An Exaggerated Truth

In the streaming era, the term ‘’all these new rappers sound the same’’ is a common critique used to describe the state of hip-hop by people who don’t like the more recent acts. Granted, I think people overexaggerate with the current state of hip-hop in general. But, I think there’s truth in everything.

One thing I did want to say is hip-hop is still regional, but just different sounds. You can clearly tell for the most part where most artist are from, from about 1 to 2 plays of their work. You can tell if a mainstream act is from Louisiana, Atlanta, Cali, NY, Detroit, which I love. It’s just that particular sounds from the past aren’t as prominent.

From both standpoints of mainstream and underground: I don’t think the state of hip-hop is bad, I think it can just be better. In terms of the music, I missed having to guess who would be featured on a project, and what it’s going to sound like. It’s not that I don’t like hearing what I’m hearing because I enjoy these newer artist music. But, the element of surprise is almost absent. I don’t like seeing snippets of music from rappers and already having a general idea of what it sounds like, and my prediction being correct when I press play. The excitement is just lacking.

I was talking to my good friend Dre the other day and he made a point that I agree with to an extent. “ Everybody is using the same producers leading to everything sounding the same.” It’s not that everyone is using the same producers, it’s that it feels certain instrumentals don’t feel completely unique to a certain artist. Some rappers I can listen to and think “This beat was 100% tailored for them” while others I think “ they just picked a beat out of a hat” and it bleeds into making the project less cohesive. The newer class of engineers and producers are EXTREMLEY talented. I just would like more artist being more particular and intentional. For example, THE WZRD, probably my favorite project from Future, you can 1000% tell what sound he wanted to go for and that everybody on the project was on the same page.

At the end of the day hip-hop may be a passion for some, but it is also a job too. I am not going to hate artist for not putting 110% into rollouts, into contributing fully into hip-hop culture. But, when people ask what hip-hop is missing, it’s that. Too many projects feel like blips on the radar due to a lack of effort or just not caring about important stuff outside of the music. The press runs, promotion of a project after 1 or 2 months of its release. I feel like part of the reason why people complain why projects aren’t sticking is because artist aren’t making them stick. Paying just as much attention to promotion and things around the release is important and it goes a super long way. I miss era’s too. An artist having an identity all the way until the next album or until they declare that the era is over. There’s nothing completely wrong with dropping music and nothing else. But, buying into these things helps project lifespan, the artist and the culture itself.

As one of my first pieces on Substack, I wanted to write about this, because it’s been on my mind for quite some time. I enjoy the music being put out, but I miss the things that makes hip-hop so great. The extra mile. Fully buying into artistry.