Hip-Hop - then or now?
 

Hip-Hop's evidently changed a great deal since its inception in the 1970s, but do you prefer the original batch (Tupac, Public Enemy, Wu-Tang Clan, Notorious B.I.G., etc) or the more recent artists (Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Rocky, A$AP Ferg, Jay-Z, etc)?

Old school or current?

kreayshawn

Old School every time. Some of these new rappers have their verses written for them. I mean WTF thats totally against everything hip hop stands for.


Its become big business these days with less emphasis on the quality of the rhymes. I blame Soulja Boy.

I said old school... but mainly b/c I am old :joker: and set in the old ways when it was new and revolutionary stuff

Like all genres they have their good and their bad within each generation imo.

Jay Z pretty much counts as both eras due to his longevity. The Biggie/Tupac era and Jay Z/Nas era>>>

A lot of the current main players' appeal eludes me... but then I don't know much of the classic stuff, so I voted for the neutral option :laugh:

New school.

Better production, larger variety, less stuck up.

No doubt the rapping was better in the 90's, but the music as a whole is a lot better now.

Assuming this is true...

Why did the rapping get worse upon better production... wouldn't it be better for the industry if both improved. To me this just proves old school is better b/c it is suppose to be about the rapping.

All genres of music enjoy better production and better sound... but for the actual rap to be inferior to when it began, makes old school better imo.

I'm mainly talking lyrically. There's more focus on flow and less on having a "meaningful" message. It's just what's popular and sells. Of course there's still great lyricists and storytellers - Kendrick alone has released two heavily conceptual albums regarded as some of the best ever, and even Drake is very good at conveying emotion in his personal tracks, it's just the content is very different and removed from where it originated. The evolution of hip hop has allowed for the more emotional, self-exposing lyrics as there's less attitude about having to act macho and tough, but of course there's still a ton simply focusing on wealth and success. It's a mixed bag. There's something for everybody if you look beyond the top 40 charts.

A lot of people listen to hip hop now for the overall product rather than specifically the lyrics, myself included. I still always expect good rapping.

And I miss those days when every lyric was memorized by my friends and I ... and it meant something. Maybe there is just so much more of it... as you say.... and more variety as well.
Drake's style is def. my modern style of choice... but I know it's not everones

..I think current if I had to choose one, although I think there is some good and bad in both like there is all genres of music...but like everything, music evolves and it's good to look at influences from the past etc but just not to compare them because they're both the relevance of their time...discovering new sounds and new artists is for me, kind of what it's all about...