I just found something interesting. No artist under 30 in Rap or RnB is popping like that. Is Gen Z the most talentless generation??

[King Poetic]

For RNB

1. The lack of background in church

U seeing all this manufactured trash being push through rather through bullshyt like American Idol or some autotune push shyt

For RAP

1. Social Media has given so much trash a opportunity/a lane to sneak in and just make a mockery of the music

2. Every city there’s 10,000 wannabe rappers who think they have talent and unfortunately 99% of that shyt is thrown on tik tok, instagram, etc etc ..

There’s no more A&Rs to discover talent out here and weed out these drill and these p*ssy poppin nikkas and bytches

 

[Nigerianwonder]

They're talking about the star power on a mainstream leve + sales (gunna/21 are 30 and the vast majority of women artists are only on for shaking ass)


Two things which will NEVER be as high as they used to be because music has to compete with all the other entertainment sources on the Internet, people seemed bigger back in the radio/video show says because there was a bottleneck for exposure, so the handful of people who got viewed, got viewed by EVERYONE in the country, so the bags and the numbers were bigger


Now if you don't follow those people on social media you ain't gonna know what they got going on with no radio you have to actually go put music on yourself, between streaming TV shows, podcasts, YouTubers, streamers, it's SUPER easy to miss out in what a musician is doing


Nowadays I'll look up artists I like and see they done dropped 2-3 projects quietly and I completely missed them had to go back to soundcloud and their personal pages on IG/Twitter to get caught up

This is true. The streaming services have segmented the audiences. You got artist that are popular on youtube or tik tok that aint popular anywhere else. Plus people consume music differently now. We got too many entertainment options so it will be hard to get mega cross over superstars like in the 90s and 80s. Just look at how few artist actually even go platinum these days compared to back in the day. Dudes like Memph bleek were selling 500k cd's.

Same thing is happening in the film industry. Who are the young superstars? The streaming services are so segmented that you miss out on films cause they might be exclusive on a service you don't subscribe to. Back in the day the only outlet for new films was the theater and blockbuster video.

 

[Still Benefited]

Not that I REALLY care but just for the sake of argument I’ll bring up a few points:

First off: degradation in quality is subject to opinion. A GREAT singer to you that uses modern technology to enhance their vocals may be seen by your grandfather as a terrible singer compared to singers of the 50s with more “pure” (ie: not reliant on technology because it didn’t exist) singers. So because you or I may agree that someone is “trash” that doesn’t make them trash. We can say they are “less lyrical” or whatever we deem as our qualifiers for quality, but that doesn’t make them objectively worse, it makes them worse for what WE value.

Second: music is just a conduit to facilitate an emotion/feeling/situation. A DIRECT correlation to the music of today can be a reflection of the times. Music in the 60s had drastically different subject matter which facilitates a different type of expression. Music in 90s as well. We are in a very “microwave” era (Ie: we text instead of call and even texting we shorthand {rly, ILY, BRB, etc.}, we watch short form content on IG, our life is very in demand) so the lack in music arrangement (crafting intricate bars, crooning for 5 minutes on a song) is a direct reflection of our lifestyle.

So, is what is “poppin” for me, no. But ask someone from the 80s and they say KRS is better than Pac, the 90s Pac better than Wayne, the 00s Wayne better than Drake, etc.

Trying to say that what you or I prefer subjectively as objectively is old man shyt

True,but this assumes people are one note when it comes to musical taste. Ive always liked west coast, east coast,southern hiphop although i had a preference. I liked Pac,I liked wobbedly wobbedly Wayne and A Milli Wayne,I liked Crooked I,I liked Plies. I say that to say some of us have a wide range of things we value. Plenty of people who never were tyrants when it came to lyricism are able to judge todays output.


I personally like more young artist today than I probably did 10 years ago. I at least enjoy the Detroit scene if not much else.


Also I would say before this battle,how many of us were REALLY putting Kendrick up there like that? How many really thought J cole was the truth? And we already know Drake was polarizing to say the least.


So lets not hype up Kendrick,drake and Cole now due to recency bias. Whether you were a fan of lyricism,or a fan of non lyricism. A fan of east,south or west coast hiphop. Can we all agree the people who make the same type of music you like, Are lesser versions and cheap rehashes of people you once enjoyed? The trajectory is down accross the board.


Its somewhat subjective,but not completely.

 

[Dr. Acula]

As far as the new gen at large, they seem to be moving away from rap. EDM and afro beats is the wave for them.

 

[Wepa Man]

Rod Wave

 

[KidJSoul]

We consume entertainment differently now. Everything is free and/or streaming. You dont have to listen to or watch anything you dont want. Therefore there is no such thing as a crossover hit. There are no more captive audiences. Our parents werent trying to hear Snoop and Pac and BIG but they had no choice. shyt was everywhere and inescapable.

Lets say your favorite artist is performing on the Grammys or Soul Train or MTV or BET Awards. Back in the day you had to sit through the whole show. Now you can just watch the specific performance on Twitter, IG, YouTube almost immediately afterwards. And even that isnt the big deal it used to be because you can see them all the time on those platforms.

Entertainment is now cheap and disposable for the most part. It’s more a sign of the business than the artists themselves. Artists used to be “developed” for years before they even debuted. Now they’re picked up off the street or internet, release a few songs, and then tossed when they’re done. Influencers with built in fan bases and nepo kids are becoming the face of all entertainment, including sports. It doesn’t mean there aren’t talented people out there though.

And young people have always listened to their parents music, as well as their own.

It's both of these combined

It's not just "no talent".

Entertainment has changed. Too much competition - other channels, streaming services, social media, podcasts, etc. The internet in general devaluing live TV, and freeing captive audiences to discover stuff on their own or reject mainstream

And then profitability changing for music encourages producers to invest in cheaper to market artists with cheaper to make music.

Gen z obviously has talent. But it can't find the same success

 

[T-K-G]

Same thing is happening in the film industry. Who are the young superstars? The streaming services are so segmented that you miss out on films cause they might be exclusive on a service you don't subscribe to. Back in the day the only outlet for new films was the theater and blockbuster video.

This is the main reason why pirate sites are eating so good, they have everything that came out all in one place


In acting being a star isn't as big of a deal tho since actors in unions get a guaranteed level of pay regardless of how well the project does, they're just employees. So for them it's easier to eat with a million shows on every service

musicians don't get that so they're fukked

 

[KidJSoul]

Also: you know how people like Drake, Taylor swift, etc. Are business savvy?

Well those business savvy types nowadays don't bother getting into music. They just use their savvy on getting big through social media, podcasts, etc.

It's cheaper and requires less effort

 

[How Sway?]

A lot of would be artists would rather be streamers or "influencers" and do music as a hobby.


Like the kid kai cenat would've been a poppin rapper if he were to be born in another generation.

 

[Ɀoᥱɣ]

Now you moving the goal post. You literally said artist people are checking for and who is "popping" which Megan is. You didn't say anything about record sales in the OP. Also... The Coli does not equal The real world. Just because The Coli doesn't like Doja Cat doesn't mean she isn't popping in reality.

OP old as hell and doesn't go outside

 

[African Peasant]

These young dudes like YouTubers and streamers more than artist that’s why

 

[Neuromancer]

My niece is 13. Her favorite song is "I know I can." By Nas..

 

[Problematic Pat]

My niece is 13. Her favorite song is "I know I can." By Nas..

Parents did a great job

 

[FTBS]

For RNB

1. The lack of background in church

U seeing all this manufactured trash being push through rather through bullshyt like American Idol or some autotune push shyt

For RAP

1. Social Media has given so much trash a opportunity/a lane to sneak in and just make a mockery of the music

2. Every city there’s 10,000 wannabe rappers who think they have talent and unfortunately 99% of that shyt is thrown on tik tok, instagram, etc etc ..

There’s no more A&Rs to discover talent out here and weed out these drill and these p*ssy poppin nikkas and bytches

You might be underselling. Every young dude with dreads and an iPhone think he a rapper now. Dudes always rapped and everybody has gone through their wannabe rapper phase. But now you carrying a studio and a camera around in your pocket. So in addition to the music being way more accessible, being a rapper is too. On one had its good because we dont have gatekeepers picking and choosing based on their on bias and BS. Artists with talent that arent the most marketable actually have a shot. On the other there is no one shifting through the riff raff and BS and keeping it away from the consumer.

 

[Chrishaune]

As far as the new gen at large, they seem to be moving away from rap. EDM and afro beats is the wave for them.

I can see that. Trying to make it in a genre that's been done for 30+ years is going to be tough. You also have a big potential to get sued from copyright infringement for sounding like somebody else's song. At least with other genres there's more room to move.