Are We Overanalyzing Hip Hop?
- Thread starter 5 Grand
- Start date
Hip Hop at this point is popular music, it used to be a sub-culture. Now it's whatever. I used to care about lyrics and and shit, now I am bumping Travis Scott, Future and Young Thug and all the other non-lyrical motherfuckers, enjoying shit for what it is. Used to feel like you are part of a secret society when listening to Hip Hop music with regional slang and regional history. Now it's like whatever.
RusselWilsonJr
Who do you think you are? I am
Does it matter that 69 had/has a following..or lil pump, lil xan,
SneakDZA
High Brow Negro
Yes! We created this shit and we should be the gatekeepers. The problem is we let "others" do the gatekeeping by way of radio, tv, magazines, record labels and so forth. It used to be strictly we named the tune and all those other motherfuckers did the dance. That lasted for about one season - we call it the golden era - and now we got a bunch of no talent sellout niggas that will do anything for a buck and those radio, tv, magazine, label dudes are thriving.
Bobjones
Active Member
a dude like 69 has enough of a following to stay within his bubble and shut out the criticism. go to any of the new school videos.. you talk shit, u got a bunch of zoomers tellin an old head their dated opinion is irrelevant. it's the way it is. traditions get left in the dust. sometimes they make their way back to the fore (think the weeknds success with 80s synth pop stylings or Bruno Mars' rnb/funk throwbacks) and let a new gen know where it all came from.
we all got our own experience and identity an u either get with the times or stay in ur lane. but ultimately our shared opinions matter to our collective (whatever that is, 80s, 90s, backpackers, southern, etc). maybe that's all that matters. to carve out, promote and defend the shit we love, all the other evolutions (or devolutions depending on ur perspective) be damned. whatever's happened is encapsulated in history and that can't be taken away.
the 69's and lil pumps of the world can keep doing their thing. we'll see how time judges their worth.
we all got our own experience and identity an u either get with the times or stay in ur lane. but ultimately our shared opinions matter to our collective (whatever that is, 80s, 90s, backpackers, southern, etc). maybe that's all that matters. to carve out, promote and defend the shit we love, all the other evolutions (or devolutions depending on ur perspective) be damned. whatever's happened is encapsulated in history and that can't be taken away.
the 69's and lil pumps of the world can keep doing their thing. we'll see how time judges their worth.
Lab Baby
#CouchGang2024
Opening this thread is literally the first time in months I seen/heard someone mention that rainbow haired Sailor Moon villian. I have no point to that, just wanted to say it.
Hip hop has become increasingly niche, especially in the social media era. Ppl like what they like, and if there's supply they're gonna flock to it. Who would've thought a group of dustheads from Staten Island that reference kung fu flicks and Italian mob figures would form one of the greatest rap groups of all time? The 98 Grammys might tell a different story, but Wu's fanbase has kept them in the annals of history for a good part of 3 decades. Griselda is just as good, but they gotta share the vast yet still limited online space with the Fivios and Cardi Bs of today... and they might not ever get as appreciated as they should. We had this conversation literally a decade ago. Drake, Cole, K Dot, Wiz, and those guys are solidified now but we justifiably questioned their merit in that current landscape. This ain't the 70s/80s when you either had to rap or fight your way out of a block party you weren't invited to. Each generation has their moment, and if you can acknowledge what's already been solidified you can decipher the real shit for yourself. Right now, hip hop lives in battle rap. That also has its bullshit and politics but the best of it is grounded in the traditions laid out by the OGs that started this.
Hip hop has become increasingly niche, especially in the social media era. Ppl like what they like, and if there's supply they're gonna flock to it. Who would've thought a group of dustheads from Staten Island that reference kung fu flicks and Italian mob figures would form one of the greatest rap groups of all time? The 98 Grammys might tell a different story, but Wu's fanbase has kept them in the annals of history for a good part of 3 decades. Griselda is just as good, but they gotta share the vast yet still limited online space with the Fivios and Cardi Bs of today... and they might not ever get as appreciated as they should. We had this conversation literally a decade ago. Drake, Cole, K Dot, Wiz, and those guys are solidified now but we justifiably questioned their merit in that current landscape. This ain't the 70s/80s when you either had to rap or fight your way out of a block party you weren't invited to. Each generation has their moment, and if you can acknowledge what's already been solidified you can decipher the real shit for yourself. Right now, hip hop lives in battle rap. That also has its bullshit and politics but the best of it is grounded in the traditions laid out by the OGs that started this.
rip.dilla
Active Member
Problem is ..
Hiphop music is based on (in its origins) rapping lyrics on a beat
Now Hiphop music is been diluted and dudes who harmonize lyrics or sing almost all the time on their records... and who are mostly mainstream acts
Are viewed as rappers or Hiphop artistes... thereby virtually marginalising real MCs/rappers