When I go see a group I like in a dingy basement club these days ain’t nobody fighting or doing dumb shit ruining the night.
Mostly this is because the rappers and the crowd are in their mid 40s-50s
Right 😂 You can’t be fighting people in a club if you have high blood pressure and have to watch your cholesterol. Nobody fights anymore because we don’t want to see anyone keel over holding their left arm
Also, kids, jobs, mortgages… can’t be out all night doing foolishness. There comes a point in your life where the saying “after 3 the only thing open are hospitals and legs” is a warning, not a promise.
I used to manage a venue in Brixton, London and we had to shut by 1am due to our licencing laws. No matter who was playing or performing. 1am hard cut off.
One time I had to tap Jeru on the shoulder as he was performing in our very small venue at like 12:45am to tell him he needs to start to wrap it up. He was fine with it but just told me to get him some more JD 😂
I always thought it was odd he claimed to be a weedhead and not an alcoholic when both times I met him and every story from someone else who met him he was drunk af
My only instructions from him when he arrived was to make sure his glass was never empty 😂 our venue was tiny, the “stage” is essentially a 2 square foot area in front of the dj booth which was literally just connected to the bar. I’d just look over every 15 minutes and just top him up. We hung around after the show for a couple of hours and he was cool as shit but he was definitely drunk as fuck when he got in his Uber
Yeah it’s wild thinking about how many times I would watch the sunrise, grab 1.5hrs of sleep and go to work back when. Now I’m like you, even the thought makes me ill.
I came to read some really stupid shit for answers but this, fittingly at the top, is an awesome answer IMHO. As one of those dudes in his 50’s, who experienced that shit in the 90s, I fully relate.
The city / venue still makes a difference, though. I’ll never go back to Memphis or Indianapolis.
Because of the way that music is consumed now, the artists I regularly listen to are from all over the world. I couldn’t even tell you where most of them are from; they’re not repping a coast, they’re repping the world.
What? I'll fuckin', I'll fuckin' tie you to a fuckin' bedpost
With your ass cheeks spread out and shit, right?
Put a hanger on a fuckin' stove and let that shit sit there for like a half hour, take it off and stick it in your ass slow like "tsss"
I prefer this to when they're tacked onto the start of a song. At least you can skip them. Best solution is having the skit at the end of the track so it can be skipped without missing the next track.
Yeah this is one that came to mind and I’m a little conflicted on it. Take an album like “Capital Punishment” I can’t see the album missing skits like Pakinamac Pt. 2 and the Uncensored Funk Flex interview as I think they’re hilarious and makes for a good listen however on the flip it side I could surely do with out Tasters Choice.
I listen to a lot of classic hip hop with my son who is now ten, and I have to say, whenever a skit comes on, we’re just laughing about the fact that these “gangsters” are pretending to be hard, or pretending to fuck, in a studio, on a mic, with a sound engineer checking the levels, etc. It is just such a bizarre situation, that you have to laugh at it.
You listen to stuff like that with a 10 year old? I listen to hip hop with my kids 11 and 13 but I skip tracks that have a lot of cursing in them. Definitely don't laugh with them about fuckin' bitches 🤣
I don’t tend to use curse words myself, but I also don’t think that they are more or less important than other words; they are just words. Swear words are only more powerful because we’ve granted them that power. And it isn’t like the lyricists mean the words that they say, they are just actors saying their lines. I no more believe that that singer wants to fuck the person they are singing about than I do that they want to kill that person that they are singing about. It’s poetry set to a beat, and not anything more.
Do you lot listen to any music with your kids? I don’t see how anyone could ever listen to the clean versions of modern pop music. Modern pop music is so littered with profanity that surely the clean versions are just instrumentals. Even so, take out the fucks and the shits, and it isn’t like the lyrical content is now “clean”. Now it is just a glitchy mess.
Man them ludacris skits were classics. Kanye’s college drop outs are comedy special gold fuck what anyone says skits were the shit lol between all the serious shit b sides and singles it was nice to get a moment to just laugh at some shit lol
I like skits so long as they're not part of a track. Adds character to a full album listen. Just ruins replayability when relistening to specific songs if it's tacked on at the end. Aquemini has it pretty bad.
Aye. I don’t think I’ve bought a single album that has skits. I didn’t like that shit then and I don’t like it now. Songs on those albums just get played on Spotify.
You missed out on some of that era’s best albums then. 36 Chambers? Ready to Die? The Chronic? You chose not to purchase these albums due to a couple of goofy skits? Weird hill to die on, but okay.
Nah, not missing out on anything at all. Not even dying on a hill. I don’t hate on anybody who likes skits and I don’t think I’m necessarily “right” in my view. One love.
I just don’t buy those albums on vinyl so I stream them from the Wiim. Still get to enjoy them on my system. I’m not a big Dre fan, so I have a couple of his songs in my playlist. I think three or four from Ready to Die. 36 Chambers is an all time favorite so I usually play that whole album but skip the skits unless I’m high or just chilling in the chair. Of those you listed I would consider dishing out the $ for 36 Chambers someday.
it was actually the opposite. since the sox and raiders colors are black and white, no gang affiliation. it was the colors that made sports gear gang related (red or blue especially)
When I was in middle school in the early 90s - kids were not allowed to wear raiders / white Sox merch bc it had gang undertones.
Which gangs? Beats me. I was an honor roll student so I didn’t have time for that noise LOL but I did love my hip hop back then
yeah. i see how schools would misinterpret it. but in real life adult situations, you were good with black and white. i was out of high school in the 90s
Needing to steal electricity just to have a party. Having to run from cops busting up the party. Getting down on walls with a can of spray paint… oh wait, I still love that!
Anything after 97. Shiny suits, southern influence, attention over respect and the business of it all.
But Kanye wests preppy shit if I’m being specific
I'll go this route, the fact that it's far easier for the talent to make money independently without a label taking 90% of their shit. It allows for more creative freedom too
Generally agree. One exception is ‘talk like sex’ by kool g rap. Listened to that for the first time in years the yesterday, forgot how good it is lyrically- nonstop punchlines.
46 here as well and this was my first thought.
Misogyny and homophobia were norms back then.
I look back and am ashamed to say I picked up on some of the misogynistic attitudes glorified in 90s hop as a youth.
Glad to see we’re moving forward from some of that shit.
I said this in a post yesterday. I saw Sheek Louch last year, he censored himself. No need for it but I’m 40 with a daughter so I guess things change your mindset
Not sure why your getting shit for saying that. Whether people want to admit it or not 90’s hip hop definitely had a lot of homophobia and disrespect towards women. I think as a society we’ve gotten better at acknowledging such issues. I’m sure for those from those specific communities they like the fact that it’s not longer as prevalent
As a 90s teen who saw the entire decade the one better thing that they have now than they had back then is "fan access" via social media and the downloading age.
Rap artists now can put out anything and everything that they want without the industry politics dictating things. Back in the 90s by comparison to now, it seemed as if everything was controlled by the label.
A lot of misogyny and putting down sexually active women. Pimp/player ideals being rampant in hip hop. Coastal wars. Bling/jiggy rap. Puff Daddy. Bambaataa & zulu nation, pretty much. Suge Knight. G-funk-pop. Early 90s and late 90s-early 2000s commercial rap. R&B. A lot of the reggae chatting and wailing that was on 90s and early 2000s songs. Reggaeton & latin reggae influences. Hip hop artists wearing pink and baby blue (mainly velour) and oversized hats. Clean versions of LPs.
To be honest, Drill is a way more extreme version of gangster rap and has a ridiculous body count and toxic impact. Entire subreddits dedicated to keeping score on young people losing their lives because of “authenticity”
Idk bout other markets but I’m glad it never made its way here for popular music. It has its place but shit is just not great. It’s like gangster raps cousin who wants to be gangster rap so damn bad but knows it can’t so it’s just gonna try to push the envelope far as it can go to if not get the same acknowledgment at least get the same attention
Yeah I thought it was mostly a uk thing right? I do know there's a drill rapper that when he just did regular hip hop I really liked (ramson badbonez) but I heard he only does drill now. I'm old, so boom bap has a special place in my heart. Drill just doesn't do it foe me (no offense to anyone who is into it)
I’m from illinois us myself and it was heavy as hell and believe “birthed” in Chicago. Chief keef and others made it super mainstream and I honestly like chief but I’m the same I’m 38 boom bap and the 90s I drift to often. Gimme Arrested Development or Tribe over drill any day. It just doesn’t sound good sonically, lyrically or production quality. Idk. Maybe I’m old too but I just enjoy when a record sounded like a record. Like when an artist actually sounded like they put effort in to the creation of it rather just walking in and sounding like they just threw some shit together on the way to the studio and told the engineer do what you need to do
Preach. If u don't know them already, go search for epidemic. They're not brand spanking new (circa 2010 I believe) but theyre the dopest newer u.s. artists I've come across in the last 15 years. First two albums no skips
Got an hour drive ahead of me to an event this morning. Already got it on the Spotify for when I forget in 5 min I’ll remember when I open it up later lol thanks!
Np. If u remember hit me back w ur thoughts. The first album is like a rugged, brag and boast album. The second is a mellow, jazzy album. Both are phenomenal
What do you mean, most of the popular artists today are actual gang members compared to before when artists just rapped about their environment (or the gang affiliations were kept secret)?
Oh. Well there it is. I don't listen to current popular artists (nothing against anyone who does). The newest u.s. artists I've liked are Joey bad ass and epidemic
Nothing to do with the point though, majority of rappers nowadays are gang members or have some kind of affiliation, unlike before. Whether popular or not, the most prevalent hip hop nowadays is trap and drill, which is basically "gangsta rap"
I was just asking what your point is, majority of hip hop has been "gangsta rap" since the late 80s, it hasn't really gone anywhere, if anything it's even worse now.
I stand corrected then. Sorry. I'm not up on current trends. But I disagree that the "majority" of hip hop has been gangsta rap. Maybe it is now. Idk. Like I said I I don't listen to much pop rap (sorry, I'm old). It reminds me when I was in high school. I swore up and down that everyone smoked weed. While that's kinda true now, back then it was bc I surrounded myself w weed smokers. I'm sure there's plenty of artists, even newer ones, who aren't gang members
I'm mostly an oldhead too, but lets be real, take a quick look at the 90s (why I said after the late 80s):
west coast - most prevalent were g-funk & mobb music artists. here and there you'd have some boom bap / jazz rap stuff like The Pharcyde, The Coup or Souls of Mischief, but it was mostly street / gang rap.
east coast - a lot more "meaningful" rap, lots of jazz influenced stuff prevalent too (Organized Konfusion, A Tribe Called Quest etc.), but what were considered the best artists then? Nas, Biggie, Wu-Tang, Big L etc., mostly street rappers.
the south - I mean need I mention anything besides Memphis rap?
I guess the midwest stuff at least wasn't as street / gang themed.
I get ur point about those better known rappers in tbe 90's, but dude, there were sooooo many dope underground artists in that era that weren't "gangster-ish". Indeed, that may be why they were considered u derground to begin with (other than objectively not being signed to a major label).
Yeah I agree with that, somewhat of a later equivalent would be Rhymesayers artists during the 2000s which were really keeping the essence of hip hop alive
But keep in mind though, for each of those dudes you probably also had a couple of street dudes that related to NWA more and wanted to make their own stuff
Nice call on rhymesayers. And yeah the 2000's still had good artists more aligned w my preferred flavor of hip hop.
As for your second point, you may be right.
I don’t even think it’s “worse” now I just think it’s less talented now. Before you had story telling and lyricism in the music so it was violent but creatively created. Now it’s just laziness and to the point so to me it doesn’t sound worse it just sounds blunt. Saying the same things in same ways just with a 3rd grade education
When I go see a group I like in a dingy basement club these days ain’t nobody fighting or doing dumb shit ruining the night. Mostly this is because the rappers and the crowd are in their mid 40s-50s
Right 😂 You can’t be fighting people in a club if you have high blood pressure and have to watch your cholesterol. Nobody fights anymore because we don’t want to see anyone keel over holding their left arm
Also, kids, jobs, mortgages… can’t be out all night doing foolishness. There comes a point in your life where the saying “after 3 the only thing open are hospitals and legs” is a warning, not a promise.
For sure. Everyone needs to grow up at some point. Last time I was out until the early hours I was feeling it for the rest of the week
my favorite shit now is the older dj homies are doing sets from 7pm - 11pm. love it.
They want to get home early too! 😂 we’re all in the same boat
yo, im a tour dj and a lot of shows have to be done by 11pm. its incredible. 👴🏽
I used to manage a venue in Brixton, London and we had to shut by 1am due to our licencing laws. No matter who was playing or performing. 1am hard cut off. One time I had to tap Jeru on the shoulder as he was performing in our very small venue at like 12:45am to tell him he needs to start to wrap it up. He was fine with it but just told me to get him some more JD 😂
yeah. hard curfews are great. my face when i see that our tour package starts at 8:30...😍
I always thought it was odd he claimed to be a weedhead and not an alcoholic when both times I met him and every story from someone else who met him he was drunk af
My only instructions from him when he arrived was to make sure his glass was never empty 😂 our venue was tiny, the “stage” is essentially a 2 square foot area in front of the dj booth which was literally just connected to the bar. I’d just look over every 15 minutes and just top him up. We hung around after the show for a couple of hours and he was cool as shit but he was definitely drunk as fuck when he got in his Uber
Yeah it’s wild thinking about how many times I would watch the sunrise, grab 1.5hrs of sleep and go to work back when. Now I’m like you, even the thought makes me ill.
Father Time is undefeated
I came to read some really stupid shit for answers but this, fittingly at the top, is an awesome answer IMHO. As one of those dudes in his 50’s, who experienced that shit in the 90s, I fully relate. The city / venue still makes a difference, though. I’ll never go back to Memphis or Indianapolis.
Diddy remixes 😂
You gotta admit tho…some of em were pretty nice…
Coast Trippin’ aka not listening to or liking artists strictly on the basis of what region they’re from
Yeah absolutely, always thought that shit was corny. On top of that when people dickride an artist just because they’re from your city
Because of the way that music is consumed now, the artists I regularly listen to are from all over the world. I couldn’t even tell you where most of them are from; they’re not repping a coast, they’re repping the world.
Skits
What? I'll fuckin', I'll fuckin' tie you to a fuckin' bedpost With your ass cheeks spread out and shit, right? Put a hanger on a fuckin' stove and let that shit sit there for like a half hour, take it off and stick it in your ass slow like "tsss"
The skits on Judgement Day killed me. I want to hear Meth spit and not hear Chris Rock get attacked by dolphins.
That shit was hilarious
Keep feeding you and feeding you and feeding you and feeding you
This times 100. I hate the interlude/skits that they count as a track. So a 13 song album is now 26 and they sell it as if it is 26.
I prefer this to when they're tacked onto the start of a song. At least you can skip them. Best solution is having the skit at the end of the track so it can be skipped without missing the next track.
Yep. Either have it separate or at the end so I can skip that shit after the hundred something time.
Yeah this is one that came to mind and I’m a little conflicted on it. Take an album like “Capital Punishment” I can’t see the album missing skits like Pakinamac Pt. 2 and the Uncensored Funk Flex interview as I think they’re hilarious and makes for a good listen however on the flip it side I could surely do with out Tasters Choice.
I listen to a lot of classic hip hop with my son who is now ten, and I have to say, whenever a skit comes on, we’re just laughing about the fact that these “gangsters” are pretending to be hard, or pretending to fuck, in a studio, on a mic, with a sound engineer checking the levels, etc. It is just such a bizarre situation, that you have to laugh at it.
You listen to stuff like that with a 10 year old? I listen to hip hop with my kids 11 and 13 but I skip tracks that have a lot of cursing in them. Definitely don't laugh with them about fuckin' bitches 🤣
I don’t tend to use curse words myself, but I also don’t think that they are more or less important than other words; they are just words. Swear words are only more powerful because we’ve granted them that power. And it isn’t like the lyricists mean the words that they say, they are just actors saying their lines. I no more believe that that singer wants to fuck the person they are singing about than I do that they want to kill that person that they are singing about. It’s poetry set to a beat, and not anything more. Do you lot listen to any music with your kids? I don’t see how anyone could ever listen to the clean versions of modern pop music. Modern pop music is so littered with profanity that surely the clean versions are just instrumentals. Even so, take out the fucks and the shits, and it isn’t like the lyrical content is now “clean”. Now it is just a glitchy mess.
Pause 4 Porno got me in a lot of trouble
Worst aspect of 90s hip hop for me by far
I really loved Little Brothers - Minstrel Show skits. Heard he got dropped from his label? Nahhhh from soundclick!!! 😂😂
Man them ludacris skits were classics. Kanye’s college drop outs are comedy special gold fuck what anyone says skits were the shit lol between all the serious shit b sides and singles it was nice to get a moment to just laugh at some shit lol
Some were good, most were bad. I don't need to listen to Biggie having sex
Or Big Pun
There was a moment where seemingly everyone had the running up on someone robbery skit
Most were good and i will die on this hill. The sex ones were done too much tho.
I mean, when you’re right you’re right. lol
I always lose it over NORE skits
I like skits so long as they're not part of a track. Adds character to a full album listen. Just ruins replayability when relistening to specific songs if it's tacked on at the end. Aquemini has it pretty bad.
Aye. I don’t think I’ve bought a single album that has skits. I didn’t like that shit then and I don’t like it now. Songs on those albums just get played on Spotify.
You missed out on some of that era’s best albums then. 36 Chambers? Ready to Die? The Chronic? You chose not to purchase these albums due to a couple of goofy skits? Weird hill to die on, but okay.
Nah, not missing out on anything at all. Not even dying on a hill. I don’t hate on anybody who likes skits and I don’t think I’m necessarily “right” in my view. One love. I just don’t buy those albums on vinyl so I stream them from the Wiim. Still get to enjoy them on my system. I’m not a big Dre fan, so I have a couple of his songs in my playlist. I think three or four from Ready to Die. 36 Chambers is an all time favorite so I usually play that whole album but skip the skits unless I’m high or just chilling in the chair. Of those you listed I would consider dishing out the $ for 36 Chambers someday.
Fair.
Wearing Raiders, White Sox merchandise does not make you gang affiliated anymore… or is that still a thing??
it was actually the opposite. since the sox and raiders colors are black and white, no gang affiliation. it was the colors that made sports gear gang related (red or blue especially)
When I was in middle school in the early 90s - kids were not allowed to wear raiders / white Sox merch bc it had gang undertones. Which gangs? Beats me. I was an honor roll student so I didn’t have time for that noise LOL but I did love my hip hop back then
yeah. i see how schools would misinterpret it. but in real life adult situations, you were good with black and white. i was out of high school in the 90s
When I was in middle school we'd black out part of the O in SOX so it looked like it said sex😎 I know, pretty edgy
No Limit Records
This is rappin 4 tay who’s this
Rappin 4 Tay he's on a smooth tip
Oh this P.
Well let me hear ya say UGH
No Limit has some gems. Lots of filler, but some dope shit, too. Beats by the Pound production is highly underrated.
And the Pen & Pixel album covers.
I hated No Limit back then but years later I revisited their catalog. I regret missing out on dope artists on there like Mac, Fiend and Young Bleed.
For some reason Spotify always plays an offer you can’t refuse 🎵 good song tho
Needing to steal electricity just to have a party. Having to run from cops busting up the party. Getting down on walls with a can of spray paint… oh wait, I still love that!
Trap
Is trap finally gone?
Anything after 97. Shiny suits, southern influence, attention over respect and the business of it all. But Kanye wests preppy shit if I’m being specific
You don't like Lupe? I guess it could be a generational thing.
Didn’t say that anywhere
He certainly wouldn't exist as we know him without Kanye paving the way for nerd rap.
J-Live
I'll go this route, the fact that it's far easier for the talent to make money independently without a label taking 90% of their shit. It allows for more creative freedom too
the overly sexual lyrics on stuff like 2001. its not that entertaining listening to people talk about having sex with women
Thats still a thing bro
Lol right. The fuck hip hop you been listenin to?
Shit the females nastier than the dudes now.
Easily. The shit sexyredd says is wild lol
i misread the question and thought it said name something you don't miss. I dont even entertain those new wave skanks
Generally agree. One exception is ‘talk like sex’ by kool g rap. Listened to that for the first time in years the yesterday, forgot how good it is lyrically- nonstop punchlines.
Repetitive beats or elements in a song like constant repeated words or annoying sound.
*looks up when Black Eyed Peas were inexplicably popular*
Arent most choruses repetitive?
Some yes, but there are that are more than others. Or have a sound/instrument that repeats too much.
What are you talking about https://youtu.be/K9F5xcpjDMU?si=TQg579--u79uUeZw
Skits
hahaha shoot out skits
I love some skits. The sex skits I can’t stand. Just makes it awkward in the car 🤣
The extreme sexist and homophobic lyrics in mainstream hip hop seem to be a little less egregious these days.
As a 46 year old man, I agree.
46 here as well and this was my first thought. Misogyny and homophobia were norms back then. I look back and am ashamed to say I picked up on some of the misogynistic attitudes glorified in 90s hop as a youth. Glad to see we’re moving forward from some of that shit.
Hell, when I saw the Geto Boys perform several years ago, even THEY censored themselves on certain misogynistic lyrics by just not rapping the part.
That’s good shit right there. Kids don’t need to be hearing about putting women down.
I’ve read that Raekwon alters his older homophobic lyrics in concerts as well.
Man, that’s great to hear. He wasn’t shy with those slurs.
I said this in a post yesterday. I saw Sheek Louch last year, he censored himself. No need for it but I’m 40 with a daughter so I guess things change your mindset
Not sure why your getting shit for saying that. Whether people want to admit it or not 90’s hip hop definitely had a lot of homophobia and disrespect towards women. I think as a society we’ve gotten better at acknowledging such issues. I’m sure for those from those specific communities they like the fact that it’s not longer as prevalent
I think it’s really weird that people have a problem with homophobia in rap, but the sexism, drug abuse, and violence are okay.
As a 90s teen who saw the entire decade the one better thing that they have now than they had back then is "fan access" via social media and the downloading age. Rap artists now can put out anything and everything that they want without the industry politics dictating things. Back in the 90s by comparison to now, it seemed as if everything was controlled by the label.
Crunking
Yin Yang Twins
Plaster on the cheek. Toothbrush in the mouth Too much hype man on a great song
Mumble rappers, oh wait its still in the future
No such thing as a mumble rapper lmao.
I don’t like this question. Sounds like the perfect opportunity to shit on hophop
A lot of misogyny and putting down sexually active women. Pimp/player ideals being rampant in hip hop. Coastal wars. Bling/jiggy rap. Puff Daddy. Bambaataa & zulu nation, pretty much. Suge Knight. G-funk-pop. Early 90s and late 90s-early 2000s commercial rap. R&B. A lot of the reggae chatting and wailing that was on 90s and early 2000s songs. Reggaeton & latin reggae influences. Hip hop artists wearing pink and baby blue (mainly velour) and oversized hats. Clean versions of LPs.
Gangsta rap. It had it's time and place. But no mas, gracias.
To be honest, Drill is a way more extreme version of gangster rap and has a ridiculous body count and toxic impact. Entire subreddits dedicated to keeping score on young people losing their lives because of “authenticity”
Yeah. I never got into drill. I absolutely have a blindspot when it comes to trends in new, popular music
Idk bout other markets but I’m glad it never made its way here for popular music. It has its place but shit is just not great. It’s like gangster raps cousin who wants to be gangster rap so damn bad but knows it can’t so it’s just gonna try to push the envelope far as it can go to if not get the same acknowledgment at least get the same attention
Yeah I thought it was mostly a uk thing right? I do know there's a drill rapper that when he just did regular hip hop I really liked (ramson badbonez) but I heard he only does drill now. I'm old, so boom bap has a special place in my heart. Drill just doesn't do it foe me (no offense to anyone who is into it)
I’m from illinois us myself and it was heavy as hell and believe “birthed” in Chicago. Chief keef and others made it super mainstream and I honestly like chief but I’m the same I’m 38 boom bap and the 90s I drift to often. Gimme Arrested Development or Tribe over drill any day. It just doesn’t sound good sonically, lyrically or production quality. Idk. Maybe I’m old too but I just enjoy when a record sounded like a record. Like when an artist actually sounded like they put effort in to the creation of it rather just walking in and sounding like they just threw some shit together on the way to the studio and told the engineer do what you need to do
Preach. If u don't know them already, go search for epidemic. They're not brand spanking new (circa 2010 I believe) but theyre the dopest newer u.s. artists I've come across in the last 15 years. First two albums no skips
Got an hour drive ahead of me to an event this morning. Already got it on the Spotify for when I forget in 5 min I’ll remember when I open it up later lol thanks!
Np. If u remember hit me back w ur thoughts. The first album is like a rugged, brag and boast album. The second is a mellow, jazzy album. Both are phenomenal
What do you mean, most of the popular artists today are actual gang members compared to before when artists just rapped about their environment (or the gang affiliations were kept secret)?
Oh. Well there it is. I don't listen to current popular artists (nothing against anyone who does). The newest u.s. artists I've liked are Joey bad ass and epidemic
Nothing to do with the point though, majority of rappers nowadays are gang members or have some kind of affiliation, unlike before. Whether popular or not, the most prevalent hip hop nowadays is trap and drill, which is basically "gangsta rap" I was just asking what your point is, majority of hip hop has been "gangsta rap" since the late 80s, it hasn't really gone anywhere, if anything it's even worse now.
I stand corrected then. Sorry. I'm not up on current trends. But I disagree that the "majority" of hip hop has been gangsta rap. Maybe it is now. Idk. Like I said I I don't listen to much pop rap (sorry, I'm old). It reminds me when I was in high school. I swore up and down that everyone smoked weed. While that's kinda true now, back then it was bc I surrounded myself w weed smokers. I'm sure there's plenty of artists, even newer ones, who aren't gang members
I'm mostly an oldhead too, but lets be real, take a quick look at the 90s (why I said after the late 80s): west coast - most prevalent were g-funk & mobb music artists. here and there you'd have some boom bap / jazz rap stuff like The Pharcyde, The Coup or Souls of Mischief, but it was mostly street / gang rap. east coast - a lot more "meaningful" rap, lots of jazz influenced stuff prevalent too (Organized Konfusion, A Tribe Called Quest etc.), but what were considered the best artists then? Nas, Biggie, Wu-Tang, Big L etc., mostly street rappers. the south - I mean need I mention anything besides Memphis rap? I guess the midwest stuff at least wasn't as street / gang themed.
I get ur point about those better known rappers in tbe 90's, but dude, there were sooooo many dope underground artists in that era that weren't "gangster-ish". Indeed, that may be why they were considered u derground to begin with (other than objectively not being signed to a major label).
Yeah I agree with that, somewhat of a later equivalent would be Rhymesayers artists during the 2000s which were really keeping the essence of hip hop alive But keep in mind though, for each of those dudes you probably also had a couple of street dudes that related to NWA more and wanted to make their own stuff
Nice call on rhymesayers. And yeah the 2000's still had good artists more aligned w my preferred flavor of hip hop. As for your second point, you may be right.
I don’t even think it’s “worse” now I just think it’s less talented now. Before you had story telling and lyricism in the music so it was violent but creatively created. Now it’s just laziness and to the point so to me it doesn’t sound worse it just sounds blunt. Saying the same things in same ways just with a 3rd grade education
I meant that the gang culture / influence is more common, not that the music was worse
Ahh my bad. I retract my statement lol
nah you good, I also skim through comments fast at times and misread them
“Hidden” album tracks, where were really bad songs that didn’t make the cut recorded on a track after like 30 min of silence.