Rap is not down because the lack of billboard entries, Its down because line of progression has been disrupted.

[CrimsonTider]

Outside of say the 10s and the early 20s. Billboard has never been able to measure the true popularity of a rap artist. Someone like Boosie's popularity was never ever reflected on a hot 100 chart. Pointing to Billboard as a source of fact for rap being dead or down is just silly.

The issue with what feels like a lack of new rap stars is that natural line of progression to become a star in rap has been disrupted by TikTok and algorithms.

Most rappers got hot locally, then regionally, then with some money backing them and word of mouth they were able to get motion nationally. Now with everyone's listening experience being so specialized to the music they're already familiar with it's damn near impossible for an artist to go from a regional star to a legit national star. The most recent national stars Bossman Dlow, Pluto, YK niece all got here because they had songs blow up on TikTok.

playlist are not even a good source of finding new music anymore because playlist are curated by AI that only pushes songs with most listens and most of those songs are have the most listens because they are legacy artist with the most fans(Future, lil baby, Gunna, Drake, Kendrick, Etc.)

I have no idea how we are suppose to discover hot new artist because their music will never make it to you without it blowing up on TikTok.

 

[Lil Bape the PostGod]

Kid cudi maui wowie is the hottest rap song right now

 

[CrimsonTider]

Kid cudi maui wowie is the hottest rap song right now

Its over played but its "Take me thru dere" because someone on TikTok decided to imitate YK niece when she's performing.

I need to make another thread about the album creation process with TikTok and streaming.

 

[maxamusa]

the mixtape scene was the pipeline for my era; that shyt dead now.

honestly I've aged out; but it was a vybe when everyone locally was on the same shyt more or less

 

[satam55]

Outside of say the 10s and the early 20s. Billboard has never been able to measure the true popularity of a rap artist. Someone like Boosie's popularity was never ever reflected on a hot 100 chart. Pointing to Billboard as a source of fact for rap being dead or down is just silly.

The issue with what feels like a lack of new rap stars is that natural line of progression to become a star in rap has been disrupted by TikTok and algorithms.

Most rappers got hot locally, then regionally, then with some money backing them and word of mouth they were able to get motion nationally. Now with everyone's listening experience being so specialized to the music they're already familiar with it's damn near impossible for an artist to go from a regional star to a legit national star. The most recent national stars Bossman Dlow, Pluto, YK niece all got here because they had songs blow up on TikTok.

playlist are not even a good source of finding new music anymore because playlist are curated by AI that only pushes songs with most listens and most of those songs are have the most listens because they are legacy artist with the most fans(Future, lil baby, Gunna, Drake, Kendrick, Etc.)

I have no idea how we are suppose to discover hot new artist because their music will never make it to you without it blowing up on TikTok.

IMO the reason Billboard couldn't properly measure how big Boosie & Webbie were becuz their charting is based from a national POV, while Boosie & Webbie were only big regionally.

Seeing how we're in the streaming era & everything is online. You'd think it be easier for Billboard/Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music/etc. to make regional charts

 

[RammerJammer]

I agree

You can also argue Keef and Youngboy’s popularity hasn’t matched the Billboard charts either

When I did listen to the radio, idk if I heard Keef on the radio really

 

[Cladyclad]

All these new dudes sound like watered versions of what we heard before. Dont even get me started started on production. That shyt is a worst state than rap

 

[Revolutionary]

We don't care about new artists if they don't make good music, it's as simple as that. And 99% of the new cats don't even care about the music, they only see the business part of it and want to make $$$.

 

[CrimsonTider]

IMO the reason Billboard couldn't properly measure how big Boosie & Webbie were becuz their charting is based from a national POV, while Boosie & Webbie were only big regionally.

Seeing how we're in the streaming era everything is online. You'd think it be easier for Billboard/Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music/etc. to make regional charts

I agree

You can also argue Keef and Youngboy’s popularity hasn’t matched the Billboard charts either

When I did listen to the radio, idk if I heard Keef on the radio really

It’s because charting is based on how many white casual hiphop fans are interested in your music

Even if you’re popular nationally with just black rap fans you won’t impact billboard (Boosie, Debbie, keef and YB)

Now it’s damn near impossible to get national black fans to hear your music

It’s also why Artist like Beyoncé and CB don’t dominate billboard even as superstars. They don’t have a lot of white listeners

 

[CrimsonTider]

All these new dudes sound like watered versions of what we heard before. Dont even get me started started on production. That shyt is a worst state than rap

We don't care about new artists if they don't make good music, it's as simple as that. And 99% of the new cats don't even care about the music, they only see the business part of it and want to make $$$.

You telling me guys like Loe Shimmy, YTB fatt,Moneleo and Bankrollni are making good music?

It’s just damn near impossible for new rappers music to pop nationally

 

[CrimsonTider]

the mixtape scene was the pipeline for my era; that shyt dead now.

honestly I've aged out; but it was a vybe when everyone locally was on the same shyt more or less

Don’t forget features. Algorithms have absolutely killed discovering new artist from killing a feature.

It’s doesn’t make any sense to not spam 21 savage and future and lil baby features to maximize exposure

 

[CrimsonTider]

IMO the reason Billboard couldn't properly measure how big Boosie & Webbie were becuz their charting is based from a national POV, while Boosie & Webbie were only big regionally.

Seeing how we're in the streaming era everything is online. You'd think it be easier for Billboard/Spotify/YouTube/Apple Music/etc. to make regional charts

This is definitely a solution. Those services algorithms need to be more sophisticated as well. You can’t fill the playlist up with Gunna future because they have the most listeners

 

[Rivoli]

Also One thing that’s really missing in hip-hop right now is collabs and crews.

Back in the day, every top rapper had a team they’d put on, or people they’d bring up, feature on tracks, or take on tour. That energy built movements. Think Jay-Z with Roc-A-Fella, Biggie with Junior M.A.F.I.A., Lil Wayne with Young Money, T-Pain with his endless collab, they all helped launch new artists and kept the culture moving. All the above also did tons of collabs with people outside their crew.

You can hate if you want but DJ Khaled got artists airplay and Billboard hits they might’ve never had otherwise.

Now look at the so-called “Big 3.”
Kendrick doesn’t really have a crew like that and won’t drop an album until 2030, Drake stopped doing collabs, and J. Cole is chilling somewhere on a beach with his family. Travis Scott lost steam since he no longer works with Mike Dean and Yay.

Combine that with labels barely investing in artist development anymore, and it’s no surprise the genre feels like it’s losing steam.

 

[Amestafuu (Emeritus)]

you doing too much. the music is trash the times are hard and still the artists have 0 substance on average. the really good ones are eating off core fanbases. the hot acts are interchangeable and replaceable. look at that whole female thot rap era we just went thru. none of them were really pulling the numbers for their hype of virality. the music not sticking to the ribs. it's cold Mc Donalds when you need a hot meal. look at the atmosphere outside. what other era of man has there been such conditions and the art didn't reflect or speak to it? that's a fail on the artform and the numbers show that.

 

[moli70]

you doing too much. the music is trash the times are hard and still the artists have 0 substance on average. the really good ones are eating off core fanbases. the hot acts are interchangeable and replaceable. look at that whole female thot rap era we just went thru. none of them were really pulling the numbers for their hype of virality. the music not sticking to the ribs. it's cold Mc Donalds when you need a hot meal. look at the atmosphere outside. what other era of man has there been such conditions and the art didn't reflect or speak to it? that's a fail on the artform and the numbers show that.

It‘s also like, and I swear this isn‘t a grandpa „it was all better in the past“ type post, with most artists from the Trap era coasting more on vibes than lyrical content (that‘s not meant as a criticism, just a fact) it‘s harder to form a connection with them or easier to drop them as soon as the vibes are off. Like, I listened to a lot of Travis Scott over the years, but I have no idea what he stands for, really – whereas I could easily tell you that about Nas, Kendrick, Cole, hell, even 50