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Is it just me or does modern hip hop suck?


attakid101

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Some context. I'm not the biggest hip hop fan in the world. I've got a few artists I'm into but there are other genres I prefer. But I overheard coworkers talking about how badly Eminem has fallen off. His last album sucks, blah blah blah. So out of curiosity I streamed it on my commute.

That fucking dude can still flow. He's like a lyrical acrobat. I'm not saying Kamikaze is a masterpiece--it's not. But damn is it impressive on a technical level. 

And it reminds me how much hip hop has changed. Crazy dexterous wordsmiths used to move millions of units.  Now it's all auto tuned hooks and showboating. I know that there are a lot of great rappers out there but it seems like for every Kendrick Lamar and Maxo Kream, you got 20 Drakes, MGKs, and Travis Scotts....

Or fuck, maybe I'm old.... 

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I think it's just such a different style than modern hip hop. Rap and hip hop have distanced themselves from one another. I'd argue Eminem hasn't Madea hip-hop song in two decades. 

 

I think modern hip hop is good tho. I like Uzi Vert but none of his stuff ever gets properly released so only heads get to hear it. What it comes down to is theres only a handful of ppl defining the genre at anytime. Travis Scott, Drake & Wanye to some extent, Young thug, 21 Savage, Meek Mill and there features are hip hop rn. Eminem is mostly bars and bars which isn't what hip-hop represents aside from some Lil Wayne here and there.

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Do adults ever keep up with new music? I just figure I'm going to be out of touch with music forever and think only 80s/90s music was ever good. New music is made for a generation of teenagers, then they grow up to become old men and hold onto their music forever, then everything new sucks.

Today we have awful, juvenile Cardi B rhymes like:

Knick-knack, paddywhack, give a dog a bone
Put it on him, then your n-- never comin' home

But in the 90s we had sick flows like:

but Shaq's a smooth balla, I can hold my own,
knick-knack shaq-attack, give a dog a bone,

 

 

 

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Unfortunately I actually do still keep up with rap and my wife constantly asks if I'll ever grow out of it.  At 35 and balding, apparently not.

I will say that over the last 10 years I've started listing to a lot more country.  That's more easy listening and family oriented music (car rides, etc.) But still, on the evening commute from work (45 minutes each way), it's pretty much modern radio and XM.  Then at the gym, it's whatever mix of 90s / 2000s rap is on the ipod shuffle.

Also, Gucci has continually surprised me.  I've always liked southern hip hop and he was a favorite of mine back in college.  And he has continually produced a lot of stuff over the years and has aged well, which is extremely rare in the rap world.  

 

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I pretty much stick with 20th century stuff; both pop and country; and for games I'm mostly a 3rd-6th gen person.  Maybe it's just generational bias though (I was born in 1980).  I mean, isn't a sure sign of "getting old" when you no longer really identify or understand today's pop culture/music the way you did when you were younger?  I mean I don't really have nothing against it as such, it just...isn't the same as what I'm used to. 😞

It's got to be nothing but generational bias; I'm sure of it...

And OP, you want some old skool hip-hop/rap?  Well you don't get any more old skool than this! 😄

 

 

Edited by Estil
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Not at all just you. It's really been a steep and steady decline after '96 with a couple scattered gems in the following years. Albums like Moment of Truth, Quality Control, and MM.. Food come to mind. Still, the number of gems in that 22 year period is less than the number of gems in some individual years prior.

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On 11/5/2019 at 9:58 AM, DefaultGen said:

Do adults ever keep up with new music? I just figure I'm going to be out of touch with music forever and think only 80s/90s music was ever good. New music is made for a generation of teenagers, then they grow up to become old men and hold onto their music forever, then everything new sucks.

Today we have awful, juvenile Cardi B rhymes like:

Knick-knack, paddywhack, give a dog a bone
Put it on him, then your n-- never comin' home

But in the 90s we had sick flows like:

but Shaq's a smooth balla, I can hold my own,
knick-knack shaq-attack, give a dog a bone,

 

 

 

Can you please make a post of you rapping Willennium? Either here or Instagram. Thanks in advance.

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On 11/5/2019 at 11:58 AM, DefaultGen said:

Do adults ever keep up with new music? I just figure I'm going to be out of touch with music forever and think only 80s/90s music was ever good. New music is made for a generation of teenagers, then they grow up to become old men and hold onto their music forever, then everything new sucks.

I do, although admittedly I've been listening to a lot less new stuff in the past 5 years. It does get difficult when real life responsibilities get in the way. I also don't think most music is made exclusively for a generation of teenagers, I think it's just the music we discover when we are teenagers is what becomes deeply ingrained is us. That said, a lot of my current favorite bands are ones that I've gotten into in my mid/late 20s.

 

I think part of why new music seems terrible is because a lot of popular music doesn't have much staying power. We look back at the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s fondly because of these legendary bands... but there was also a LOT of shit that wasn't that great but still really popular. It's just no one really talks about them anymore because they didn't stand the test of time. I think it's gonna be the case with a lot of the soundcloud mumble rap artists of today. People that are teenagers now will have fond memories of it because it came out during their formative years, but most people are going to remember this decade of music for people like Kendrick Lamar.

As for modern (this decade) rap albums that I really enjoy... Run The Jewels' "Run The Jewels 2", Earl Sweatshirt's "I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside", Kendrick Lamar's "DAMN", Pusha T's "Daytona", Death Grip's "Exmilitary"... and I'm not really even that big into rap.  These are all relatively big names, I'm sure there's a ton of great underground stuff I'm missing out on. There's still good music coming out, and there always will be, you just have to dig a little bit to find it.

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This says it all right here; and IIRC in the 90s retro stuff was especially ridicule worthy among the youth of those days.  Thank God we now have Internet/YouTube/social media now!  (and BTW radio DJ, that's pronounced (short A sound)-ba!)

 

Edited by Estil
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22 hours ago, Estil said:

I still think it's mostly just regular generational bias.  Except for Miley Cyrus; she's just a freak show (especially that creepy tongue thing). *shudders*

IDK man, when you have people who have poor rhythm and are bad at rhyming out at the forefront of an artform that is based around rhythm and rhyming it seems more just like objectively poor quality work put out by people who lack skills but have a marketable image. I tend to give credit where credit is due and give props to skilled performers regardless of whether or not they are exactly my cup of tea. I do also tend look at it through the lens of a musician who has produced and engineered hip hop records vs the lens of "ooo catchy danceable beat" that the pop consumer does though. Which brings it back around to the main problem with it currently. It's just pop. It's got more in common with the likes of Britney, Miley, Ariana, etc. than it does with the likes of KRS, Kool G, NAS, BIG, Doom, etc.

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All of it sucks. None of it involves actual singing and nobody can play an instrument, the musical aspect of it THE BEAT is usually a dull 3-seconds loop. Whenever i do find myself semi-liking a hiphop song it's always because of the singer doing the refrain anyway; the guy in "Changes" gives the song it's melody, Elton John in "Ghetto Gospel" is what keeps that song vibrant, in "I'll be missing you" it's Faith Evans singing that does the trick etc.

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On 11/5/2019 at 12:07 PM, jonebone said:

Unfortunately I actually do still keep up with rap and my wife constantly asks if I'll ever grow out of it.  At 35 and balding, apparently not.

I will say that over the last 10 years I've started listing to a lot more country.  That's more easy listening and family oriented music (car rides, etc.) But still, on the evening commute from work (45 minutes each way), it's pretty much modern radio and XM.  Then at the gym, it's whatever mix of 90s / 2000s rap is on the ipod shuffle.

Also, Gucci has continually surprised me.  I've always liked southern hip hop and he was a favorite of mine back in college.  And he has continually produced a lot of stuff over the years and has aged well, which is extremely rare in the rap world.  

 

I am right there with you although my wife enjoys rap music with me. Unfourtantely can’t play it in my office at work. I’ll have to check out Gucci, thanks for the recommendation.

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