Older hip-hop fans and current hip-hop fans usually hold a lot of contempt for the new generation of rappers and artists. A lot of the time, though, this contempt is groundless; people tend to jump on the bandwagon and hate certain things simply because it’s trendy to hate them. This phenomenon isn’t limited to just current hip-hop. For example, everyone hates Nickelback, but no one can explain why they hate Nickelback. A lot of people hate Kanye West, but don’t have any other reason other than he’s too confident. Many times, people who are so passionate to hate an artist have never actually given that artist’s music a chance.
Specifically in hip-hop, the new generation of artists are widely known and often disliked (but most of the time, they don't really care). Take for example Lil Yachty, who finds a lot of hate among old school hip-hop fans. Recently, Lil Yatchty was an interviewed guest on Complex's Daily Struggle. He caught a lot of flack from Slaughterhouse's very own Joe Budden, but many viewers thought Budden came off as cold and ignorant to change. The truth is, newer rappers like Lil Yachty aren't trying to take music too seriously. They just want to enjoy making music, throwing away the tough personas past rappers have held.
Another example of a rapper who is purely in it for the craft is Travis $cott. $cott tends to rap about doing excessive amounts of drugs, but in reality, he "barely drinks and smokes kind of."
Lil Yachty has said that he thinks people "don’t know how to accept change. They old and washed up," and I think he's right. With every new wave of artists following certain trends, there's going to be hate from the old school. What people fail to understand is that music is going to change no matter what, and so it doesn't make sense to be stuck in your old ways without first listening to the music. I admit, I also didn't find Lil Yachty or Lil Uzi Vert's music all that appealing at first, but once I stopped taking it so seriously, I found it enjoyable.
Older hip-hop artists are also not worried about the current state of hip-hop. Jadakiss, on Rap Radar Live, said "It’s gonna go through whining rap, it’s gonna go through crazy clothes, crazy haircuts, crazy sounds. But it’s always gonna come back to the foundation." Hip-hop is not dead, it's simply evolving, and the same could be said for every genre of music. With every evolution cycle, however, there will be haters. People are free to hate an artist as much as they want, but to hate an artist simply because it's trendy does not make much sense.
Who is to say this new "mumble rap" trend will even last long? It could end tomorrow for all we know. I just think we all have the ability to enjoy both lyrical artists like 'Pac, B.I.G., or Kendrick, but we can also enjoy artists that are just trying to have fun making music, like Playboi Carti, Lil Yachty, and Migos.
To end this plea for more open-mindedness in hip-hop, here's a video of Lil Uzi Vert listening to Paramore and eating candy in his car.
