Ok i have been listening to a lot of "old rap" lately...no i dont mean ancient, but i mean rap that came out in the 90s or the early 2000s. I've noticed that in the old stuff lyricism was valued WAY more...in fact thats wat makes a lot of these albums special. I've been listenin to some Raekwon, Nas, Talib Kweli, and some Mos Def too.
Thats all good right...but im reminded of statements made like "HIP HOP is dead" and i think wow, really? Well the answer isnt yes, but getting there.....Rap music has been changing a lot since the year 2000, and thats understandable. I remember when the dirty south seemed to take over the rap scene around like 2003 and 2004. Its not as popular right now as it was then....u kno guys like lil jon, ying yang twins, and David Banner helped fuel this movement. Theres nothin wrong wit that. In fact guys like Ludacris and TI are great dirty south rappers and are great for rap. But the problem is, well i think even with some of the artists theNeptunes worked with(excluding the CLIPSE) have depended on hot beats to sell there singles......
Dont believe me? Consider the rapper J-Kwon. This guy had one of the hottest songs in 2004...TIPSY.....it was a dope record, but the lyrics were basically trash, and 3 to 4 months later, he was forgotten. Im not sure how his album is, i havent listened to it yet. The point is alot of aritsts today are depending on hot beats to fuel there carreeers and thats just wrong. Lyricism is wat makes rap so special. Take an album like ILLMATIC by Nas. Its increidble, every song is good in my opinion and hes spiittin that real stuff effortlessly. WHen i first got the album i liked it, but didnt think it was all that. Hows that? Because i too was a "beat" first guy. Theres nothin wrong wit hot beats tho.
Well let me know wat yall think....I plan to go further with this topic with Volume II
Thats all good right...but im reminded of statements made like "HIP HOP is dead" and i think wow, really? Well the answer isnt yes, but getting there.....Rap music has been changing a lot since the year 2000, and thats understandable. I remember when the dirty south seemed to take over the rap scene around like 2003 and 2004. Its not as popular right now as it was then....u kno guys like lil jon, ying yang twins, and David Banner helped fuel this movement. Theres nothin wrong wit that. In fact guys like Ludacris and TI are great dirty south rappers and are great for rap. But the problem is, well i think even with some of the artists the
Dont believe me? Consider the rapper J-Kwon. This guy had one of the hottest songs in 2004...TIPSY.....it was a dope record, but the lyrics were basically trash, and 3 to 4 months later, he was forgotten. Im not sure how his album is, i havent listened to it yet. The point is alot of aritsts today are depending on hot beats to fuel there carreeers and thats just wrong. Lyricism is wat makes rap so special. Take an album like ILLMATIC by Nas. Its increidble, every song is good in my opinion and hes spiittin that real stuff effortlessly. WHen i first got the album i liked it, but didnt think it was all that. Hows that? Because i too was a "beat" first guy. Theres nothin wrong wit hot beats tho.
Well let me know wat yall think....I plan to go further with this topic with Volume II