[bimmer456]

Shout out to the OGs

[paimon.soror]

No telling how depressed guys like smalls, tupac, and E would be seeing the trainwreck that is "rap" today.

[ASAP]

Yes, unfortunately I think rap died in the mid 2000s... but if I had to trace the roots of where it started going down, it would have been with the bling era of cash money, followed by atlanta's influence into it (post Outkast of course) then into that dumb Houston screw era. If things remained in New York and the West Coast, things would have been ok, unfortunately I do not believe this genre has much time left before it's no longer mainstream.

[Delta0311]

I cannot listen to anything that they refer to as hip hop today. Every beat sounds the same. The lyrics are weak, simplistic, and down right stupid. Of course you also have auto tune, dear God why do they have to use auto tune in every song???!!!!

[ASAP]

Well, when the top rappers are Lil Pump, Lil Uzi Vert and Migos... well rock bottom has been reached... mumble rappers are at the top, and when Gucci Gang becomes a number one hit, its game over.

DMX literally said, I don't want my kids listening to this bullshit and I want to have nothing to do with these clowns today. I think 2pac is definitely rolling around... World Star Hip Hop hop / Sound Cloud are very highly responsible for this as well.

[FriedPiston]

NAS said Hip-Hop is dead, but that was back in 2006. I don't think Chance, Kung-fu Kenny, Drake, and many up-and-coming artists like Joyner Lucas and 16-year old TheRealAK would agree, though.

Rap/Hip-Hop will be around for a while, some people just have to learn how to adapt to new styles.

[jgoens]

This is just music in general. Everything now is kind of this soft pop soul rock. Growing up in the 80's we had real musicians and rappers.

[1MOREMOD]

Everything evolves except old people.

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by nars3000

NAS said Hip-Hop is dead, but that was back in 2006. I don't think Chance, Kung-fu Kenny, Drake, and many up-and-coming artists like Joyner Lucas and 16-year old TheRealAK would agree, though.

Rap/Hip-Hop will be around for a while, some people just have to learn how to adapt to new styles.

Do you think Chance the rapper is mainstream enough and can make enough hits to save hip hop? I personally only know 1 of his songs and have been listening to hip hop since about 1995. Kendrick Lamar is another perfect example of the same, he cannot appeal to enough people to truly breakthrough to everyone. He is skilled, but his style is not for everyone. Drake (I hate to say this) is a part R&B rapper that has a strong pop persona and literally sings on half his songs (it has also been said that he doesn't write anything himself). Personally, just like Rock and Rock back in the day, I think that modern EDM and Hip Hop has peaked and will not be as mainstream in the future.

[kprocivic]

Music changes and evolves. The only thing different now is social media. It's all about follows, views, and likes, content means nothing. If you have a following whether good or bad, you can make money.

[FriedPiston]

Originally Posted by ASAP

Do you think Chance the rapper is mainstream enough and can make enough hits to save hip hop? I personally only know 1 of his songs and have been listening to hip hop since about 1995. Kendrick Lamar is another perfect example of the same, he cannot appeal to enough people to truly breakthrough to everyone. He is skilled, but his style is not for everyone. Drake (I hate to say this) is a part R&B rapper that has a strong pop persona and literally sings on half his songs (it has also been said that he doesn't write anything himself). Personally, just like Rock and Rock back in the day, I think that modern EDM and Hip Hop has peaked and will not be as mainstream in the future.

Realistically, Chance probably doesn't have a chance to be around long if he doesn't stay grinding like Drake has for a decade+. Although, he is considered mainstream in terms of social status having been a guest on Ellen a few times.

The media tried to put Drake under scrutiny for having a ghost writer for a single verse on his 10 Bands track. We're talking about one verse, and now people assume he doesn't write his own songs. There's a reason why Meek Mill is no longer relevant, and he pretty much murdered his own career when he thought Drake was a softie rapper. This is how the term "Twitter Fingers" started.

1MOREMOD said it best. Everything evolves, but sometimes old people don't. People need to adapt constantly to changes, or we'll be stuck like an old stubborn IT guy refusing to move on from Windows XP.

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by nars3000

Realistically, Chance probably doesn't have a chance to be around long if he doesn't stay grinding like Drake has for a decade+. Although, he is considered mainstream in terms of social status having been a guest on Ellen a few times.

The media tried to put Drake under scrutiny for having a ghost writer for a single verse on his 10 Bands track. We're talking about one verse, and now people assume he doesn't write his own songs. There's a reason why Meek Mill is no longer relevant, and he pretty much murdered his own career when he thought Drake was a softie rapper. This is how the term "Twitter Fingers" started.

1MOREMOD said it best. Everything evolves, but sometimes old people don't. People need to adapt constantly to changes, or we'll be stuck like an old stubborn IT guy refusing to move on from Windows XP.

I dont understand the last point... everything does evolve... but for the better? Absolutely not... garbage will always be garbage. There will have to be a style shift coming up or its over. Remember, Gucci Gang was one of the top songs on spotify last year...

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by paimon.soror

No telling how depressed guys like smalls, tupac, and E would be seeing the trainwreck that is "rap" today.

Mumble rap. Speak up don't mumble!

[paimon.soror]

all i hear in todays "rap" is something like :

bigitta wigitta bugatta bo
wigimma wommona bopada boo
woppada toppada tipitty too
yea...hey...yea

[PINeely]

Originally Posted by paimon.soror

all i hear in todays "rap" is something like :

bigitta wigitta bugatta bo
wigimma wommona bopada boo
woppada toppada tipitty too
yea...hey...yea

You forgot the crappy loose bass and 3-minute air horn intro

[P1]

Uhhh you guys must have never listened to Chief Keef...

[ASAP]

Originally Posted by P1et

Uhhh you guys must have never listened to Chief Keef...

Ah of course good sir... does google translate exist for this?

[Jhanksm3]

Today's rap has made it cool to be a drug head. That is all they talk about. Damn shame

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by ASAP

Yes, unfortunately I think rap died in the mid 2000s... but if I had to trace the roots of where it started going down, it would have been with the bling era of cash money, followed by atlanta's influence into it (post Outkast of course) then into that dumb Houston screw era. If things remained in New York and the West Coast, things would have been ok, unfortunately I do not believe this genre has much time left before it's no longer mainstream.

I distinctly remember around 2007-2008 was when I started tuning out of rap. I grew up with a lot of the '00s garbage and thought it was cool at the time, but now whenever I listen to it I've gotta shut it off.

I still think some modern rap is OK. Hate all ya'll want but I actually like what Drake has brought to music as a whole.

[bimmer456]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

I distinctly remember around 2007-2008 was when I started tuning out of rap. I grew up with a lot of the '00s garbage and thought it was cool at the time, but now whenever I listen to it I've gotta shut it off.

I still think some modern rap is OK. Hate all ya'll want but I actually like what Drake has brought to music as a whole.

I like Gods Plan. The way he puts haters on blast for wishin' and wishin bad things but still keeping it positive with the mppsk sic video and giving God the credit.

[FriedPiston]

Originally Posted by ASAP

I dont understand the last point... everything does evolve... but for the better? Absolutely not... garbage will always be garbage. There will have to be a style shift coming up or its over. Remember, Gucci Gang was one of the top songs on spotify last year...

Not sure, I have Spotify Premium, but I never use their charts as a reference to figure out what's good. Perhaps this is the reason why you feel a certain way about the genre if you find yourself limited to Spotify's database.

Here are two covers of Gucci Gang that may make you think twice about Hip-Hop being dead:

Lucas Joyner

TheRealAK

Furthermore on Drake, he basically paved the way for new school artists like Khalid, Swae Lee, French, and etc on how it's cool to sing and rap at the same time. But if you want to take it back further, no one thought of Bone Thugs as being soft back when they were singing and rapping in the 90s. Everyone was digging their style despite the fact that no one understood what they were saying in real time.

Here's an interesting question: If you were stranded on an island and you could pick just 1 Hip-Hop artist to listen to forever, who would you pick?

With all due respect to the late Tupac (hometown legend) and BIG, I would pick Drake over them easily. Heck, I might even go with 90s NAS (iLLMatic, Nastradamus, Stillmatic) over Tupac, but that's just me.

[ny325]

Notorious BIG, Slick Rick, and rappers from the 90s are my choices. Rap music, and rappers today are horrible. Can’t understand what there saying. The majority of them rap about money, girls, luxury clothing, and drugs. You need a interpreter to figure it out.