Do rappers and producers truly fall off or do our expections simply change?

[The Jewnited States]

Looking at that DJ Premier thread got me thinking about this. Are Primos recent beats truly not as good as they used to be, or is the quality on par with his old shyt but because we expect a different sound in 2017 we deem it not as good/wack? If we took those same beats and put them in 1994 would they be universally loved? Could I label one of his tracks made post 2010 as 1995 and have people thinking it was a dope ass unreleased record instead of a mislabeled track?

Same thing goes for rappers. Did Nas and Jay ever really fall off? Em? DMX? Or did their newer stuff just not hit you the same way because you've heard them before? You know their style already. Its not new, exciting, groundbreaking. I find it hard to believe that the average hiphop artists prime is shorter than the average NFL running backs prime.

Thoughts?

 

[Ghostface Trillah]

People grow up and either

A. Don't allow the rapper to grow up.
B. The rapper doesn't grow up.
C. Artist loses motivation and hunger.

 

[1-8-7-Skillz]

Reading this thread I really gotta ask myself how accurate the term "falling off" actually is....
A good example of this would be Kurupt. People generally say he fell off in 98. Since then hes put out so many horrible verses & songs, it really makes you go
BUT at the same time, between 10 shytty songs he'll still drop songs & verses where hes bringin his lyrical A game on some
So has he really "fallen off" / lost his talent ?
I think getting inconsistent would be a more fitting term....

 

[DarkmanX]

One thing ive noticed is that for some people falling off means "not on TV/as much hype anymore".

While to the others is when the material isnt hitting like that, which is subjective.

 

[JustCKing]

Our expectations of them change because they did it an elite level. You're namong GOAT'S so their standard ain't the same as everybody else's. I mean even their good ain't really good enough. If it isn't earth shattering, people look at it like its wack.

Now with Eminem and X, that ain't really the case. They fell off and more so occupied moments in Hip Hop where they were those dudes. With Jay and Nas, they never really fell off, they just dropped some duds, and recovered with pojects that were considered a return to form.

With Premo, he has an "if ain't broke don't fix it" style that is too stubborn to really evolve. That's not a bad thing. It's not something that I'd expect to sound like 2017. It's a nostalgic sound that caters to a specific era of Hip Hop. I can't imagine Premo chopping a dope sample with same jazzy horns only to throw some rolling 808's and stuttering hi hats under it.

 

[Tommy Gibbs]

One thing ive noticed is that for some people falling off means "not on TV/as much hype anymore".

While to the others is when the material isnt hitting like that, which is subjective.

Or falling off means crackers don't promote u.

 

[The Jewnited States]

Our expectations of them change because they did it an elite level. You're namong GOAT'S so their standard ain't the same as everybody else's. I mean even their good ain't really good enough. If it isn't earth shattering, people look at it like its wack.

Now with Eminem and X, that ain't really the case. They fell off and more so occupied moments in Hip Hop where they were those dudes. With Jay and Nas, they never really fell off, they just dropped some duds, and recovered with pojects that were considered a return to form.

With Premo, he has an "if ain't broke don't fix it" style that is too stubborn to really evolve. That's not a bad thing. It's not something that I'd expect to sound like 2017. It's a nostalgic sound that caters to a specific era of Hip Hop. I can't imagine Premo chopping a dope sample with same jazzy horns only to throw some rolling 808's and stuttering hi hats under it.

But do you think those artists are still capable of producing music at their peak level? Could Nas write NY State of Mind in 2017? Is he mentally/physically capable of writing at that level still or did he "fall off"?