嘻哈音乐的未来 | 经济学人文化
1
01 第十七期翻译打卡营
02 新手必读
2
Culture | Middle age and beyond
文化｜中老年
英文部分选自经济学人20230812期文化板块
Culture | Middle age and beyond
文化｜中老年
Hip-hop’s future will be less American and more global
嘻哈音乐的未来将不再专属美国，而是更加全球化
Fifty years on, the musical genre’s centre of gravity is shifting
五十年过去了，嘻哈乐流派的重心正在转移
To understand hip-hop’s future, look no further than the lead single on the album “Utopia”, by Travis Scott. Mr Scott is American, but the song’s beat is part-Brazilian, inspired by bailes funk, a cousin of hip-hop born in the favelas. Featured on the track is the Weeknd, a Canadian sensation, and Bad Bunny, a Puerto Rican who raps in Spanish and has been the world’s most-streamed artist for three years on Spotify. The song’s title is “K-Pop”, perhaps referring to the drug ketamine (but also generating interest from fans of Korean pop). One critic has called it a “diabolically stupid plan to create the most popular song in the world”, by bringing stars and elements of global hip-hop into a single tune. It worked: the song recently climbed American charts.
想要了解嘻哈乐的未来，特拉维斯·斯科特（Travis Scott）专辑《乌托邦》的首波主打单曲是个不二之选。斯科特是美国人，但这首歌的节奏带有部分巴西风格，灵感来自诞生于贫民窟的嘻哈乐表亲bailes funk。该单曲的合唱嘉宾是加拿大巨星威肯（the Weeknd）以及波多黎各歌手坏痞兔（Bad Bunny），后者用西班牙语说唱，三年来在Spotify上一直是播放量最高的歌手。歌名叫《K-Pop》，可能指的是药物克他命（ketamine）（但也引起K-pop粉丝的兴趣）。将全球嘻哈乐的明星和元素融进一首单曲，以此来创作世界上最流行的音乐，一位评论家称之为“糟糕透顶的愚蠢计划”。然而，计划奏效了。最近这首歌冲上了美国音乐榜。
注释：
1，lead single 主打单曲，专辑的先行曲
2，K-Pop Travis Scott全新专辑的首波主打单曲，K-POP请来的合作嘉宾阵容绝对是顶流汇聚，The Weeknd和Bad Bunny两位当前流媒体时代的制霸人物加上本就基础不错的Travis Scott自身，造就了这一次奇妙神圣的合作。这首歌光是从歌名定义上就已然话题讨论度十足，而曲风流派的选择诠释中也紧抓流行、嘻哈、R&B与拉丁陷阱（trap）多重角度的路线，直截了当地给到听众一种如影随形流动的思绪错觉，歌曲前半段Travis Scott和Bad Bunny相形交错蔓延着颓废美感，后半段The Weeknd注入灵魂的通透节奏布鲁斯演绎直接将情感浓度升华了不少，三人的才华均在这首歌中得到了充分的弹性释放。
Trap是一种嘻哈音乐风格，于90年代早期在美国南部形成，是一种炫酷、街头、随性的嘻哈音乐，特点是如电影插曲般的弦乐，在沉重的808鼓，2倍、3倍加速或连续奏出的hi-hats（踩镲），以及用铜管乐器、木管乐器、键盘乐器，营造出一个整体阴暗、诡异、冷酷、迷幻的氛围。
Since its supposed origin at a block party in New York on August 11th 1973, hip-hop has become the most popular musical genre in America, together withr&b. (Hip-hop is technically a larger lifestyle category but is often used interchangeably with rap.) It has shaped culture in black America’s image and has become so much a part of America’s identity that the State Department even runs a “hip-hop diplomacy” scheme, which sends rappers, djs and breakdancers abroad. Next year breakdancing, which emerged at early hip-hop parties, will officially become a new Olympic sport.
坊间流传嘻哈乐诞生于1973年8月11日纽约的一场街头派对，自那以后，嘻哈乐就和节奏布鲁斯（r&b）一起成为了美国最流行的音乐流派。（严格来讲，嘻哈是含义更为宽泛的生活方式类别，但经常与说唱混用。）嘻哈塑造了美国黑人文化，在美国民族特性中有着举足轻重的地位，乃至于美国国务院进行了“嘻哈外交”，将说唱歌手、DJ、霹雳舞者送出国门。明年，在早期嘻哈派对上出现的霹雳舞，将正式成为奥运会的新项目。
注释：
r&b 全称：Rhythmand Blues节奏布鲁斯，从名字我们可以看出r&b其实是一种布鲁斯音乐风格，只是它的节奏感强烈，所以也被称为节奏布鲁斯。节奏布鲁斯是一种节奏强劲，带有推动性（正是这一特点才奠定了节奏布鲁斯在流行音乐发展历程中的地位）的布鲁斯风格，兴起于二战之后，盛行于1950年代。
Hip-hop’s past 50 years have been heavily American, with many stars and songs emerging there. But America’s hip-hop dominance in the next half-century will not be as great. That is for two reasons.
过去五十年来，美国主导着嘻哈乐，诞生了许多明星和名曲。但是，在未来五十年里，美国在嘻哈乐的主导地位将逐渐减弱。原因有二。
First, the geographical centre of hip-hop is shifting: first from New York City and Los Angeles, then to southern cities like Atlanta in the 2000s, and now to everywhere. Many of the most influential new hip-hop stars are no longer African-American. Take the very good Bad Bunny, whose song, “Me Porto Bonito”, has been streamed 1.5bn times on Spotify since its release last year. (That is around 38% more than the Beatles’ most-streamed song, “Here Comes the Sun”, released in 1969 and added to Spotify in 2015.) Central Cee, one of Britain’s most popular rappers, took drill, a subgenre of rap born in Chicago, repackaged it in London and exported it back to America. Americans learn British slang from him on TikTok and at shows: “In London I’m verified; in New York I’m valid.”
第一个原因是嘻哈音乐的地理中心正在转移：最开始出现在纽约和洛杉矶，到了21世纪初转移到亚特兰大等南方城市，如今遍布世界各地。现在许多最有名的嘻哈新星都已经不是非裔美国人了。以很火的坏痞兔（Bad Bunny）为例，他的歌《我很好看》（Me Porto Bonito）自去年发行以来在Spotify平台上的播放量超过15亿，大约比披头士（the Beatles）的《太阳来了》（Here Comes the Sun）播放量还高出38%。《太阳来了》发行于1969年，2015年上线Spotify平台，是披头士播放量最高的歌曲。英国最火的说唱歌手之一Central Cee在英国把源自芝加哥的斗争式说唱（drill）流派重新包装后带回美国，美国人从TikTok或在演出里跟他学英式俚语：“在英国我是邪门歪道，在美国我走康庄大道。”
Far from tightening the West’s grip on cool, the internet has dropped rap’s already low barriers to entry: anyone with a voice, microphone and internet connection can release a verse. A greater pool of talent is one reason that people in many countries increasingly listen to local rap rather than American hip-hop artists. “People want to see themselves represented,” says Aori Sauthon, a rapper and Brazilian hip-hop music executive.
互联网不仅没能让西方加强在嘻哈音乐的主导地位，还把嘻哈音乐已经很低的入行门槛放得更低——只要能出声、有麦克风和能上网，任何人都能发一段曲子。有才之人百花齐放，这也是为什么各国人民变得更喜欢听本土嘻哈音乐而不是美国嘻哈音乐的一大原因。奥日•沙吞（Aori Sauthon）是一名嘻哈歌手，同时也是巴西的嘻哈音乐总监，他解释说：“人们都喜欢看自己人表演。”
In turn, American artists are taking more cultural cues from global hip-hop. Ice Spice, one of America’s brightest new rap talents, uses the British drill sound popularised by artists like Central Cee. Burna Boy, a Nigerian artist, is helping popularise afrobeats, a genre from west Africa and its diaspora, among American rappers. Some think that afrobeats could become as influential as the South has been in shaping hip-hop’s sound. (The South spawned trap, a subgenre of rap music characterised by booming drums with melodic, auto-tuned vocals.) American hip-hop has always been inspired by other, global music: early records sampled Ethiopian jazz. But this is the first time that artists in other countries are taking on Americans’ dominance in hip-hop so directly.
另一方面来说，美国歌手也从全球的嘻哈乐中汲取着更丰富的文化元素。美国最闪亮的嘻哈新星之一埃丝·史佩斯（Ice Spice）采用了Central Cee等歌手带火的英国斗争式说唱音乐的风格。尼日利亚歌手博纳男孩（Burma Boy）致力于在美国说唱圈发扬非洲节奏音乐（Afrobeats），这是一种源自西非及其移民人群的音乐风格。有的人认为，非洲节拍音乐对嘻哈音乐的影响力可以媲美当年的南部嘻哈乐。（Trap诞生于美国南方，是说唱音乐的一种，其特点是鼓点有力，经过自动调音的人声旋律优美。）美国嘻哈乐常常得到其他全球其他地区音乐的启发，早期的唱片就采样了埃塞俄比亚爵士乐。但这是其他国家的歌手第一次如此直接地挑战美国歌手在嘻哈音乐领域的主导地位。
The rise of global stars dovetails with a second trend, which is hip-hop’s surprising wobbles at home. In 2023 a hip-hop album did not top the American charts until July, the longest wait in 30 years. Hip-hop made up 42% of the top 50 most-streamed songs on Spotify in America in 2020 but accounts for just 16% so far this year, according to Chartmetric, a data firm. Country and Latin music have been gaining share.
全球嘻哈明星的崛起与第二波趋势重合，也就是嘻哈音乐在美国发生了令人惊讶的动荡。直到2023年7月，才有一张嘻哈音乐专辑登顶美国排行榜，这是30年来耗时最久的一次。根据数据公司Chartmetric给出的结果来看，2020年，嘻哈音乐在美区Spotify上播放次数最多的50首歌曲中占42%，但今年到目前为止，这一比例仅为16%。乡村音乐和拉丁音乐的市场份额一直在增加。
注释：
a hip-hop album在这里指的是Travis Scoot的新专。
The charts do not fully illustrate any genre’s broader cultural influence, but they have still prompted some soul-searching. Some are concerned that hip-hop is experiencing a “mid-life slump” in America. The easiest explanation is that hip-hop’s biggest American stars, such as Kendrick Lamar and Post Malone, are more established and are less focused on churning out hit releases than they used to be. Some emerging stars, such as Juice wrld, have died young, and with them the potential for new albums, even if they remain among the most-streamed rappers.
流行音乐排行榜虽然不能全面反映出各种音乐类型更加广泛的文化影响，但仍能引人深思。有些人担心嘻哈音乐在美国正经历“中年低潮期”（mid-life slump）。最浮皮潦草的解释是，像坎德里克·拉马尔（Kendrick Lamar）和波兹·马龙（Post Malone）这样的嘻哈巨星都已功成名就，不再像过去那样把精力放在大量发行热门歌曲上。一些新星，如朱斯·沃尔德（Juice Wrld）等，又英年早逝，即便仍然维持在最高播放量的说唱歌手行列，但随着他们的逝去，也失去了发行新专辑的可能。
It may also be that listeners feel hip-hop has strayed too far from where it started. What began as an anti-establishment movement in the Bronx has now become the “cultural arm of capitalism”, says Tricia Rose, a professor at Brown University who was among the first people to study hip-hop. Materialism is rampant in lyrics and lifestyles. “Rappers from thefavelas now go to Prada to buy socks,” laments Mr Sauthon, the Brazilian hip-hop executive. Many criticise the rise of trap and “mumble rap” (a term for rap songs whose lyrics are hard to decipher) for a perceived lack of lyrical depth.
也有可能是听众感觉嘻哈音乐已经远远偏离了初衷。最早研究嘻哈文化之一的布朗大学教授翠西雅·罗斯（Tricia Rose）说，原本是作为反建制兴起的运动现在却变成了“资本主义在文化上的左膀右臂”。歌词和歌手的生活方式都充满着物质主义。巴西音乐总监沙吞先生失望地表示，“贫民窟的说唱歌手现在跑到普拉达（Prada）买袜子了”。很多人批评Trap的崛起和“模糊说唱”（指歌词难以辨认的说唱歌曲），指责其歌词缺乏深度。
But defenders point out how hip-hop has retained its anti-establishment roots, being invoked by young people and political activists globally, from Pretoria to Palestine. And despite all the talk of a hip-hop downturn in America, its influence remains indisputable. Morgan Wallen, today’s most popular country singer, uses trap-inspired beats and sings with a rap-like cadence. Recent albums from Taylor Swift are replete with swear words. “I’m not sure that would’ve happened before hip-hop,” says Adam Bradley, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.
但是嘻哈捍卫者却指出嘻哈文化如何保留了其反建制的根，从比勒陀利亚到巴勒斯坦，全球的年轻人和政治活动家们都在诉诸于嘻哈文化。尽管大家都在说美国嘻哈文化衰退，但其影响力仍然毋庸置疑。当今最受欢迎的乡村歌手摩根·瓦伦（Morgan Wallen）使用由Trap激发的节拍，唱腔如同说唱那样抑扬顿挫。而泰勒·斯威夫特（Taylor Swift）的新专也充斥着詈语。加州大学洛杉矶分校的教授亚当·布拉德利（Adam Bradley）说，“我敢说，在嘻哈文化出现前不可能出现这样的情况”。
Far from being ready for a mic-drop, hip-hop is just starting a new sort of tour: with more artists from more countries embracing the genre than ever. Middle age has never looked so good.
嘻哈音乐远不是“扔麦般的曲终调绝”，而是刚刚开启新的征程：与之前相比，来自更多国家的更多艺术家们正拥抱这种艺术。可以说，从未有谁的中年如同嘻哈音乐的这般惊艳。
翻译组：
Jack Jan，实践出真知
琚儿，女，QE在职，梦想能仗翻译/音乐/健康走天涯
Lavender，不会做模特的追星女孩不是好的话剧爱好者
雪迪，开眼看世界
YY，愿逆风如解意，容易莫摧残
Dossver，男，是错永不对真永是真
3
观点|评论|思考
本次感想
Constance，痛终有时，爱必将至
4
愿景