In a nutshell, no, I dont want the 90s back
They were then and this is now. Its 20 yrs later.
What I do want is some kind of progression in the artform and continuity of the artform's narrative
U look at a nikka like Drake, Wayne, Big Sean, they are all worse than the "hot" rappers of 10, 15, 20 years ago, be it as far as subject matter, technical depth, whatever. As pieces of music just to dance to or look at through the lens of Top 40 value, they are better for sure, but within the context of hip hop, no.
At the same time though, again, I think knee jerk biting of the 90s under the guise of "bringing it back" (like Joey Badazz) is no better. 90s were about originality and creativity first, with all the image shyt later. nikkas think doing videos in fatigues and rapping like the Fu Schnickens over boom bap beats = the 90s... showing how surface level their understanding is of what made the era great.
To be fair though, I think we might have moved past the opportunity of another great era. Rap from the 90s was borne out of conditions I hope blacks and Latinos never have to face again. The internet has connected people at a level that somewhat blunts the value of expression through rap. As I have said many times before, the barriers to rap that technology knocked down have flooded the market, enabling anyone, not just the select few folks who could get someone to financially vouch for their studio time, to make music- which has prompted the creation of sites like DatPiff, which have more music uploaded than one can listen to in a lifetime. So the 2013 Tupac might be on there, but just be lost in the sauce.
You look at a lot of nikkas rapping now, it's like they are just going through the motions. Maybe everything that could/should be done in rap has been done. We have ~10 years of really, really good music to live on... I'm OK.
They were then and this is now. Its 20 yrs later.
What I do want is some kind of progression in the artform and continuity of the artform's narrative
U look at a nikka like Drake, Wayne, Big Sean, they are all worse than the "hot" rappers of 10, 15, 20 years ago, be it as far as subject matter, technical depth, whatever. As pieces of music just to dance to or look at through the lens of Top 40 value, they are better for sure, but within the context of hip hop, no.
At the same time though, again, I think knee jerk biting of the 90s under the guise of "bringing it back" (like Joey Badazz) is no better. 90s were about originality and creativity first, with all the image shyt later. nikkas think doing videos in fatigues and rapping like the Fu Schnickens over boom bap beats = the 90s... showing how surface level their understanding is of what made the era great.
To be fair though, I think we might have moved past the opportunity of another great era. Rap from the 90s was borne out of conditions I hope blacks and Latinos never have to face again. The internet has connected people at a level that somewhat blunts the value of expression through rap. As I have said many times before, the barriers to rap that technology knocked down have flooded the market, enabling anyone, not just the select few folks who could get someone to financially vouch for their studio time, to make music- which has prompted the creation of sites like DatPiff, which have more music uploaded than one can listen to in a lifetime. So the 2013 Tupac might be on there, but just be lost in the sauce.
You look at a lot of nikkas rapping now, it's like they are just going through the motions. Maybe everything that could/should be done in rap has been done. We have ~10 years of really, really good music to live on... I'm OK.
. I'll take the hip-hop released between '84 - 97 over ANYTHING made today. When MC'ing was becoming an artform. Somehow that shyt really got sidetracked though. I guarantee you that if you took the top 10 dudes of today and took them back to say '93, 8 out of 10 of them would be looked at as straight wack. And they would've been called out on it. NOW, people are fukking inundated in wackness. It's the fukking norm. And people blindly accept it. It's a shame too. I am thankful that I got to experience the propagation of hip-hop before corporate america took it over and ruined it for the most part.
the head talent scout and make moves like LOUD did back in the day. Sign those 90's artist who might be struggling now, as well as young MC's who have been educated in the art of rap and revitalize the artistry and the quality of hip-hop as a whole. There is a HUGE audience out there who would eat that shyt up.
