Rap needs to go back to this

[definition]

It's interesting how we all say hip-hop is missing x,y,z.. or sucks compared to the way it was... but the shyt still sells. I guess corporate America successfully bought itself an art form, watered it down to remove true artistry and awareness from it and is selling that shyt to the masses (sheep). Same thing happened to mainstream jazz.
We went from

to

Then from

to

Not sure this is a great example.

I'm not a huge macklemore fan (doesn't bother me, but I'm not buying the album), but I don't consider him a bland, corporate-friendly rap artist. I mean, he's white, so I guess that gave him a big push in the mainstream.

I'd consider flo rida, black eyed peas and probably a bunch of others more "kenny g" than macklemore, since he actually seems to be trying to say something with his music (but, I guess he is white).

EDIT: "moment of truth" is one of the best songs in rap history, from one of the best albums in rap history. It's one of the few albums (illmatic, southernplayalistic, etc) that is, in my opinion, a "complete thought." The album should be listened to from front to back -- pretty unheard of in the itunes era.

 

[JuvenileHell]

Word shyt has no soul

I think this is the real problem here...no soul. That and there's a lack of interesting flows.

 

[Taadow]

This is the reason why Black Album>> so many others. It had a lot of real emotion in songs like "December 19th"

lol, this must've been a bonus track...




But anyway - rap doesn't need to "go back to" anything...it just needs to bring that with it. Ya figgadeal me?

I understand people want rap to be "progressive" and whatnot, but why not keep what made it good in the first place?

A lot of folk try to treat the rap game like fashion; you're throwing out timeless pieces because there's a new fad or another season. Some stuff never goes out of style...