Hip-hop in the past decade, your opinion?

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Rap has only gotten better with time, there's more variety than ever. Sometimes I wanna listen to Yachty or Thug sometimes I wanna listen to Doom or Ka.
 
MindofKB said:
People love to trash modern rap and call for a return to the 90s, but the 90s had garbage rap too. You're just remembering the best of it.
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I've seen this argument in the past, the issue is there us basically no "best" recently to remember. Its been rubbish. Even the beats suck.

I always hear "just have to look for it." And then I have people link me to this hidden great stuff and its bad like the other stuff. And that applies to most other genres as well.

90's-early 2000's rap has been the better, the best rap. If you can't throw out good beats, you can't throw out good raps. And the beats sucked for nearly 10 years.

/imhoymmv.
 
I think it's hard to definitively give an opinion on hip-hop in the past decade as a whole since it's so varied and has gone through so many different phases. However, I will say that the period of 2009-2013ish was absolutely amazing for hip-hop. It seemed like new and interesting artists were blowing up almost weekly and stellar projects were being dropped all the time.

In that time we got projects like Live.Love.ASAP, Acid Rap, Skelethon, XXX, EARL, Return of 4Eva, Bastard, Section.80, Good Kid maad City, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Control System, Habits & Contradictions, 1999, and a ton of others. Looking at just that list, it's so varied that even if there are projects you don't like, there are surely a few that you'll love if you enjoy hip-hop at all.

I wouldn't call it a second "Golden Age" like a few people on sites like KTT used to, but it was undeniably a great time for hip-hop.
 
Hip Hop was dead but Uzi and Yachty brought it back.

And the late great told us,"Never get high on your own supply".

Notorious B.I.G. R.I.P. Would have been 44 years young today.
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He also told us to sexually violate children and throw them over bridges.

Or that he wants to rape the then 8 year old Raven Symone.
 
It's the same as it ever was. People were saying snap rap was leading to the death of hip hop a decade ago. No different than mumble rap now. Good shit will always be out there, you just gotta look for it.
 
I don't know about the last 10 years, but I can pretty confidently say the last 6-7 are some of the best years for hip-hop ever. The "hip hop sucks" crowd puts way too much emphasis on the occasional pop hits without recognizing that the artists people actually care about are people like Kendrick, Schoolboy, Danny Brown, Run the Jewels, Joey Badass, Chance, Noname, Saba, the list goes on and on. There is tons of great rap right now, and it's not only great but also as stylistically diverse as the genre has been in, arguably, its entire history. I don't know how someone could say that 2010-2017 is worse than, say, 2000-2007. That time, in my opinion, was a pretty dark time for hip-hop. There were still good artists, of course, but you didn't have nearly as much support for lyricists or respect for old-school hip-hop or diversity in that time as we do now.
 
WTF is Tumblr rap?


For me as far as mainstream goes, pretty bad. I had listened to Lupe, Cole, and Kendrick Lamar for mainstream. Underground was great though with Cunninlynguists, Gavlyn, Jean Grae, MC Melodee, Blu, Oddisee, Rapsody, and a ton of others.
 
Personally I think it's awesome how a lot of modern hip hop completely rejects lyricism in favor of creating the catchiest hooks possible, even if they're completely incoherent. In a way it can almost be compared to a lot of early punk music, so I think we're going through a bit of a magical time in that regard. Hip hop throughout the last decade has consistently set new standards in distribution and monetization, too. Things like free mixtapes, releases, and streaming wouldn't be nearly as big as they are now without hip hop. Hip hop artists have adapted to a completely new model where their work is just a platform for other things, and other artists are still playing catch up and whining about it.
 
Blasian Persuasion said:
WTF is Tumblr rap?
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ASAP_Rocky_Liveloveaap-front-large.jpg


The king of it back when he blew up. He blew up off of Tumblr and he's got the aesthetic for it. He's changed now but look at the LLA mixtape, the themes, visuals, that's it pretty much.
 
cordy said:
ASAP_Rocky_Liveloveaap-front-large.jpg


The king of it back when he blew up. He blew up off of Tumblr and he's got the aesthetic for it. He's changed now but look at the LLA mixtape, the themes, visuals, that's it pretty much.
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Is Tumblr rap different than Soundcloud rap?
 
feels like "pop hop" has replaced hip hop. Hook-heavy. Auto-tone singing on many tracks. Not the biggest fan. But I know there's good stuff out there.... just hasn't crossed my path yet.
 
cordy said:
The king of it back when he blew up. He blew up off of Tumblr and he's got the aesthetic for it. He's changed now but look at the LLA mixtape, the themes, visuals, that's it pretty much.
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Had no clue any rapper ever used Tumblr; that's not really a good way to define a genre.

Every rapper is on Facebook and Twitter and Soundcloud too..
 
Between 2007 and 2012 Rap really was pretty much dead. But as a former, dusty 90's Hip Hop Head I must say we've been in a new golden in the last few years and if you don't see that I can't help you because you're probably stuck in your "Real Rap" Facebook groups that share lyrical-miracle-spiritual-individual freestyle videos and Eminem songs while posting about how Lil Yachty is killing Rap.

Nowadays there are so many new blends of sounds, and more experimentation and genre-bending than ever in Hip Hop. There's something for everyone if you're open. Ignorant or fun and eccentric Mumblerap with focus on melody and energy instead of lyrics, smooth and relatable Underground shit with a modernized Boom Bap sound, moody Cloud Rap, experimental Elelctronica-infused stuff etc...
 
Last night I randomly listened to All Day like ten times in a row. I'm not a huge listener, but whenever I'm looking for something new I always find something fantastic. Finally getting into that new Danny Brown and whoooo that shit is good.
 
Koozek said:
Between 2007 and 2012 Rap really was pretty much dead. But as a former, dusty 90's Hip Hop Head I must say we've been in a new golden in the last few years and if you don't see that I can't help you because you're probably stuck in your "Real Rap" Facebook groups that share lyrical-miracle-spiritual-individual freestyle videos and Eminem songs while posting about how Lil Yachty is killing Rap.

Nowadays there are so many new blends of sounds, and more experimentation and genre-bending than ever in Hip Hop. There's something for everyone if you're open. Ignorant or fun and eccentric Mumblerap, smooth and relatable Underground shit with a modernized Boom Bap sound, moody Cloud Rap, experimental Elelctronica-infused stuff etc...
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Ohhh give me some artists to lookup. Like the way that sounds...
 
riotous said:
Had no clue any rapper ever used Tumblr; that's not really a good way to define a genre.

Every rapper is on Facebook and Twitter and Soundcloud too..
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Yeah Rocky blew up off Tumblr. Yams had a Tumblr account and was promoting his work heavy and that gained them connections so when his project dropped it was easy for them to get seriously noticed because Yams did the work. The type of visuals, themes, that type of thing was pretty common for Tumblr back then. Odd Future fits it as well, SGP, Young Lean, you know what I'm saying. They all have every social media platform but there's that specific kind of music that people call "Tumblr Rap."

The term's not good but it's all a similar "style" if that makes any sense. There should be a better term for it.
 
Hip hop isn't dead like yall claim it is, it's just you have to actually have to look for the good music nowadays. You also have to listen to alot of artists you may have never heard of and decide if you like the music or not and build up a library that way as well.
 
Arthr2ShdsJcksn said:
Ctrl-F "Macklemore" There isn't a single true fan of authentic and/or goood hip hop on this goddamned forum.
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Lol, my gut feeling is that this is sarcasm, but I live in Seattle and have been to house parties where almost the entire party playlist is made up of Macklemore songs, so I honestly can't tell anymore.
 
Got into Hip-Hop in the last couple years. Love where it's going, you have a lot no matter if it's beats you want or lyrical content or both. Lotta good music.

And the cure to insomnia in Jermaine Cole.
 
Lots of good stuff. As with any genre most of the good stuff isn't really what's "popular," though the fact that amazing artists like Kanye and Kendrick still get radio play says something.
 
Koozek said:
If you don't know GAF-Hop, check out our AOTYs from the last years for good recommendations:


2016 results: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1334664
2016 voting: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1325606

2015 results: http://neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1173279
2015 voting: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1157075

2014 results: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=980156
2014 voting: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=952177
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Damn! I'm gonna have to slide over there because I'm loving these opinions.
 
cordy said:
ASAP_Rocky_Liveloveaap-front-large.jpg


The king of it back when he blew up. He blew up off of Tumblr and he's got the aesthetic for it. He's changed now but look at the LLA mixtape, the themes, visuals, that's it pretty much.
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CoolOff said:
I guess Odd Future?
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cordy said:
Pretty much the same thing except a different platform and today's artists use more auto-tune but you got it.



Yep they definitely were in their earlier days.
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Hmm, okay. I guess I learned something.
 
Koozek said:
If you don't know GAF-Hop, check out our AOTYs from the last years for good recommendations:


2016 results: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1334664
2016 voting: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1325606

2015 results: http://neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1173279
2015 voting: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1157075

2014 results: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=980156
2014 voting: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=952177
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I see I voted for Czarface II in 2015, but checked my library for songs from it and I have none. I must've been bullshitting when I voted for it.
 
cordy said:
Yeah Rocky blew up off Tumblr. Yams had a Tumblr account and was promoting his work heavy and that gained them connections so when his project dropped it was easy for them to get seriously noticed because Yams did the work. The type of visuals, themes, that type of thing was pretty common for Tumblr back then. Odd Future fits it as well, SGP, Young Lean, you know what I'm saying. They all have every social media platform but there's that specific kind of music that people call "Tumblr Rap."

The term's not good but it's all a similar "style" if that makes any sense. There should be a better term for it.
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Strange; A$AP Rocky and Young Lean have the same style? lol

Literally never heard the term. Either has google apparently https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=tumblr+rap&*

It's also barely mentioned on any of their wiki pages.
 
Reeks said:
Ohhh give me some artists to lookup. Like the way that sounds...
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Check my post above with the links to our GAF-Hop AOTYs. Also here are my AOTYs from last year:


---

Honorable Mentions:
 
Death Grips alone made it a great decade, not to mention everything else that obviously happened.
 
Echoing what others have said, experimental groups like Death Grips (and my favourite Clipping) give the decade plenty of merit.
 
Reeks said:
Ohhh give me some artists to lookup. Like the way that sounds...
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He listed a lot of different stuff so I'm not sure which part really intrigued you, but here's a few different things:

Sylvan Lacue ft. Saba - Best Me (remix)
Laid back rap, light on percussion, very melodic delivery

Run the Jewels - Panther Like a Panther (ft. Trina)
Aggressive, in your face hip-hop. El-P's production style is often described as a modernized Bomb Squad, and I think that's pretty accurate. There's a strong NY influence here, but the soundscape also transcends its influences.

Danny Brown - When It Rain
An acquired taste. The beats are off-kilter, and not the kind of thing most rappers would even attempt to rap over. Kinda like listening to an acid trip.

Kendrick Lamar - God is Gangsta (a combination of his songs "u" and "For Sale?")
One of the most popular rappers around at the moment, and has been for a few years. You're probably already familiar with him, but if not I think this exemplifies his more experimental stuff pretty well. His music ranges from tracks like this to tracks that are more conventional, although he always retains his unique flourishes within that.

Milo - Re Animist
This actually links to his whole album, so you can listen to more songs by just letting it play, but the song it starts on is probably one of his most energetic. And even then, it's fairly subdued. Most of his music is strongly influenced by his philosophy background and borders on spoken word. He's very clever and has a great dark sense of humor.



These are just a couple I've been fond of lately, but it by no means encapsulates everything happening in hip-hop right now. In my opinion the genre is more creative now than it's ever been.
 
riotous said:
Strange; A$AP Rocky and Young Lean have the same style? lol

Literally never heard the term. Either has google apparently https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=tumblr+rap&*

It's also barely mentioned on any of their wiki pages.
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Yeah because there's no Wiki does it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist, I hear it a good amount to describe that era and those types of rappers. Also yeah just peep this.

Kyoto - Young Lean

Wassup - ASAP Rocky

There's clearly a connection between the style and visuals between the two. Either way Rocky's evolved as an artist from his older days, I'm not sure how Lean's doing now but it was an era that's for sure.

Now it's this whole Mumble Rap thing but that's another story. "Mumble Rap" is bigger than "Tumblr Rap" ever was. These types of rappers are everywhere.
 
Mainstream rap is worse than it's every been and it has marked the noticible decline in skills from past heavyweights but it's also produced some of my favorite artists and albums of all time so......it's a wash?
 
cordy said:
Yeah because there's no Wiki does it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist, I hear it a good amount to describe that era and those types of rappers. Also yeah just peep this.

Kyoto - Young Lean

Wassup - ASAP Rocky

There's clearly a connection between the style and visuals between the two. Either way Rocky's evolved as an artist from his older days, I'm not sure how Lean's doing now but it was an era that's for sure.

Now it's this whole Mumble Rap thing but that's another story.
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difference is rocky actually raps
 
Tons of great stuff over the past decade and it's only getting better. Soulja Boy was truly the bottom of the barrel for shit rap but the rebound has been aaaaaaaaamazing, whips and nae naes aside.

I mean, Compton came out in that time period and it's one of my favorite albums ever so I can't really complain. I keep discovering new quality artists ever day it seems like.
 
Dr. Black Jack said:
Tons of great stuff over the past decade and it's only getting better. Soulja Boy was truly the bottom of the barrel for shit rap but the rebound has been aaaaaaaaamazing, whips and nae naes aside.

I mean, Compton came out in that time period and it's one of my favorite albums ever so I can't really complain. I keep discovering new quality artists ever day it seems like.[/QUOTE]

It's easier than ever to produce, record, and have access to music so there's more out there to consume. The trash is in greater numbers than ever but so is the great stuff. It's just that trash is what dominates air-ways for the most part.
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kwogfaf said:
Kanye, Kendrick, and Tribe have dropped classic hip hop albums in the last decade.

and then you got more "underground" artists like Run the Jewels, Danny Brown, and Death Grips dropping some amazing and new experimental takes on the genre.

and the "mumble rap" thing is great if you like fun. Much love to Yachty.

so yeah in conclusion hip hop is doing well
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Fuck, man. This is how I feel. Great post.
 
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