I been reading this thread and I yet to really see anyone listing the old school greats except for one post. Here's where rap really came up back when it was fresh: Tupac Easy E Nwa Ice cube The Doc Run DMC Snoop Dog Ice-T Too $hort Eric B & Rakim LL Cool J A tribe called Quest Public Enemy Doug E Fresh Slick Rick Beastie Boys De La Soul Grand Master Flash 2 Live Crew If you recall these you know rap back then is better than it is now.
Rap peaked in 95... The stuff coming out in the last 20 years may as well be the sound of dookey slapping toilet water.
I guess current 'mainstream rap' nowadays is much worse than it was years ago, however there are plenty of artists out there who are actually still decent with deep, speedy, hard-hitting (most importantly) enunciated lyrics. Tech N9ne Krizz Kaliko Mac Lethal Son Real Those are some of the artists I've been really digging lately. All of them (imo) brilliant and under-appreciated. People like Lil Yachty, Desiigner etc. are honestly disgraces when compared to true rap skill. Calling them rappers is honestly a bit of a stretch if you can't even understand what they're trying to say But they're not singers and they'd probably get offended if we started calling them 'mumblers' so...
Although I have listened to and still listen to the greats (Pac, biggy, nwa etc) I think people underestimate some of the music that is coming out today. And I'm not talking about the mumblers I'm talking about Vince staples, kendrick, Kanye when he is letting the world know "it's good." Another thing about newer rappers is there albums are incredibly diverse. Listen to rodeo by Travis scott and suppress your likely hatred for that genre of music, just listen to the diversity.
I'd say it's worse cos there's nothing new about rap nemore...it's a classic music style nowadays...it's alot like u don't see many good classic/psychadellic rock artists/groups come out nemore, elvis, Led Zeppelin, pink floyd, jimi hendrix, the beatles, black sabbath n such thru the 50s-70s were at the the peak of it & all the newer stuff is just reminders...sure some of it sounds good but it's not like hearing the music & messages in them when they were new...grandmaster flash, tupac, biggie, eazy-e, cube, dre, eminem, snoop, etc were at the peak and newer artists are just imitators with modified beats n lyrics.
Grandmaster flash had his debut in 1976, Eminem had his mainstream debut in 1999. That is a 23 year difference. When Eminem came out rap music was not new, it was an established genre. What makes Eminem a legit artist as opposed to an imitator? Because he wasn't around when rap was new. Sure, he made it break into the mainstream like never before, became the highest selling rap artist and the highest selling artist of the 2000s but your logic is flawed. Rap is worse than it was 20 years ago, but not because rappers are imitators. They have their own style so it is not imitation. Their style is just subpar to the old rappers. Even today's best rapper like Kendrick would get bodied by Nas, em, cube, Big Pun with ease.
For every Kendrick, Chance, or Cole, you'll get a Kodak, Yachty, Uzi, and 7 other wack rappers. So far ratio is 3:10 in favor of wannabes.
Eminem was and is still different than most the other present day rappers. He raps with similar passion and precession as the rappers 20 years ago because he grew up on that. Even tho he was similar to them, he was different than them. Rap is evolving. It sucks, but some rappers out there are making good changes. Just have to listen and find them.
Oh so young...... Look back at the beginning, late 70’s to 85. Those are the roots, when rap gave you something to think about.
When you talk bout good rap, I think bout Jadakiss, Naz, Cassidy, Jr Writer, Papoose, Styles P, Eminem, mfers who breathe fire when they mouth opens. Most them primed in the late 90's and early 00's
If refering to me(not so young).question was if new or old rap is better.so i mention some that i think is really good "modern" rap.nothing to do with age as i was born in the 70's
While I can enjoy the modern day rap for what it is, I don't quite consider it to be "rap" To me it's just unimportant lyrics tryin to show off how much money they have The rap artists I personally listen to regularly are Ice Cube Nate Dogg (rip...) tech n9ne The Game