Has rap been destroyed?
N.W.A. album cover
Rap isn’t the same as it was years ago. Now everything you hear in a song is about violence and other inappropriate topics. Back when rap used to be really good, the artists didn’t repeat themselves and had some originality.
Artists from the 80-90’s rapped about what was going on in life and what was happening around them, unlike the rappers of today. Some of those artists were N.W.A, Eminem, Wu Tang Clan, Run DMC, Tupac, Biggie Smalls, Andre 3000, LL Cool J, and Eric B. & Rakim.
Rap artists today can’t come anywhere near those artists, with exceptions for J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar. They are the only real pieces of old school flow we have left, at least on the mainstream base. This is why we appreciate them on such a high level, because they are keeping the culture alive and doing it with skill.
The biggest “rappers” today are mumble rappers, meaning they pretty much say nonsense and repeat it throughout the whole song, usually over a bass-boosted beat. They do not live up to the title of “rapper” since they don’t have any original style like the artists from the 80s and 90s.
While I understand that rap is evolving and this is what we have, I truly believe that we can kick it back to a more old school rap game. Maybe I just need to suck it up and go through this “phase” of rap, and hope that everyone will realize soon we need to go back to our past to remember what rap should be.
Loading ...Your donation will support the student journalists of Wiregrass Ranch High School. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.
Dereck James is a sophomore at Wiregrass and this will be his first year as a writer for The Stampede. He wants to be a barber or firefighter when he graduates...
Riyan Sarsour is a Sophomore at WRHS. This is his second year writing for The Stampede. Riyan enjoys writing for the school's online newspaper because...
Anna Claire Frick • Apr 23, 2018 at 12:30 pm
From one hip hop junkie to another, what are you talking about?! Yes I completely agree that old school hip hop tops the charts because they put soul into their work. No disrespect at all, but plenty of artist today put their heart and soul into their work as well. Shout out to you for not totally discarding J.Cole and Kendrick but that’s only two artists you mentioned. All of the artist you mentioned talk about violence, sex and things happening around them. Also I’m not about to disrespect any artist at all because everyone I am about to mention has made crazy music but they also talk about the real world struggle. There is no straight up hip hop artist that hasn’t talked about violence or sexualized anything. No rapper has ever just made straight peace music. They make universal music so everyone can relate.
For example logic came out with the album EVERYBODY to talk about everyone’s struggles and how the world is just plain crazy. With 1-800-273-8255 talking about suicide prevention. Again this isn’t a normal thing you put on a track but he did it anyways because he wanted everyone to find a song in that album they could relate to and enjoy. Logic took rap to a new level when releasing that song and it completely topped the charts and went 4 times platinum in the U.S.
J.Cole’s album just dropped and it basically talks about drug addiction. It may be something you don’t relate to but it’s something hundreds of other people in the world have a connection too. And to quote what you said, ” Now everything you hear in a song is about violence and other inappropriate topics.” and clearly he’s talking about an “inappropriate” topic so I might just be misunderstanding but if your holding J.Cole to clean standards you might wanna check that. Yes you said he’s a good rapper but you didn’t specify if he’s a clean or inappropriate lyricist. J.cole puts himself into everything he does so that’s why we appreciate him so much. See we both agree about Cole, but just don’t discredit other artist that put everything into their work.
In NWA one of their most famous songs is FTP. In today’s world that song would either slammed or glorified!!!
Can you name those mumble rappers of today’s generation because I see Kendrick, J.Cole, Jaden Smith, Nicki Minaj, Yachty, Ferg, Rocky, Brockhampton, Logic and so many more artist on the stage taking rap to a whole new level. The 80s and 90s hip hop were golden days and gave today’s rap a solid foundation to work off of. But we can’t just totally discredit them. Yes they will be missed but definitely this years generation of rap just keeps getting better and better.
You mentioned Wu Tang, Nas, and N.W.A for “non violent sources” they were SO VIOLENT. Yes they talk about what is happening in the world but they also talk about sex and doing drugs. Illmatic was literally about being in a gang.
But your question is, “Has rap been destroyed?” and I think not. I think all these old school rappers have influenced this year’s generation of rappers to be better. Yes it stinks we don’t have biggie or Tupac but we have plenty of artist that try to carry their names on their backs and we should appreciate them not tear them down. So once in a while it’s okay to pop in a good record by N.W.A but just remember no rap artist has ever made a straight up peace album. They look at the real world and write down their magic. It may be something you don’t relate too but it may relate/mean something to that artist or someone else.
On another note I enjoyed your article and seeing some things from your view. Have a good day and keep people posted on the current rap generation.
-ac
anna claire’s fan club • May 2, 2018 at 10:39 am
i agree , good content