But no, really - rap is at its lowest point, creatively and culturally, since the late-nineties. It seems like the mainstream stuff has gotten dumber and dumber, slower and more simplistic, the beats wimpier and dinkier. Half of these beats out there already sound like ringtones!
Indie rap has all-but vanished from the radar - what happened to Anticon, Def Jux, Rhymesayers, etc.? Where’s the next generation of backpackers, the guys that grew up on Clouddead and Freestyle Fellowship?
They’re getting paid, dude. They’re making money with what they put out there.
That’s the sad part. The entire landscape of rap and hip-hop music has changed over the past 10 years. Really, you can point to Lil’ Jon as the turning point.
Peaks and valleys, dude. Peaks and valleys. Wait a few years, it’ll get better.
The same thing happened with alternative rock in the late 90s and early 2000s - there was a dry period, and then indie rock started to take off and now it’s booming and there are more bands out there than it’s possible to keep up with.
