Music is an integral part of our lives; it uplifts us when we are down and inspires us to greater heights. While there could be a lot more creativity injected and effort put into today's shifting hip hop landscape, at the end of the day, it's all about the Benjamins.
The 1990s are highly regarded as the Golden Age of hip hop music, specifically rap. Even as the almost mythical hip hop legends of 2Pac and Biggie Smalls a.k.a. "The Notorious Big" arrived on the rap scene in the early '90s, it was obvious that people saw their music as inferior compared to the hip hop of their generation. Biggie's "Big Poppa" and Pac's "I Get Around" were pretty substantial pendulum swings from The Sugarhill Gang's "Apache" or Run DMC's "It's Tricky".
That's just how it was.
Music changes and evolves. What made money back then is not going to have the same pull today. A lot of the rappers from the past are now much older with families, in completely different mindsets from when they were young and hungry. Many longtime fans want to see Jay Z and Eminem return to their beginnings with albums that are just unapologetic "bangers" (songs you can just bop your head to), but that will likely never happen.
One of my favorite rappers of all time is Shawn Carter a.k.a. Jay-Z, but even he is in a different mindset today from when he started in the '90s. Jay is now a celebrity billionaire running multiple companies with that super successful wife of his that runs the "Beehive". I'm not hating on the man or anything for making it; that should be the goal for anyone. But the more successful you get, you begin to lose that hunger and edge you had when you started.
Some fans had a problem with Jay-Z's latest album from 2017, "4:44", as it was not a "banger", but it shows where Jay is at this point in his life. Jay-Z, as well as many of his other seasoned rap contemporaries, are not worrying about "bangers" or partying as they did in the early days. That is for the new age. It's a bygone era that I wish I was old enough to truly be apart of, but glad I'm able to experience through their music.
It's always great to see rappers like J Cole and Kendrick Lamar on a mainstream radio station and either being nominated or winning awards for their craft, when at the inception of rap that was a pipe dream. While your dad may not like mumble rap or trap music and can't understand what the hell is coming out of new-age rapper Tekhasi 6ix9ine's mouth, it's what's in with the kids of today.
Not to mention the world has started to become a very sensitive place, at the cost of censorship and trying to keep everyone happy. Rap has always been very controversial, but today's landscape is not doing it any favors. The music market suffers, and then there is another problem because the artist is unable to pour their heart and soul into the project.
The mumble rap era will end eventually and a new fad will start after, one that may or may not bring back some semblance of the past. Just like with current Hollywood, hip hop may not be as it was in its glory days, but there is still great music out there. You just have to go and look for it.
Music, as does everything, will change the further away it moves from its roots and new creative minds enter the fray.
