Can an argument be made that todays rappers are more talented than "golden era" rappers??

[Lil Bape the PostGod]

in the 90s, all you had to do was spit those lyrical miracle raps...most of the rappers in that time were ugly, couldn't dress or harmonize, and make a HIT song that could cross over into the mainstream...they were literally making songs for other nikkas to sing along to

in todays climate, the masses realized ANYBODY could rap or spit bars, so in the early 2000's they demanded more from a "rapper"...now you have to be a strong performer on stage, be melodic and harmonize hooks, know how to hold your own on the dance floor, look good and dress fresh...you have to be really talented to make it in the game today

do you think its a coincidence that the billboard hot 100 is flooded with todays generation of hip hop music? or is it safe to say, the quality of music is simply better than back in the days? it reaches and touches way more people now than ever before...billboard was once filled with nikkas like the beatles and rolling stones...now lil yachty and uzi taking up those same spots

Are we finally seeing what hip hop is truly capable of?

 

[NotaPAWG]

shut the fukk up

 

[Ziggiy]

No

 

[NotaPAWG]

and no not ANY one can spit bars.

if anyone could spit bars then new rappers would be able to spit bars and make shyt people can rock with in the club, too.

that's why 90s rappers are put on such a deserved pedestal. it's why BIG and PAC are arguably two of the greatest rappers to ever touch a mic because they could make hit songs that were lyrical too.

these new rappers aren't able to spit bars and do what cats like 90d rappers could

 

[PhonZhi]

OP how old are you?

 

[dora_da_destroyer]

Lmao @ almost everything being wrong in your opening paragraph...rappees weren't trying to sing back then and when they did, bone thugs harmonizing >>>> the autotune (lil and young everybody) , ear scratching (Cole, Sean) sounds being made today

 

[smokeurobinson]

Lmao @ almost everything being wrong in your opening paragraph...rappees weren't trying to sing back then and when they did, bone thugs harmonizing >>>> the autotune (lil and young everybody) , ear scratching (Cole, Sean) sounds being made today

he's so all over the place it comes off as trolling...dude said:

know how to hold your own on the dance floor,


He must have missed all that breakdancing in the 80's, Kid N Play, background dancers in pretty much every hip hop video in the 80' and Hammer killing the game in the early 90's

 

[SunZoo]

You can make an argument for a lot of dumb shyt, be my guest.



But before you go there, unless you're old enough to have some perspective you need to study the subject at hand a little bit.

Case Study: Rakim.

Ask yourself why one of the most revered and respected rappers of all time didn't even really stick around long enough to be contemporaries with guys like Snoop/Pac/Cube on the level that you would expect...had nothing to do with talent or a "fall off", it had to do with progression and expansion all of which were pushed forward and accelerated largely because of his contributions as an MC.

The game started moving fast off his momentum and "left him behind" as far as the music industry goes. Real recognize real though.

Peace.

 

[DaSk8D00D]

OP how old are you?

I'm only 23 years old and even I can tell dude gotta be young as fukk with very little knowledge on the game

Not to say that this generations greats aren't on par with past generations but ON AVERAGE the typical rapper in today's game is definitely not more "talented" than the average signed artist in the 90's. The fact that OP thinks it was all lyrical miracle rappers with no swag blatantly shows his ignorance to music at that time. 2000s rappers weren't the first MC's to harmonize on hooks. west coast artists were distorting their voices on hooks years before auto tune popped off. As progressive as our generation is it's not like we're the absolute pinnacle of innovation in rap.

The main difference with today's artists is that overall MARKETABILITY can get you just as far as great talent (without actually having great talent) and the fact that the game is MUCH MORE saturated than it ever was means people are more pushing the envelope in terms of marketing themselves, creating an image, etc. They may be more media/marketing savvy due to the internet era but thats doesn't make them more talented as artists

I'm not even saying the 90s were untouchable or anything like that, I just think it's ignorant as fukk to really think that the average YouTube rapper is just soooo much more talented than kids who had to write on notepads all day, didn't have access to unlimited instrumentals on the web, and overall just had to work a lot more to do little things with take for granted due to technology. They made that shyt work and it paved the wave for what we have today, where rap is so accessible anyone with a smartphone can learn to record a song & make beats within hours

 

[puppetmaster]

technically they should be "better"

MUCH more modern access to music, styles, culture and the tools to learn from metaphors, language, slang etc via the Internet

Charisma is the thing that separates IMO, even when EVERYONE was a gangster on the west coast and everyone was a mafia don in the east they all had a unique spin on the theme

Too many cats are content to ride whatever hot wave everyone is on and do it the exact same way right now

I don't mind rolling up my sleeves and digging for new artists and music tho so it doesn't affect me much

 

[Tribal Outkast]

Meanwhile people talk more about the golden era rappers than rappers who have come out in the past 20 years. I mean y'all talk about the guys who are popular right now but forget about guys who were popular in the early 2000's. I mean there's a ton of rappers out right now but Kendrick is pretty much the only one people are saying is great.

 

[SirBiatch]

you can see the struggle plain as day

 

[mr.africa]

 

[Palm Tree's & Blunts]

'rappers were ugly'.

 

[Henri Christophe]

they definitely werent as musical in terms of melodies or crafting new flows.... also the beats today are so much more epic... musically, its better..... not lyrically tho... but then again, music isn't dependent on lyrics anyway... there are genres of music without any lyrics at all.. music will always be about feeling....

golden age rappers didnt have as many flows or melodies or hit making abilities as today... thats true.... but todays rappers really lack in substance.. they aint saying much.... but they're way more musical so it SOUNDS better... its so much more catchy.... these nikkas make hit records in their sleep... golden age rappers sound washed when they try to spit their 1995-2005 flows with these young nikkas... even Jay sound outta place... they simply cant hang