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

[Piff Perkins]

There are still rapper labels, they’re just nit marketed the same anymore

jackboys
4l
YSL
4pf

There's a problem in the game when secondary-tier rappers can't get hits off. You need a Q or Ferg type who comes out every few summers with a couple bangers and goes gold. That's also how a lot of posse cuts got done, since those rappers were always getting a bunch of dudes on tracks. The end result was that it expanded the types of rappers labels were looking for, and allowed said rappers to have pretty long careers. Q and Ferg still getting 9-10mil monthly streamers a month and can sell out shows as long as they want.

All that shyt is dead right now. I think rapper/imprint labels will come back eventually though.

 

[Nero Christ]

Yep, music will never be the same without the shared experience that emerged in the late 80s - early 10’s

This is a big aspect of it. Music used to be made for the weekend nightclub experience which every adult could indulge in. Then rap started being pushed towards a more strip club experience, which limits it's audience...and now music in general, is being made for a solo streamer listening experience.

The communal aspect of music isn't there anymore.

 

[DaHNIC82]

Op being a trash music apologists along with many who think like him is a key reason why the state of music is where it's at. Don't come crying to the table now. Folks been warning y'all for 10 years and y'all dismissed them as"old" "irrelevant" Now Drake ain't hitting no more and you wanna talk the state of the culture. Fukk outta here

 

[Playaz Eyez]

Op being a trash music apologists along with many who think like him is a key reason why the state of music is where it's at. Don't come crying to the table now. Folks been warning y'all for 10 years and y'all dismissed them as"old" "irrelevant" Now Drake ain't hitting no more and you wanna talk the state of the culture. Fukk outta here

She is the last one who should make a thread like this Girl championed a lot of trash music and trying to go the other way with it lol

 

[M4T]

Beyoncé has a lot of white fans and streams. The problem is that her streaming and radio spins gets auto segregated to various r&b charts that no one looks at. Same with CB. They’d be in different convos if they were allowed to dominate pop charts. Flip side whenever a white artist is injected into the bloodstream they get thrown onto black radio stations immediately to build spins. Tommy Richman is a recent example.

A lot of “pop and smooth rock” stations haven’t played Beyoncé since Single Ladies.

Chris Brown is allowed to dominate the pop charts SMH. He's first single was number one on the hot 100. He started making ratchet music with rapper lyrics that's why he ain't on the pop charts. Shaboozy has the longest charting song still this year. Top 40 stations usually don't play pure Rnb or country songs but they'll will play RNB songs with pop appeal

 

[Capital Steez]

Kid cudi maui wowie is the hottest rap song right now

What’s wild about this forum, is that folks can’t even tell that you’re not trolling.

its literally the top trending song on TikTok right now.

 

[Tetris v2.0]

I don't have much to add except that a lot of people learn about new (or new-old) music contextually

- playing in a movie
- playing at a club or event
- shared by a friend directly

Often times, the music is directly associated with an emotion: fun times, celebrating something, associating it with an emotional scene in a film/show

In absence of actual marketing, and people largely not gathering that much anymore, TikTok has fully taken over how music gets shared

Casual audiences look to these kinds of "recommendations" and TikTok is the main way it gets to them now. It anyways needed a "cosign" for those types

***

I for one, welcome rap going back underground. I have no dog in this fight financially. I'm in my late 30s, media literate and happy to do my own research to find new music that I like