Are you into current hiphop?

Cafe Society
1

In another thread, I commented on apparent gaps in peoples’ musical awareness. I realize that I am becoming more and more out of touch with popular music - especially rap/hiphop. Meanwhile, it seems pretty clear that hiphop is increasingly becoming a major (if not the dominant) style of popular modern music.

I was wondering how informed you folk were with hiphop. Even tho I might not appreciate (or even recognize) a particular band’s music, in past decades, I would at least be familiar with the names of the most popular acts.

Wasn’t sure how to identify the hottest current performers, but here is a list I found of the 20 most streamed hiphop artists through the middle of 2017. (If you think there is a better list of recent popular artists, I’m happy to defer.)

1.Drake (3.7B)
Future (2.6B)
Kendrick Lamar (2.3B)
Migos (1.9B)
The Weeknd (1.8B)
Bruno Mars (1.4B)
Kodak Black (1.2B)
Lil Uzi Vert (1.19B)
Rihanna (1.18B)
10.Post Malone (1.17B)
Eminem (1.15B)
J. Cole (1.13B)
Big Sean (1.13B)
Kanye West (990M)
Rae Sremmurd (981M)
Beyonce (925M)
DJ Khaled (864M)
Chris Brown (847M)
Kevin Gates (766M)
20.Travis Scott (751M)

I think I have HEARD OF a grand total of 8 of the 20 - and other than Beyonce and possibly Bruno Mars, am pretty sure I could not name a song by any of them, or recognize one if I heard it. Well, maybe others such as Rihanna, Eminem, and Kanye have tunes that I would recognize, but I have no idea of those songs as by those artists.

Drake
Bruno Mars
Rihanna
Eminem
Kanye West
Beyonce
DJ Khaled
Chris Brown

How about you?

I watch TDS, and Trevor Noah regularly hosts guests and makes references that I am entirely ignorant of. Which is GREATLY different from TDS under Jon Stewart - who was close to my age (57).

I have somewhat mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, What I’ve heard of hiphop, it is nothing I ever want to listen to for enjoyment - tho I can appreciate the mood it might create in a movie soundtrack. OTOH, as someone who used to be VERY aware of popular music - and who still plays music and attends concerts (mainly bluegrass/folk/Americana) regularly, it is mildly uncomfortable to feel myself becoming increasingly out-of-touch. On my third hand, I acknowledge the positive change, that there is no longer a single dominant artistic culture.

In part, I imagine mine is the perception of old fogeys throughout the ages! :rolleyes:

2

I’ve heard of -

Bruno Mars
Rihanna
Eminem
Kanye West
Beyonce

Haven’t heard any of their music though. Don’t really listen to radio anymore, and don’t watch entertainment/music shows on TV.

3

Yes.

I don’t know all of the current top-of-the-charts artists, apparently, but for the amount of new music I listen to the subset of that which is hip-hop is pretty substantial.

4

How does it make you feel being absolutely ignorant of what is increasingly the dominant popular culture?

I know FAR more about the music my parents, grandparents, and greatgrandparents listened to, than I do to what my kids and grandkids might…

5

I want nothing to do with current hip-hop. IMO the genre was perfected somewhere between 1993 - 1997, and everyone else since then is just a poor imitation of those guys.

6

I hope it’s not threadshitting to respond to the thread title’s question with a resounding No. I find myself agreeing with much of what the OP said.

I concur that “hiphop is increasingly becoming a major (if not the dominant) style of popular modern music.” Objectively, I see nothing wrong with this, but subjectively, I hate it, because I just don’t enjoy that style of music. My reaction to pretty much all the rap or hiphop I’ve heard runs from “meh, not really my thing” to active dislike. Which doesn’t bother me all that much, because life’s already too short to listen to all the music that I do like.

7

I’ve heard of Rihanna, Eminem, Kanye West, and Beyonce, although if you played samples I could not identify any of the four and couldn’t tell you the names of any of their tracks.

It seems to be shifting back towards some tonal music (as differentiated from strictly rap which is rhythmical but not tonal), even with bursts of vocal harmony. I prefer that, strongly.

On the other hand, intellectually, I really like the idea that poetry, so long marginalized, has come (back) into its own — to me, that’s what rap (and to some extent hiphop) represent, a commercial ascendancy of poetry.

Aesthetically, too much of it is still belligerent and angry in a domineering rather than angsty way and I don’t find it appealing. I’m white-culture shaped in my musical tastes and preferences and furthermore come from a rock-and-classical modality and don’t much care for the entire general range of music that’s typically been called “pop”, “disco”, “top 40”, “funk”, “house”, “party”, “dance”, etc. My tastes are of course only tastes and I don’t intend to defend them as inherently “better”.

I could like (some) stuff of the rappy-hiphoppy formulation: I enjoyed putting on some Gil Scott-Heron occasionally and there’ve been some bitingly socially-relevant rap tracks over the years that I’ve liked, nodding along in appreciation of their content. Content does matter, especially when so much of it is words and so little of it tonal music.

I am of course another old fogey here, 59 and counting (and missing the heydays of hard rock and prog rock and acid rock)

8

I’m pretty much neck and neck with ya, Dinnie. I know about the same artists as you, though I would add that I’ve heard of Kendrick LaMar, The Weeknd and Big Sean. Like you, I was always up on popular music.

I too share your feeling about the music itself. I don’t really enjoy it though it can be okay as background (like, farrrrrrr into the background) music.

Can’t say I feel particularly uncomfortable falling out of touch with this specific aspect of current pop culture; I have never like that kind of music and don’t think I would if I were growing up now. But I relate to what you’re saying; I often don’t recognize the names or faces of popular new actors and that’s when I feel out of touch.

9

I like and follow contemporary hip-hop because I like music that pays a lot of attention to lyrics and story-telling and creative use of samples.

Hip-hop is also often quite political. If it doesn’t match your politics, it’s probably going to be a bad fit. That was a lot less true of bands like The Beatles. While they were occasionally political (usually in what they were doing with the music or outside of their performance), their lyrics were very rarely meaningful at all, much less political. It is easier to relate to even if you’re quite distant from the sub-culture from which that music emerged.

I could do without most of the names on the OP’s list. But Kendrick Lamar is GOAT.

10

I’m very into hiphop however, IN MY OPINION, most of the “popular” hiphop/rap being put out now is very formulaic and, for the most part, is terrible (again, IN MY OPINION - there are plenty who would argue differently). That’s not to say that the artists don’t have talent, because even those that aren’t to my taste can sometimes be very gifted.

The list of artists below, is for the most part, pop-music hip-hop. There are a lot of artists that aren’t considered “popular” and receive very little or no airplay that are putting out music infinitely better than what the masses tend to consume. Of the list below, I know the music of or recognize the name of all the artists but the ones I actually listen to or would consider myself a fan of would be:

Kendrick
Rihanna
Eminem
J. Cole
Big Sean (in small doses)

To the list below you could probably add a couple more but it’s pretty representative of what’s out in the hip-POP sphere. Most of the new music I’m listening to is from artists that originated in the 90s and early 2000s. I’m currently in my late thirties so my tastes may run a little closer to yours as compared to a 18 year old. If you’re looking for something a little different from the norm that you may enjoy (and as a way to dip your toes in the water so to speak) check out some of the following artists/groups:

-The Roots (they consider themselves a blend of hiphop and neo-soul)
-Gift of Gab (individual) or his group Blackalicious
-Atmosphere (front man refers to their music as “Dad Rap”)
-Brother Ali (same label as Atmosphere - very spiritual music)
-Chance the Rapper (has no “albums” and doesn’t work with any major labels - you can find his stuff on youtube though)
-Cunninlynguists (a taste of GOOD southern rap)
-De La Soul (“hippie” rap)
-Common

There are numerous other groups/artists that I listen to but the above I feel are great for people who aren’t really hiphop or rap fans. YMMV of course but give em a try, you may like some of them.

11

I’ve heard of 16 of the 20:

Drake (3.7B)
Future (2.6B)
Kendrick Lamar (2.3B)
Migos (1.9B)
The Weeknd (1.8B)
Bruno Mars (1.4B)
Kodak Black (1.2B)
Rihanna (1.18B)
Eminem (1.15B)
J. Cole (1.13B)
Big Sean (1.13B)
Kanye West (990M)
Rae Sremmurd (981M)
Beyonce (925M)
DJ Khaled (864M)
Chris Brown (847M)

I’m generally a fan of modern hip hop, though I haven’t been listening to music much at all lately, so some of these acts I’ve only heard one song. It is strange because I was one of those obnoxious people who called it cRap and only listened to rock type music. I was drawn into hip hop through Kanye West actually - and once I gave it a chance I realized I really liked it, far more than rock. So there you go. I’d much rather listen to a hip hop song (or even EDM) than a rock one these days.

12

May have been true a few years ago, but did you miss ‘Coloring Book’? It was quite the splash when it came out in 2016.

13

Personally, I’m at peace with that. I’ve heard of three or four from your list. I don’t know their music. The same, however, could be said of country music performers, or probably even “pop” (if there is still such a thing). It’s a big world and many people enjoy things that I have no interest in, and perhaps vice versa.

14

I don’t think what I meant was made clear. By album I mean physical copies of a full work. Everything he puts out, he does so without the help of a major. He isn’t answering to anyone and puts out what he wants to put out, and does it using his own distribution methods (mainly itunes). This is revolutionary in the hip hop music industry Everything he puts out is considered a mixtape as opposed to an LP/EP.

15

This happened at least 20 years ago.

I don’t listen to a lot of modern music, but I’m trying to rectify that just because I don’t want to miss out on new talent. It’s just so easy to stay in my comfort zone and pull up a spotify playlist of favorites.

I’ve heard of Drake, Future, The Weekend, Kodak Black, Rihanna, Eminem, J. Cole, Bruno Mars, Migos, Kendrick Lamar, Big Sean, Kanye West, Beyonce, DJ Khaled, Chris Brown and Travis Scott.

I’m familiar with the music of Eminem, Rihanna, DJ Khaled, Chris Brown, Bruno Mars, Kanye West, Beyonce, Drake, Future and Big Sean.

16

I generally like 80s and 90s hip-hop more than the latest stuff, but there are a few exceptions – Kendrick Lamar is just amazingly talented. So is Kanye West, though his music is all over the map for me (and he can personally be very grating, IMO).

17

Might be interesting to include ages, to see how young us old fogies go!

18

I listen to current hip hop releases but mostly from older guys who’ve been around a long time and are still making music. For example, even though I like their solo stuff better, Killer Mike and El-P have a group called Run the Jewels. And despite being in their 40s and independent, they are selling out world tours and making a lot of money giving away albums (and they are legit albums not mixtapes) for free, while earning a Grammy nomination (Mike won one 15 years ago, in no universe would El-P ever have been nominated) this year for a guest appearance. They still aren’t what’s hot with the majority of kids or anything and still more likely to show up on critics’ lists than the biggest artists lists. I also listen to other 40 year-old rappers who are way more under the radar.

As far as the “what’s hot with teens” list posted, I recognize every single name. Close to 1/2 I do not consider hip-hop. I know quite a few Rihanna (not hiphop) songs, but mostly from around 2004-2008. Drake (hip hop) annoys me to no end. Post Malone reminds me of a parody artist, not quite in Riff Raff territory but pretty bad, and he’s tried to distance himself from rap and hip-hop or at least he did before he went #1. I know the 1 Migos song everyone does. I can listen to it but it sucks that there are 20 other songs on the radio with the same formula. I actually liked the Rae Sremmerd song “Black Beatles” well enough. I thought it was cool and fun for pop rap. Kanye’s debut album from around 2004 is one of my favorite albums of all-time. I think I know 1 of his songs from this decade. Bruno Mars (not hip hop) has a couple cool and less-cool/sappy pop/R&B tunes. The Weekend has a remake of an 80s song and another song that sounds like Michael Jackson. He has tabloid relationships. Big Sean can rhyme “me” with “me” and “shit” with “shit.” Everyone loves Kendrick Lamar but I don’t know anything by him - possibly my biggest confession here. Also in that category and surprised I don’t see him listed - Chance the Rapper - I have only heard him as a guest on a song by “Francis and the Lights” played on the alternative station. I didn’t even notice his part until the DJ mentioned it after hearing it several dozen times. Eminem had a previous comeback back in like 2010 and I feel like that’s the last time anyone really cared. he’s an official nostalgia act now but I think he’s the best-selling rapper of alltime and even has an OScar and gets to headline all the festivals. Beyonce (not hip hop but she does duets and has guest rappers) has been around 20 years but I haven’t heard her music in awhile. Future had a kid with Ciara and used to chill with Scottie Pippen’s wife. I would say he’s an innovator to some extent of some version of autotuned trap/mumble rap. I’ve heard full J. Cole albums on road trips with my son. I think he’s supposed to be the current acceptable major label rapper who raps over standard production with no flashy guest appearances or pop hooks. I think you are allowed to have 1 of those every generation. I think he is OK. I think Kodak Black’s most notable contribution will be the inspiration for “Bodak Yellow.”

As you can probably tell, I’m a white guy around 40.

19

I like hip hop. I have heard of most of the artists listed, but I wouldn’t say I listen to them much. I do like older hip hop better. The ones everyone has heard of (Rihanna, Bruno Mars, Beyoncé, Chris Brown, Drake) are arguably not hip hop.

20

I know all of the artists on your list and even like some of them. I am something of a hip hop head though.

Several artists on the list really stretch the definition of being hip hop though. Rihanna? Eh, pop with really occasional fore into rap. Beyonce? Hip hop by association only (married to Jay). The Weekend? Nah. Drake is still sorta hip hop I guess. But his hits aren’t. Chris Brown is hip hop the way James Brown was. Bruno Mars is just rock and roll.

But there is good stuff on that list too. Well Kendrick is on the list at least. (Eminem’s new album is so bad guys)

It’s interesting that you not knowing them makes you feel old. I feel old because I don’t like them, so not old enough I guess. Migos and Future make maybe the most boring music in the history of hip hop. Maybe in the history of pop. Maybe ever.