Anyway, Eminem seems to be recovering with this latest cd, and that has two separate meanings. When I realized that Eminem was no longer the rapper I grew to love, I thought that hip-hop was going to be going down hill and fast. It seemed that there was a huge drought of influential rappers and the few that were left (Jay and Nas) believed that hip-hop was dying out. It feels like very little time has passed since Nas declared that hip-hop was dead, yet it feels like hip-hop is producing its best music in years. Now I know that people may disagree, but there are many artists out now that I have a lot of faith in and that are currently making excellent music.
My favorite, as I said before, is Lil Wayne; however, he is not the only one. Wayne continues to be at the top of his game. He does seem to have leveled out, but I do not believe there has been any decline. Wayne is still experimenting with different sounds in attempts to make the best music possible. He comes out with new music daily, which is unbelievable and something that no other rapper does.
Obviously though, one rapper cannot keep hip-hop afloat, although Wayne's effort is a valiant one. The other rappers that, to me, are "saving hip-hop" are the ones that are young and inspired. Examples of these rappers are, Drake, Kid Cudi, Asher Roth, Wale, and B.O.B. All of those rappers have the potential to change hip-hop and are all still so young. I saw B.O.B. at a concert a couple of months ago, and to say the least, he shocked me with his talent. He can play the guitar, rap, sing, make beats, and create meaningful lyrics. A true 5-tool artist... Asher Roth actually raps about meaningful stuff when he's not singing about college (listen to his version of "A Milli"). Another reason that I feel that these rappers can really improve hip-hop, is that they all come from different parts of the country. This is definitely an important aspect because they are all unique and will have different influences. Also, it should be noted that some of them have older rappers as mentors. Drake has Lil Wayne, Kid Cudi has Kanye West, and B.O.B. has outcast. Each rapper is learning from the best in there respective region.
Like I have said before, I love hip-hop. I am glad that there are rappers out there that are working hard and trying to learn. The difference between these rappers and the rappers that caused Nas to claim that hip-hop is dead is that these rappers want to be great hip-hop artists and not JUST to make money.
Please leave comments and let me know what you think...
-jason
i agree with a lot of those statements. i think the majority of the new wave of hip hop that gets exposure is real safe n predictable. if an artist comes out with a hit the label heads force this artist to make every other single that comes out just like that first hit cause they know it sold n they cant afford to take a risk. there r very few artist who can do whatever they want.
ReplyDeletei also think the content n the creativity that made me fall in love with hip hop isn't being played or purchased by anyone because there is such a strong mainstream wave of garbage ass rap songs with amazing beats, haha.
but thats jus a piece of my opinion. this website is healthy n dope. mad props.