Updated 7/27: Hip-Hop purveyors, here's 2 songs. What you think?

[bLACKpANTHER]

5 hours ago, top dawg said:

Times are changing and things are evolving whether we like it or not. I think that the industry can make an artist if the powers-that-be choose to, but I do think that there has to be some talent somewhere. With this Internet age, I think that fans "make" artists as well, because the industry isn't likely going to overlook an aspiring artist who commands hundreds of thousands of views at a time. The thing is though, I do believe that talent is being flat out overlooked because of pay-to-play or pay-to-promote in order to push art whether it's actually good or not. I think that some blacks in this industry (which we basically created) are largely full of poo because they've wholeheartedly adopted these barriers of entry, when art---at least worthwhile art---shouldn't even be about that. 

 

/thread

if you disagree - cash me outside...

[AggieLean]

The cash me outside little girl is a rap artist now? *weebay gif*

Man hip hop’s in a good space right now. The ones who don’t focus on their craft, and are clearly in it for the cheese usually fade to black. The ones who have talent stick around.

Each generation of hip hop for the most part thinks the next is trash or the previous was overrated. I’m 29; my generation grew up on early 2000’s rap. I grew up thinking no rapper alive, past or present was as cold on the mic or realer than Lil Boosie or Jeezy (lol) besides Pac. 

I think a lot of these new rappers are dope, and musically gifted. For example, I don’t really get into his lifestyle, but Young Thug is amazing to me. His different flows and melodies he displays throughout his songs are great to me. I like NBA Youngboy, too.

6 hours ago, bLACKpANTHER said:

 

/thread

if you disagree - cash me outside...

lol I’m messing with ya man.

[E CaT PanTHer 2]

if you want good hip hop, check out the cat! 

 

[pantherphan96]

There's tons of good rap out there right now, it just isn't necessarily getting radio shine, Aggie mentioned Thugger and there are plenty more:

Freddie Gibbs
Jay Rock
ScHoolboy Q
Ab-Soul
Isaiah Rashad
Mick Jenkins
Big KRIT
Joey Badass
Flatbush Zombies
The Underachievers
Dave East
JID
Cozz
Bas
Earthgang
Earl Sweatshirt
Vince Staples
Jay IDK
Denzel Curry
Pusha T
Danny Brown

 

etc.

[AggieLean]

On that list, I personally mess with Gibbs, Isaiah Rashad, Krit, Joey Badass, Dave East, and Bas. I just went to a Krit concert like a month ago. Dude throws a dope concert. 

What I listen to now is a lot of older stuff, like UGK, Ball & G, Suga Free, and old project pat. J Cole has been getting a lot of play lately, and my boy from Oakland put me on to this dude named Mozzy. He’s been getting some burn. 

I also been on an R&B kick lately. Mariah Carey’s sweet angelic voice gets play damn near every morning and whenever I have my little girl in the car.

@top dawg whenever your son drops some new stuff, let us know! Your son is going to have you moving around like a young man again. Having you in clubs supporting him lol. Need to get Cookie in here. Afro American women are who determine what’s hot and buy records!

[pstall]

On 5/19/2018 at 11:16 PM, top dawg said:

Come on, people I know more than Aggie listens to hip-hop. Have some pie, rather good, bad or ugly (not trollish). 

@MechaZain@Cookie Lyon where you and Lucious at? 

stuff nowadays is hip POP. hip hop for my money was 1980-2002. now its bubblegum. 

[MechaZain]

21 hours ago, top dawg said:

Sorry, I think he's right to a degree. Ironically, some would probably say that Will Smith is exhibit A. Mind you, I appreciate Smith.

I think that @MechaZain may have just a tad of disdain for some artists back then from his tone (not trying to get into his head), but he can speak for himself, but I also believe that you may just have a lack of appreciation for some of these talents of today. There is a middle ground, and it's not just about Cole or Kendrick. Monotone rappers with the same style of delivery on every song could be looked upon as boring. And, like it or not, rap is about more than lyrics (especially these days). You know, "One man's trash..."

Not the music, I have an irrational thing against the mentality lol. It's hard because rap's not given proper subgenres like rock has, maybe because it's so young. You've got any sort of rap you could want available to you now but people want to focus on today's worst examples and the past's best. Music discovery in the streaming age is way different than when TV and radio ruled everything and I see reluctance to adapt.

My dad's the main reason. He got me into hip hop as a kid through Tribe and stopped following like mid 2000s. We've been having the "hip hop is dead" conversation annually ever since and I'm like, bruh, how would you even know lol. He grew up with radio and MTV feeding him new music so if it's not popular enough to reach him organically (my middle aged father who only goes out to the movies or work) it may as well not exist in his mind. I can't get him to understand that there's plenty of rappers doing boom bap if that's all he wants, some more lyrical than his favorite from youth.

Tired of hearing jokes about Uzi and Lil Yachty from my uncles every thanksgiving learn how to use spotify ya oldheads!!!!!

[Bronn]

I don’t really claim to be much of a hip hop head anymore, although I do still produce a track every now and then.

OP wasn’t bad. It’s typical of today’s style, and with some of the tweaks already mentioned (pop filter, layering, etc.) it would definitely be on par. The fundamentals are definitely there. I will say, however, that there is a bit of disingenuous feel to the lyrical content. I’ve never, no matter who it is, been a fan of that.

Commercial music in general, but especially rap, has been about the backing track for close to two decades now anyways.

Every since Little Brother broke up I haven’t really kept up with much. I couldn’t name 3 songs by Drake or any of today’s premier faces of the genre. I couldn’t even get into Kendrick, really. I’m not a fan of his tone.

The better artists have pretty much been ignored or forced to sell out to pull in other audiences. Tech N9ne has been one of the best rappers of all time, but gets largely ignored because of catering to juggalo-esque fans and making too many not-so-serious songs. At least he’s doing his thing independently, I guess.

I’ve got a couple friends still in the game, and I’m still hoping they make it one day. At least enough to be comfortable or whatever. But it is hard to change who you are to sell yourself to people.

[MechaZain]

55 minutes ago, Bronn said:

I don’t really claim to be much of a hip hop head anymore, although I do still produce a track every now and then.

OP wasn’t bad. It’s typical of today’s style, and with some of the tweaks already mentioned (pop filter, layering, etc.) it would definitely be on par. The fundamentals are definitely there. I will say, however, that there is a bit of disingenuous feel to the lyrical content. I’ve never, no matter who it is, been a fan of that.

Commercial music in general, but especially rap, has been about the backing track for close to two decades now anyways.

Every since Little Brother broke up I haven’t really kept up with much. I couldn’t name 3 songs by Drake or any of today’s premier faces of the genre. I couldn’t even get into Kendrick, really. I’m not a fan of his tone.

The better artists have pretty much been ignored or forced to sell out to pull in other audiences. Tech N9ne has been one of the best rappers of all time, but gets largely ignored because of catering to juggalo-esque fans and making too many not-so-serious songs. At least he’s doing his thing independently, I guess.

I’ve got a couple friends still in the game, and I’m still hoping they make it one day. At least enough to be comfortable or whatever. But it is hard to change who you are to sell yourself to people.

Kendrick's voice seems to put off a lot of older heads, I've noticed. I think Drake's popular in part because he enunciates his words and a lot of folks can't understand the fast and mumble rappers.

[top dawg]

43 minutes ago, Bronn said:

I don’t really claim to be much of a hip hop head anymore, although I do still produce a track every now and then.

OP wasn’t bad. It’s typical of today’s style, and with some of the tweaks already mentioned (pop filter, layering, etc.) it would definitely be on par. The fundamentals are definitely there. I will say, however, that there is a bit of disingenuous feel to the lyrical content. I’ve never, no matter who it is, been a fan of that.

Commercial music in general, but especially rap, has been about the backing track for close to two decades now anyways.

Every since Little Brother broke up I haven’t really kept up with much. I couldn’t name 3 songs by Drake or any of today’s premier faces of the genre. I couldn’t even get into Kendrick, really. I’m not a fan of his tone.

The better artists have pretty much been ignored or forced to sell out to pull in other audiences. Tech N9ne has been one of the best rappers of all time, but gets largely ignored because of catering to juggalo-esque fans and making too many not-so-serious songs. At least he’s doing his thing independently, I guess.

I’ve got a couple friends still in the game, and I’m still hoping they make it one day. At least enough to be comfortable or whatever. But it is hard to change who you are to sell yourself to people.

Yeah, I believe there is somewhat of a generational gap going on now. I think like Mecha alluded to, perhaps if there were different subgenres in rap and they became "accepted" or "normal," everyone would grin, bear it, and be "happy."

A lot of people who grew up in the 90s to early 2000s won't believe that rap really began as what I'll call party-good-time music that was kind of light and told a whimsical story about whatever, but especially lyrical battling. Sure, it quickly morphed into social consciousness by some, and then took an even darker turn in the 90s with beefing between squads and gangs, but that's NOT how it began. It has gone through phases and variations on some of the same themes all along. So though I understand some of the purists and elitists about what rap is, should be, or isn't, I just have come to the conclusion that it is forever evolving whether I like it or not, and that no one generation has a right to define with all authority as to what constitutes "good" art. 

I mean, make fun of Bhad Bhabie all you like, her flow is kinda legit, even if it is hip-pop. I mean, you give the people (the kids of today) what they want. If they don't want Public Enemy, Nas, The Fugees or Tech N9ne, what are you gonna do? You have to eat. I ain't hatin' on someone trying to feed their family, even if they have to put on an act to do it. 

[AggieLean]

I don’t have many complaints about hip hop, but one of my biggest complaints about the current state is there are very few things that separate us or there’s a lack of uniqueness. Back in the day, you could tell through the music if someone was from NY, Chicago, LA, New Orleans, etc. Now, everyone pretty much sounds the same, as we all use the same slang, dress the same way, there’s only a few distinct flows that everyone is using, etc. Growing up, one of the things that I really loved about rap was I could pick up how people were living in a particular city or region by listening to their songs. I could listen to an artist from Memphis or Philly, and be able to tell they were from there. I know right here in North Carolina, we had Little Brother and Petey Pablo. Petey represented for the rural towns of the state and Little Brother was on that conscious tip. Phonte used to shout out all the areas in Greensboro (like Sugar Bares & 4 Seasons mall). Now, everyone sounds like they’re from Atlanta.

My dad put me on rap/hip hop. I remember back in 96 hearing Master P’s “Make Em Say Uhh” with my dad on the radio. He asked me if I liked it, I said yea, and he turned it up. I was hooked afterwards. He was into gangsta rap (Rakim Allah, Ice Cube, Geto Boys, 2pac). He would recite Pac’s “When We Ride on Our Enemies” word for word, and that used to be so dope to me. I’m a gangsta rap fan to this day, which is why I have appreciation for Trap, as it’s an offspring of gangsta rap.

Theres so much rap out there today. If you’re not able to find something you like, you’re not looking hard enough.

[top dawg]

Don't get me wrong, I like certain songs by some of today's artists like Rich Home Quan, Young Thug, and Fetty Wap, but the last song in a long time that actually really made me think of ol' skool rap (outside of Cole) was Ambition by Wale, Meek & Ross. I love that song.

[panther4life]

On 5/24/2018 at 8:35 AM, bLACKpANTHER said:

Artists today are not artists.. they have not studied their craft and it shows.. their goal is to use hiphop as a platform to get them famous and they disrespect the vets shoulders they are standing on today..

Funny thing is - only a select few (Kendrick, J.Cole, etc.) will have longevity because they have put in the work.. So all the flashin' that you are supposed to do when you 'get on' will just wash these new rappers out and make way for the next pawn for the radios, business execs and corporations to push in front of the masses.. sad thing is - the masses eat this sh!t up..

Imagine if an NFL owner could have Aaron Rogers or Cam Newton or OBJ on their rookie contracts forever?? sounds like a good deal right!? well, thats what the hiphop industry has done.. the industry MAKES the artists now..

in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s - hiphop was (for the most part) dictated by the fans and the artists together..

But ima stop.. fug this new era..

You get it. The younger generation does not. They have no clue how good rap used to be. Was talking to some co-workers in their 20's last year and they had 0 clue what Jay-Z's first album was, but can tell you all about these garbage rappers today. We are talking about the same generation who swears Lebron is the goat, but never saw the real goat in real time (Jordan).

There's a small handful of decent rappers out there today and probably some hidden gems I don't have the time or care level to seek out. 

 

This song came out in 06 and it proves to be fact more and more as time goes on.

 

 

[Moose Hoover]

aye yeah aye yeah aye yeah aye yeah aye yeah aye yeah unh yeah aye yeah my gang gang aye yeah unh unh

 

it's almost on bhad bhabie level

 

which is the best out there so...