Why can't certain rappers reclaim that glow or spark they had?

[N*E*R*D]

Had a spark when you started now you just garbage syndrome.

I saw it happen to some of my favorite rappers. In sports, it's cool because age catches everyone, but music is a mental muscle that can be done for way longer. How can you go from making genre-defining music to being below average or average at best?

The list can go on forever for rappers that meant something to me growing up that can't have the same effect in the game that they once had. This makes me tip my hat to Jay-Z a lot to still have the ability to move people so many years later.

Remember how cold Prodigy was in the 90s then it seem like he just lost it and never got it back

My list of rappers I can't think of why they can't drop a classic album anymore.

Talib Kweli
Mos Def
Common
50 Cent
Eminem
Styles P
Cam'ron
Rick Ross
Jeezy
Ludacris
T.I.

I'm sure you guys can add more

 

[Devil Plisken…CMS]

Because humans aren’t robots or createaplayers

 

[SAINT]

makes me tip my hat to Jay-Z a lot to still have the ability to move people so many years later.

he’s been dropping shytty verses filled with forced references and chopped up flows for YEARS now. That nikka been below average

 

[N*E*R*D]

I even tried to like Lloyd Banks's new shyt but it just doesn't have that "feel" of his old shyt. *Continues to play Victory and Banks Workout*

 

[FaTaL]

When your success depends on producers it’s difficult to repeat

 

[Art Barr]

They souled out culturally.
bit.
or was foo playing a role to begin with.
Or did a combo or alluv the above.

Some people on the list rejuvenated themselves. by countering going jiggy or selling out or bitin. Or never writing frfr and foo as fukk.
While some never returned back to their original cultural identity.



Art Barr

 

[Tony D'Amato]

Seems like poor rappers are the best rappers.

 

[N*E*R*D]

I think Black Thought is one of the few rappers that got better with age.

 

[Nostalgic]

Because they're human beings, they mature, they learn.

You don't want to listen to a rapper thats 35 still rappin about the same shyt when they were 22.

 

[IllmaticDelta]

This happens in every genre of music. You could pick almost at random any great artist in any genre when they first started vs their later work and come to the same conclusion.

 

[FlyGuy]

Prodigy’s style switched and he had a lil stumble, but even slow flow P had something special

his solo joints and The Safe is Cracked are great examples of him still having it

 

[Awesome Wells]

In Hip Hop, in a lot of cases, it's based on timing.

Kweli, for example, benefited from being around MC's that were on legendary runs. He hung around greats, and that really became a lifeline for his career back then. Dude was getting booed off the stage at Lyricist Lounge back in the day, in NYC. The crowd there would run you outta there, if you showed up for Open Mic Night and did some wack shyt. He was always clowned and ran out the building. But once he started running with Mos, Common and the Soulquarians thing, and spent time with more certified MC's, he was accepted. Later on, he used the Kanye affiliation. That saved him. But when that ended, he basically ended.

That's how Hip Hop is. The majority of these dudes ride waves and benefit from timing. The GOAT's, are the ones that can do whatever whenever they choose to, and still shine. Nas is 30 years in, winning Grammy's and still dropping critically acclaimed work. Other legends have had runs that seemed to last forever. That's what separates the legends from the average rappers. A lot of these dudes had short runs that ended a long time ago.

 

[KateFabersBoyfriend]

Feel like a lot of the artists you listed were of a moment in time. I think Styles and Jeezy could drop a classic but the others have no chance. Also, it's not like it was in the mid-2000's and earlier where everyone was listening to the same new albums.

The internet leveled the aging field in a lot of ways but it also removed the sensation of everyone listening to the Styles or Cormega record.

 

[AAKing23]

Hard to capture that hunger that you had when you were coming into the game, it has an authenticity that cannot be faked once you're comfortable in the game for most artists

 

[The Exchanges]

Some rappers spend their entire lives to make that classic album and it usually their first.

Not everyone can be Nas or Jay-Z and retain or evolve.