Decline in rap quality is correlated to literacy. These rappers now don't read books,don't write, illiterate. No longer intense path b/w poetry to rap

[Straw Hat Luffy]

This is why clowning Pac for going to art school when he’s supposed to be a “thug” is so funny.

The reason why his music and persona was so appealing is because he’s able to articulate himself and express his art in a way only he could. Just like how the streets and his upbringing shaped who he was, so did his interest in art and reading

 

[Uitomy]

It was a lot of ignorant shyt back then, but I think the difference is that even if you embraced something like being a gangster/thug in your music, you still had to sell yourself like one, whether legit or Hollywood. So nikkas need to actually hear you pronounce shyt, and deliver the kind of bars and flow with replay ability because people had to pay more time and attention to the songs cause they were limited to the cds usually. I mean just the music being more difficult and costly to record alone mean you had to really craft your words and flow together otherwise you'd be bleeding money.

 

[Bugzbunny129]

They aren't illiterate. Everything declined because of social media. Nobody is into reading something beyond 140 characters and that's trickled down into everything else. That includes this site. The likelihood of someone on here reading a long post, no matter how intelligent or well thought out, is low. Posters get clowned for doing it.

Yup. I hate nothing more than the empty one sentence convos some of people on here have or just dropping smileys. Idk why some of them even post they be saying nothing at all and barely have an opinion on anything.

People act like writing a 3 paragraph post takes an hr. You can do it literally in 20 sec on toilet. Some people here are legit slow.

 

[African Peasant]

It's not just rap it's a lot of art today. Think about how often you watch a film or TV show today and hear dialogue or argument that are ripped right from social media. We have writers who don't read, actors who don't watch films, rappers who don't listen to rap, singers who don't listen to pop/r&b, etc. A few months ago I saw an interview where Winona Ryder was depressed talking about how when she works with young actresses, none of them will watch older films (for inspiration, performance tips, etc) because the films are too long. Like...how can you be an actor but not watch movies? For writing we have an army of people who refuse to read old books because they are "too white" or too patriarchal or whatever. I'd imagine most of us read novels like 1984 or Lord Of The Flies in school. Now many schools don't require any reading.

And then you get to rap. I have a little cousin who is a Drake fan but won't listen to his earlier albums. She's never heard Take Care or NWTS because i's "old." Hell she hasn't heard Scorpion either, which came out in 2017. I just don't see how this mentality is sustainable. Younger people have ignored older shyt before...that's not new. But this shyt is on another level, given how much access they have to information.

I hate that shyt so much


I ain't trying to watch a visual version of reedit/twitter/IG

 

[Squirrel from Meteor Man]

It’s something wrong with these dudes

 

[mag357]

I been trying to tell y'all it's the south but nobody is listening lol

We let the people who were the most ghetto and uneducated take over a genre that was ghetto but not uneducated.

Everything that comes from the south is basically buffoonery and ignorance. I'm not just talking about black people.
People used to leave the south to find enlightenment in the north.

Now we listen to them and watch tv shows and movies from there smh

 

[mag357]

NGL even if you read every book and know multisyllables, you are still a "smart dumb nikka", word to Lupe Fiasco.

Heads forgetting that dudes like Biggie dropped out of high school to get in the game. It has nothing to do with books, it's having a gift.

While rappers nowadays are a odd source of entertainers, they mastered what most rappers in the past failed to do:

1. Ride a beat
2. Melodics
3. Grinding without the label (folks forget the struggles of trying to do demos, street teams, and unsigned hype).

This is more yelling at clouds babble and I don't even care for 78 percent of hip hop nowadays.

No... Ur not understanding culture.

Even if u dropped out of school back in the day, our culture didn't allow for u to be dumb. Ud be embarrassed to be fckin dumb.

These nikkaz now finish School but they been dumb, because their parents were dumb and everything around them is lacking. The culture of being intelligent or educated is gone.

It's crazy when u look at big and pac who both died at 24. If u heard them speak, they were more mature and articulate than artist who are in their 30s now

 

[Wild self]

Over half adults in the country read below a 6th grade level.

Rap being inherently subversive, it’s no surprise the industry prioritizes and celebrates retarded shyt.

But hey, the beat knocks

When you give anti intellectualism an inch, they take it 10 miles and never let it go!

That is what happened when Lil Jon blew up in Summer 2003. Lyricism became an afterthought, and now here we are in late 2024 where most adults cannot reach for a 4 syllable word in their music or entertainment.

 

[CrimsonTider]

It was a lot of ignorant shyt back then, but I think the difference is that even if you embraced something like being a gangster/thug in your music, you still had to sell yourself like one, whether legit or Hollywood. So nikkas need to actually hear you pronounce shyt, and deliver the kind of bars and flow with replay ability because people had to pay more time and attention to the songs cause they were limited to the cds usually. I mean just the music being more difficult and costly to record alone mean you had to really craft your words and flow together otherwise you'd be bleeding money.

This just isn’t true

 

[re'up]

A lot is the collapse of the old school way of rapper being signed. With social media and smart phones, birthed a inverse of how the game worked.

but yeah would for sure say that a lot of that very simplistic rap is a reflection of current culture. Image over everything.

everything is dictated for what social media will like. Weird sex scandals. Dresses and shyt like that. Gossip. Even some of the greats in the game, that whole Drake /Future thing had some really gossipy backstory.

 

[TripleAgent]

I been saying this. Say what you want about the so called elitism of early 90's new york hiphop, but that's the only region that championed actual mic skills and displaying some level of literacy in your rhymes.

Been downhill ever since nikkas started being afraid to call out all this remedial level shyt

THIS.

 

[JustCKing]

When you give anti intellectualism an inch, they take it 10 miles and never let it go!

That is what happened when Lil Jon blew up in Summer 2003. Lyricism became an afterthought, and now here we are in late 2024 where most adults cannot reach for a 4 syllable word in their music or entertainment.

Not true.

1) When Crunk blew up, there was still variety. Jon wasn't even the biggest artists out at the time.

2) Lyricists were actually still going platinum in 2003 and 2004. They were actually selling more than Lil Jon. Even Jon had a song on Crunk Juice featuring Jada, Ice Cube, Bun B, Nas, and T.I.

 

[JustCKing]

No... Ur not understanding culture.

Even if u dropped out of school back in the day, our culture didn't allow for u to be dumb. Ud be embarrassed to be fckin dumb.

These nikkaz now finish School but they been dumb, because their parents were dumb and everything around them is lacking. The culture of being intelligent or educated is gone.

It's crazy when u look at big and pac who both died at 24. But if u heard them speak, they were more mature and articulate than artist who are in their 30s now

This is very simplistic and a out just so you can blame Southern rap for the declination of Hip Hop. There are great lyricists who have said some very stupid and dumb things in songs. It wasn't Southerner who said ".38 revolve like the sun around the earth" and didn't know that both humans and camels were mammals. Jay Z told you that so hopefully you wouldn't have to go through that.

 

[UnQuantized]

I think the barrier for entry is so low today. Reading about the paths of my favourite rappers; Nas, MF DOOM, Wu Tang........It seemed you had to put a lot of work in for a producer to just consider working on a demo with you. You had to be nice already, unpolished and untested, which means honing your skills in obscurity for years before any kind of breakthrough.

 

[Westbama Heartthrob]

This.


Lyrics also took a major backseat when ATL/The south took over with smackin ass beats, dancing, strip club anthems, etc.

You didn’t have to be literate to make those records and become a zillionaire reading at a kindergarten level

I know this aint who I think it is tryna talk about somebody lyrics