand. See, when I see something I don't like, I don't share it.
Maybe this is all just a sign of me aging. Back in my day... Hiphop magazines defined the culture, now it seems like their becoming nothing more than a scrapbook for it.
Of course there are exceptions, but per usual, this is just my opinion...