It's still a gift and a curse. I think it's more of a gift for the variety and breadth alone, with the additional plus that you don't need gatekeepers to get out there, but the gatekeepers are what will help you achieve some consistency.Gonna put on my crown of dust here and blame the internet.
Back in the day to get put on you had to (No Limit being the exception) show and prove. People had to vet your demos. You had to win battles and shit. You had to put work in, improve your craft, take yourself at least a little seriously.
Now you can just fart on a track, it'll get remixed by some wastecadet on soundcloud, and people will spread it around like it's hot. I blame soulja boy.
And.. we're all listening to these mind numbing bangers too. Or maybe you don't fuck with this singy songy trap star but not this other one. I can't even imagine what the next big trend in hip-hop will be, shit just might evolve into songs being half R&B.
Quality control is this generation's biggest hurdle IMO. If your second single is okay, you might just lose half your following. The other hurdle is competition. Maybe before people had to fight to sneak in the studio to get put on by some Ruff Ryder, but now you've got to compete with the new sensation of the month.