2023年经济学人 嘻哈音乐将变得更全球化(2)（在线收听）

    In turn, American artists are taking more cultural cues from global hip-hop.

    美国音乐人也相应地从全球嘻哈音乐中获得了更多文化线索。

    Ice Spice, one of America’s brightest new rap talents, uses the British drill sound popularised by artists like Central Cee.

    ICE Spice是美国最耀眼的说唱新秀之一，她使用了Central Cee等歌手带火的英式drill风格。

    Burna Boy, a Nigerian artist, is helping popularise afrobeats, a genre from west Africa and its diaspora, among American rappers.

    尼日利亚歌手Burna Boy正在让afrobeats在美国说唱歌手中流行起来，这是一种来自西非及其侨民的音乐类型。

    Some think that afrobeats could become as influential as the South has been in shaping hip-hop’s sound.

    一些人认为，afrobeats在塑造嘻哈音乐方面可能会像南方嘻哈一样具有强大影响力。

    (The South spawned trap, a subgenre of rap music characterised by booming drums with melodic, auto-tuned vocals.)(南方嘻哈催生了trap音乐，trap是说唱音乐的一个子流派，特点是低沉的鼓声和有旋律的、经过修音的人声。)American hip-hop has always been inspired by other, global music: early records sampled Ethiopian jazz.

    美国嘻哈音乐一直受到其他国家音乐的启发：早期唱片采样了埃塞俄比亚爵士乐。

    But this is the first time that artists in other countries are taking on Americans’ dominance in hip-hop so directly.

    但其他国家的歌手如此直接地挑战美国人在嘻哈领域的主导地位，这还是第一次。

    The rise of global stars dovetails with a second trend, which is hip-hop’s surprising wobbles at home.

    全球明星的崛起与第二个趋势相吻合，即嘻哈音乐在美国的地位令人惊讶地有所动摇。

    In 2023 a hip-hop album did not top the American charts until July, the longest wait in 30 years.

    2023年，一张嘻哈专辑直到7月份才登上美国排行榜榜首，这是30年来等待时间最长的一次。

    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.

    根据数据公司Chartmetic的数据，2020年，嘻哈音乐在美国Spotify播放量最高的50首歌曲中占了42%，但今年到目前为止只占了16%。

    Country and Latin music have been gaining share.

    乡村音乐和拉丁音乐的占比一直在增加。

    The charts do not fully illustrate any genre’s broader cultural influence, but they have still prompted some soul-searching.

    这些排行榜并没有充分说明任何一种曲风的广泛的文化影响力，但仍然引发了一些反思。

    Some are concerned that hip-hop is experiencing a “mid-life slump” in America.

    一些人担心嘻哈音乐正在美国经历“中年衰退”。

    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.

    最简单的解释是，美国的嘻哈巨星，如肯德里克·拉马尔和波兹·马龙，如今比以前更有名气，也不再那么专注于制作热门专辑。

    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.

    一些新星，如朱斯·沃尔德，已经英年早逝，随之逝去的还有创作新专辑的潜力，即使他们仍然属于播放量最高的说唱歌手之列。

    It may also be that listeners feel hip-hop has strayed too far from where it started.

    也可能是听众觉得嘻哈音乐已经偏离其初衷太远。

    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.

    布朗大学的教授特里西亚·罗斯是嘻哈音乐研究的先驱之一，他表示，嘻哈音乐最初是在纽约布朗克斯区发起的一场反正统运动，如今已成为“资本主义的文化武器”。

    Materialism is rampant in lyrics and lifestyles.

    嘻哈歌词和生活方式中物质主义泛滥。

    “Rappers from the favelas now go to Prada to buy socks,” laments Mr Sauthon, the Brazilian hip-hop executive.

    “贫民窟的说唱歌手现在都去普拉达买袜子。”巴西嘻哈音乐主理人索顿哀叹道。

    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.

    许多人批评trap和“mumble rap”(歌词很难理解的说唱歌曲)的兴起，因为人们认为这些音乐缺乏抒情深度。

    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.

    但嘻哈音乐的捍卫者指出，嘻哈音乐没有丢失其反正统根源，从南非的比勒陀利亚到巴勒斯坦，世界各地的年轻人和政治活动人士都在用嘻哈音乐表达反抗。

    And despite all the talk of a hip-hop downturn in America, its influence remains indisputable.

    尽管所有人都在说嘻哈音乐在美国开始没落，但其影响力仍然无可争议。

    Morgan Wallen, today’s most popular country singer, uses trap-inspired beats and sings with a rap-like cadence.

    当今最受欢迎的乡村歌手摩根·沃伦也用trap曲风的节奏，并以说唱式的抑扬顿挫来唱歌。

    Recent albums from Taylor Swift are replete with swear words.

    泰勒·斯威夫特新出的专辑也充满了脏话。

    “I’m not sure that would’ve happened before hip-hop,” says Adam Bradley, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

    “我不确定要是没有嘻哈音乐，这些现象会不会发生。”加州大学洛杉矶分校的亚当·布拉德利教授说。

    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.

    嘻哈音乐还远远没到华丽谢幕的程度，新的巡演才刚刚开始：来自更多国家的更多歌手比以往任何时候都更喜欢这一音乐类型。

    Middle age has never looked so good.

    中年从没有如此精彩过。