50 Years Later, Is There Anything Left Of Hip Hop?

[BigMan]

Not sure why a "top 10 album" is the go to metric and not overall consumption, but even still the Travis album will be included. If you are arguing for a decline then once again its something mild and not the initial "is declining commercially" which would need more than a year (that hasn't finished) data point of a 1.8% decline. No one would argue its been a down year but you guys are making taking liberty with that fact and speculating. Doja, 21, Future, J Cole, Nicki, Drake, Uzi (again), Carti....it will be a down year regardless but this is clearly a year where the backend will be loaded.

lmao

now the decline is mild

 

[papa pimp]

lmao

now the decline is mild

Lets do this another way. If rap is declining commercially, what genres are commercially viable and what year will they pass rap in consumption?

 

[Majestyx]

I'm pretty sure this is SOHH old schooler Walt. Anyways, focusing on the sales of Hip Hop is missing the point of what happened. This is about his lament of Hip Hop no longer standing on its birthed values and becoming a tamed, universal sound of commercialism. Something that's not just safe and fun for outsiders, but something that learned to be ignored for what it was originally trying to be and accepting it in favor of a nice paycheck and white acceptance. It's more suited to be a tool for the listener to "feel down" than to promote any thinking which makes you recognize what is really happening in our lives. The blues turned into something that's meant to make you feel bigger than life, or at least numb to it. To get lost in Superthug tales and rags to riches stories where most people will fail at. Where the standards of what's accepted in Hip Hop are no longer with those who have context and roots within the culture, but simply those who want to wax about "What's hot" aka the most commercial songs out right now. We even have those who will staunchly support songs aimed at promiscuous women, because somehow letting females lead the culture is a thing now (he did not bring this last part up).


The culture's foundation is not in focus anymore, it's a mess. Everybody is able to sound like anybody from anywhere, and they mostly do. Part of it is from chasing money and acceptance, and part of it is from new bloods jumping in and making music with no concern over what their message is really saying or what it stands for. How it fits in the modern puzzle if what life is today. It's just hustlers hustling you for their benefit. They don't care how it compares to any predecessors because this is a microwave society hellbent on finding it's next quick fix for a short meal. And they'll open up at the drive thru to reach you.


The internet made everybody this way, seeking instant gratification so we can move onto the next video to click. Our next funnel and time sink while they get paid of the ad revenue. As a counter culture Hip Hop is not honored on what it stood for; as voices of a rebellion were silenced because we needed to see our heroes succeed and be validated by mainstream popularity, even if it meant abandoning the original theme or being fur the people. We needed our next Superman like braggadocios theme song to feel better about ourselves for three minutes. Our greats needed to get a bigger house and leave the concerns of the hood behind in order to sit at the big boy's table. To sit in a car with Tucker Carlson. To finesse their old neighborhood so they can let gentrification start rolling in that much quicker, and with a familiar face to boot. This is a genre that has turned into focusing on making reality a fantasy and nothing more. There has always been talking your shyt as part of the culture, but it's become mostly that and nothing else these days. That way it's become pseudo dangerous yet friendlier to digest. Anything new can feel like a CEO or mack when everybody else is pretending to be one as well. It's aimed at everybody. There is no balance that it needs as criticism falls to the wayside so mild cheerleading could take it's place. Make sure you don't criticize as that labels you with the cardinal sin of being called a Hater. No one has any think pieces that regulate or bring any value to us anymore, and shockingly as the 50th birthday carries on it's become about celebrating its ability to cash out and get mainstream (white) attention.

@Walt breh said you wrote this

 

[Walt]

@Walt breh said you wrote this

Nah. But that’s 100% my fam. HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

And some lines in it come from convos we’ve had.

 

[BigMan]

Lets do this another way. If rap is declining commercially, what genres are commercially viable and what year will they pass rap in consumption?

Nope, this isn't zero sum nor did i say hip hop or any genre isn't commercially viable. Hip hop's decline or rise is contingent on another genre's decline or rise. Try another logical fallacy.

 

[Crayola Coyote]

It won’t die until black people say so

 

[papa pimp]

Nope, this isn't zero sum nor did i say hip hop or any genre isn't commercially viable. Hip hop's decline or rise is contingent on another genre's decline or rise. Try another logical fallacy.

so its declining but nothing is going to take on the marketshare it gives up?

 

[<<TheStandard>>]

I’ve always said somebody like Drake’s longevity is as much of a stinging indictment on the culture as it is a credit to him. It’s a sign of stagnation

This is a great point.

 

[Timbs]

This was an incredibly poignant read. Man pretty much voiced what a lot of people who enjoy this hip hop shyt were thinking. Its officially become the new jazz. I think the only thing missing was what has also helped the fall of hip hop was the destruction of monoculture. There's a million subgenres the youth are listening to in their headphones or in their homes. You don't hear people blasting music from speakers anymore.

 

[Formerly Black Trash]

lmao

now the decline is mild

Canceling tours is the biggest red flag
Along with no new big rappers

Content been getting shyttier
It ain't subjective, popular rnb is fukked too

The shyt they're pushing to Black ppl is basic as fukk

No one wants to be judged so they argue against it

 

[papa pimp]

Canceling tours is the biggest red flag

What tours have gotten cancelled? I think you mean Lil Baby/Moneybagyo cancelling certain dates:

 

[Formerly Black Trash]

I’ve always said somebody like Drake’s longevity is as much of a stinging indictment on the culture as it is a credit to him. It’s a sign of stagnation

Also a sign of, anyone can do it, just do meme rap and make it palatable enough for the masses

Drake is the everyman, and also was a turning point when everyone started using certqin Black slang more, no matter their race or socioeconomic class

He's the corny, hey cool kids of rap

 

[Art Barr]

It'll exist, but on a mainstream level EVERYTHING will sound like some sort of EDM/pop blend of trash.

That is what happens.
when the general youse's listen to house ducks.



Art Barr


@Whips-n-Chains

Speaking in general.
not to or directly about you my fellow spartan.

 

[O.Red]

When folks use phrases like this , "Hip hop had died, the moment it fully married into global hyper-capitalism."

It's hard to take them seriously. This is some FD Signifier type analysis, although with more crediblity.

Basically

This nikka loves the sound of his own voice and thinks he's  really smart

 

[Art Barr]

I didn’t read the article but Every form of music had its peak and decline, Hiphop is no different

Rap is declining after segregating.
as a business from the last profitable and most profitable misappropriated business.
based around a cultural mainstay pillar of hiphop.

As a result of this.
No consistent generation culture based bboys and bgirls.
will ever have a true culture based gateway to the pillars of hiphop culture.
Resulting in halting the culture of hiphop.


Art Barr