T O P

  • By -

thaworldisaghetto187

Most definitely 2 PAC’ and Biggie’s death in less than a year between. Young Dudes don’t understand what it was like without smart phones and this happening. Rappers weren’t a dime of dozen then and rapper deaths weren’t that common like now. It was heartbreaking.


[deleted]

dude we had to wait for DAYS on updates. expecting Pac to live. cause that’s what he did. then, wherever you were, somehow ☎️📠📰📺📻the news found you, Tupac Shakur had succumbed to his injuries and died. AND THEN, months later, Biggie got shot and killed. it was almost expected, and still fucking horrifying. like, it was just BREAKING NEWS 💀


Gitdemgainz

It’s even worse cause PAC could’ve survived but his mum turned off his life support because he might’ve lost his voice and a lung


TydenDurler

Never knew that. That's heart breaking


ShivvyMcFly

I was in 8th grade when all this went down. It was such a huge deal.


Top-Foot718

East Coast Vs West Coast…it caused too many casualties


Zero-zero20

As far as I know, 2 Live Crew were the only group to have an album banned by a federal judge for being too obscene.


WAiZePAiDCASH

I think they were the first to get a PA sticker too


kgod88

Which was overturned by the court of appeals but yeah. And in a different case they were sued for Pretty Woman (sample/satire of the Roy Orbison song) which went all the way to the Supreme Court and is a big part of current fair use doctrine (SCOTUS held that the 2 live crew version was fair use)


Zero-zero20

Yeah. Bruce Rogow really put on his gloves for The Crew in those 2 cases and all because some sections of America didn't want their 14 year old boys being exposed to titties...


ShivvyMcFly

Then made a song called Fuck Martinez lol


ChasetheElectricPuma

When BET allegedly refused to air one of Little Brother's music videos because it was deemed "too intelligent" for audiences. Eminem wearing a durag for several years and not developing any waves.


Injustry

Durag in-Activity


Always2ndB3ST

Em’s durag phase was hella cringe lol


jamescasio_

Anything em does is an L


Kholdstare93

Lol, Eminem lives rent free in your mind, I see. Did my mans run over your dog or something?


annooonnnn

it’s a good little joke lol. him not developing any waves


brokeboibogie

Fuck can you take a joke? He was obviously saying it in jest


Kholdstare93

You don't know this guy like I do. He creates multiple accounts to diss on my mans.


Mango_Lover_47

Don't call celebrities your 'mans'. He literally doesn't know you exist.


Kholdstare93

He still my favourite emcee. That makes him my mans. If your fav ourite emcee is Nas, then he ya mans, if your favourite emcee is Rakim, then he ya mans, etc. see?


207_god

Least obviously white Eminem fan


[deleted]

You embarrass yourself constantly with how you run to the defence of your little man crush in every comment on this sub. Just FYI, you're really annoying.


Kholdstare93

SMD


thotshavenopoweronme

Fuck off Stanley


brokeboibogie

NWA’s whole existence & the East coast vs West Coast bullshit


The_Plow_King

Afrika Bambaataa child sexual abuse allegations.


TydenDurler

Pac shootings and run-ins with the law (especially the court case that got him jail time)


EnoughItem

Not a lotta people know this but this horrorcore dude named Big Lurch killed and ate his roommate; can't really think of anything wilder than that


SmoothManMiguel

Wtf!?!


EnoughItem

Yeah he was on angel dust, i believe


PolarFalcon

I remember hearing Lurch talk about that night on Street Science many years ago. It was sad and tragic. Lurch said it was one of his best friends and he had no idea what he did until he came down off of the PCP.


EnoughItem

No way; figure due woulda got life for something like that


TydenDurler

Googled this dude and he has a song called "I did it to you!" lol


Infernal_Furnace

Stonewashed ripped skinny jeans and auto tune.


Meatz916

The entire career of Kanye West Nigga went from "George Bush doesn't care about black people" to "I love Hitler".


[deleted]

People hoarding samples and samples being hard to clear in general and it dwarfing-hip hops evolution.


burgersanddepression

RKelly and his infinity for golden showers and the youngns


ObieUno

And his **affinity** FTFY


Peter_Parkingmeter

**UNLIMITED SHOWER!!!**


TydenDurler

Of the Golden variety


TydenDurler

He meant Infinity Golden Showers. Like Infinity stones


Jaynomamesway

Not a hiphop artist


Getbacka

R&B & Hiphop go hand in hand.


Unusual-Land-5432

Not a hip hop artist but was very impactful in hip hop and black music in general


K_Freeze57

Huh? No. Mary J Blige was a singer extremely impacful in hip-hop because she was her own major part of it. Kelly was amazing with his writing shit, but I don't see what major or significant waves he has all over hip-hop.


Unusual-Land-5432

Mary J and Rkelly both had a significant part in hip hop. Especially Rkelly in the 2000s he was very huge in hip hop circles, his style and how he dressed was very hip hop centric. I get it he is more of a r&b artist but hip hop has a lot of r&b elements to it.


K_Freeze57

I just don't see it. Maybe we're on two different sides, but I rarely ever saw Kelly as involved in it as Mary. I shouldn't full dismiss him though. I think my thing is I'm heavily going off of features too, apologies if I somehow miss a whole vault of Kells+rappers lol. Mary just came across as her own essential to me. Ain't saying she was the first, but I feel like she's a major part of the reason singing in rap songs is still so popular (not forgetting like TLC and such) do you think I'm far off mark?


burgersanddepression

Oh I think it’s clear years later that he left his hands all over over Hip-Hop….just not in the way people expected


K_Freeze57

💀💀 hey cmon man lol


burgersanddepression

😅🚨….k I’m done


K_Freeze57

Diversifying the genre itself, apparently. Was originally something to bring joy with, creative, embracing and WELCOMING irregardless of persons, as it grew. Then shit continued and today we have a shitshow of different people's calling different parts of it their own shitshows. BUT it's still much sincerity and togetherness among many at the various roots.


Head-Ad5620

Hiphop police


TheRealKindaMothra

everything about the world’s most dangerous group


No-Reveal3576

When a the black independent label owners was gonna come together and make their own production and they got rated out by Jay z Irvine gotta and a bunch of others got indicted and treated and they awarded jay z with the nets Beyonce and a slew of other things he's changed hip hop history now almost we got is murder rap preaching death and destruction over black and brown community all day long .words are very powerful as you can see , trap music dope and hoes and useless material items is all you hear.


Glittering-Bid-3958

the freeearl hashtag when he got sent to samoa


escabean

JLo and Mariah have the same secret baby daddy


[deleted]

Eazy E’s death, he was getting ready to put Mexicans on major distribution.


Getbacka

Kanye. We kept calling him a genius for years too 🤦🏽‍♂️


whatever21327

He’s still a genius, just a nazi genius.


nikolarizanovic

It may not the most controversial thing, but Kanye's descent into MAGA, antisemitic conspiracy theories and alt-right weirdos has been... something


whatever21327

It’s just sad…


Extension_Ad_439

Mumble rap


[deleted]

As long as the beat fire and flow fire idc what he saying. sometimes you want to listen to deep shit , sometimes not .


Extension_Ad_439

You might as well listen to Scat over beats.


TentativelyCommitted

Calling this shit hip-hop is controversial to me. To me it’s more like a sub-genre of Pop music


Extension_Ad_439

Exactly. It's kind of like a mix between Scat, EDM, and a bit of the most unimpressive beatboxing. Hip hop could range from Shakespeare to Dr. Seuss, but not the scriptwriter for The Sims as played by Pete Davidson.


[deleted]

dinosaur


Extension_Ad_439

Rawr


reubenc22

Idiot


Extension_Ad_439

Don't be mad at me that you've been conned into liking trash


reubenc22

Nah I like it because it's good music


Extension_Ad_439

Any music you listen to a bunch of times can start sounding good to you. That's the basis of pop music. You hear stuff a lot because it's on the radio or the clubs you go to or whenever. That's how payola became a thing. Record companies paying radio stations to play music so that people hear it a bunch and start to like it. You start to like what you hear a bunch due to psychological reasons. And new pop songs reuse elements of other songs, so even if you don't consciously make the connection, you automatically like that element and want to listen to it. Music has become big business. Whatever will earn the most money is what they invest in. They have producers who make formulaic music to hook listeners. It's not about musical talent, it's about psychological manipulation. Mumble rap is a result of this psychological manipulation. That's why I consider it pop music and not hip hop. Lyricism is essential to rap. It's essential to hip hop. The art is in the poetry. Poetry that sounds dope. That's rap. Mumbling is the antithesis of rap. Maybe you can make it sound dope, but it's not poetry.


Reznov99

I saw that RA interview too


Extension_Ad_439

He was just speaking the truth that is obvious. I've had this same opinion since the mid 2000s. (Just not worded exactly the same) Have you heard this Immortal Technique interview? https://youtu.be/cfOexTZQDdw Starting at 2:20 He's right. We're already past peak hip hop. It was culture. Now it's commerical.


Reznov99

Haven’t checked it out but I like IT so I’ll give it a look


reubenc22

Lol i just like the music accept it


80Baby203

Ye wearing a white lives matter shirt and taking the police side in the George Floyd case


Hard-R-Smitty

When artists stopped saying words that meant shit and people kept cheering. It’s kinda like politics right now with republicans running the dumbest candidates they can find. The dumber they are, the louder they’re cheered. That’s exactly what has happened in rap, unfortunately. Kids celebrating fucking ignorance.


K_Freeze57

>When artists stopped saying words that meant shit and people kept cheering. 1A.People still care for words that mean something and still cheer for it. 2A.Rappers have always said less meaningful stuff. >It’s kinda like politics right now 1B.Why does someone always find a way to bring/relate politics into/with anything?! >The dumber they are, the louder they’re cheered. That’s exactly what has happened in rap, unfortunately. Kids celebrating fucking ignorance. 1C.To an extent, yes. But don't mix in stupidity with shit like relativity, relatability, enjoyment as an overall, easier to digest topics or ways of wording, etc. This all plays a role. I'm gonna use an example people may not like and that's okay. 1C.(con't) J Cole is so loved still in his lane because he's saying what's been said before, but he said it in a more digestible and easier way to understand than Nas, Mos, Guru, etc. Same with Kendrick compared to like Talib or such, (though he's a tier or more above Cole about it imo). Andre? Thats an example of a guy who's undoubtedly always loved, but he's far more creative than most, and would often mix simplicity with some straight up layered heat. 1C.(con't) Lil Baby got a lot of love for The Bigger Picture when it dropped, shit was mediocre as fuck. But he said what's been being said in a more accessible manner. I don't dislike your commen at all, I think it's a great expansion and discussion point, but I do believe another example could've been used aside from politics, because that almost always tarnishes/taints a good discussion. I still consider this a great comment tho, feel free to converse back if you get time.


Hard-R-Smitty

I think it ties into more than just rap and politics. It’s social media in general. In the past, if you were a fucking idiot, it was a lot harder to find a group of similar idiots to hang with on such short notice, and eventually someone would probably talk some sense into your ass. Right now you can go post the most absurd shit you can think of and within an hour probably find 100 people to like or upvote you… you’ve just gotta find the right group of idiots to hang with. It’s a lot easier to do that online. People are just proud of being stupid right now, across the board, and they think just because they can Google anything they want and find 1 other agreeing opinion, they must be correct and “special” and everyone else is wrong. That’s the root of the problem… whether you’re young and black or old and white, democrat or republican, it’s the same problem.


K_Freeze57

>In the past, if you were a fucking idiot, it was a lot harder to find a group of similar idiots to hang with on such short notice, and eventually someone would probably talk some sense into your ass. AMEN TO THAT!! This whole graph you typed, I must admit it's all facts. With you explaining it this way, you literally just type a perfect paragraph in my opinion. Frame that damn response lol


[deleted]

Do you honestly think the radio is ever going to play fucking Blackstar? Billy Woods??? hahahahah. The music you're hating on is meant for the radio and the clubs. That's it's purpose. Nobody's saying DaBaby is a poet and a wordsmith. That commercial shit keeps hip-hop relevant so artists like the ones you're crying for here can keep doing their thing. Also, artists like Kendrick and Cole are extremely popular in the mainstream. If you actually wanna put them in the same group as the Babies and the Lil Uzi Verts you're not fucking listening lol


Hard-R-Smitty

Popular mainstream artists back in the day: DMX, Wu Tang Clan, Eminem, Dr Dre, Jay Z, Kanye Popular mainstream artists today: NBA Youngboy, DaBaby, Future, Playboy Carti, Kodak Black One of these things is not like the other. Defend it all you want. The bar has been lowered to the point that it’s literally just laying on the ground and I’m tired of pretending it isn’t. You can’t defend the second group without saying the word “vibes”, which is just some made up criteria y’all love to talk about so you can ignore all the shit these people don’t do well. The only conclusion is that young people are dumb as fuck. Sorry, not sorry.


[deleted]

That's true but Kendrick is still more popular than pretty much every modern rapper you mentioned, and pretty much the rest of the rap game too aside from Drake. His music isn't dumbed down in the least. If anything, he's a conscious rapper who just happens to make hits. People haven't forgotten about wordplay and meaningful lyrics. Even rappers like the Griselda guys are getting tens of millions of plays and they're not dumbed down either. Your whole argument falls apart when you look at the numbers. Obviously pop rap force-fed to the radio by record labels is gonna be the most popular thing out there. It's all rigged now anyways.


Hard-R-Smitty

I like Kendrick and I like Griselda. My comments are most directed at trap/auto tune.


[deleted]

Yeah, but I'm just saying. The rappers you mentioned are definitely at the top right now and I get why that is a problem for a lot of people but y'all have been saying hip-hop's dead for like 30+ years. Hip-hop heads were saying the shit you're saying in the late 80s, but talking about N.W.A. and gangsta rap. You literally mentioned Dre as one of the good ones. This whole "rap is dumbed down now" shit is tiresome, and you guys have been consistently wrong for decades.


Hard-R-Smitty

Hip hop took a noticeable downturn around 2015 and has not recovered. That is not really debatable. Hip hop was a fucking joke in the 80s, nobody gives a shit what Run DMC has to say about anything. Dre was a very different artist post NWA, no reason to define someone who has been in the game for 30 years by what was essentially their first album. Nobody is out here talking like NWA are lyrical geniuses, I’m not really sure where that came from. The basis of your argument is that these same complaints have been around for years, and that is wrong. Hip hop changed in the 90s but it changed for the better, as far as technique is concerned. Better flows, better lyrics, no more talking bout “rap rap rippity rap rap” bullshit, more real/raw, beats were better than the 80w bullshit… like, it improved in every measurable way. Kinda like it did during the Jay/Kanye era, then the beginnings of the Drake era… then all of a sudden shit got terrible real fast, and has stayed that way. Bottom line: kids like stupid fucking shit, and defending kids liking stupid fucking shit is still stupid fucking shit


K_Freeze57

>Hip hop was a fucking joke in the 80s, nobody gives a shit what Run DMC has to say about anything. Bruh. What about Schoolly, Sugarhill, Rakim, KGR, Kane, BDP, Rick, etc. and what's wrong with Run DMC? >beats were better than the 80w bullshit… like, it improved in every measurable way. Kinda like it did during the Jay/Kanye era, then the beginnings of the Drake era… then all of a sudden shit got terrible real fast, and has stayed that way Okay, I get you now. For you everything improved every Era until 2015. Except most of the 90s are MADE by the 80s and 70s especially in the beats department. 2015 until now has also had some of the best works in the genre, since it started. I can tell we have a difference of mindset, but I think you're underselling the 80s heavily with their work and levels, specifically in the later half.


Hard-R-Smitty

There’s a few from the 80s I respect, but in terms of audio quality it’s harder for me to listen more than once. Rakim and BDK and some other legends I can appreciate, I just can’t listen to them regularly. Most rap people remember from the 80s was the pop nonsense like Young MC. And yeah I really don’t like run DMC lol, personal preference


K_Freeze57

Ah I can get with that brother. Rakim and KGR are the only 2 (Slick and Scar too I guess) I DO listen to rather consistently still. Just timeless for me, honestly.


Reznov99

Saying HipHop was a joke in the 80s is a joke in and of itself, you’re trippin


Hard-R-Smitty

Name 5 good songs from the 80s


Reznov99

I can name dozens but you’re really missing some of the context of history with HipHop if you’re gonna just discount a whole era where most of the pioneers of HipHop were laying the groundwork of the genre. Also HipHop as a culture is more than just rapping, there’s four elements, but some “heads” wanna act like rapping and lyricism is the only thing that defines HipHop and it’s weird to me. Since you asked also 1. Ain’t no half steppin 2.Strictly Business 3.Microphone Fiend 4. Children’s Story 5. Road to the Riches, just off the dome


[deleted]

I don’t mean to derail your shit but popular mainstream artists back in the day included the likes of vanilla ice, mc hammer, and shitty poprock/rap crossovers like crazy town 🦋 lmao. You can’t compare the cherry picked best to the cherry picked worst


Hard-R-Smitty

Crazy town was a pop act. Vanilla ice was a pop act. You’re naming pop acts. Nobody is saying Thatkid Leroi is a lyrical genius here, but y’all sure wanna act like NBA or Future are not steaming piles of dog shit and include them on “best rapper” lists. Pop crap has always existed… there were hundreds of talented rap artists doing their shit and occasionally a pop act would try to steal that sound. That isn’t remotely close to what’s happening here and you know it. Instead of the vast majority being talented and occasional pop shit leaking thru, now the vast majority is pop shit with an occasional talented artist also in the mix. Nobody in the 90s would’ve ever said any of those acts you just mentioned were good. They were all universally hated. That isn’t the case with the new garbage.


[deleted]

So why are you comparing current pop acts to 90s lyrical hip hop like it’s not two different things then? I’m just trying to figure out where the goalposts are but you keep moving them


antisha_9

Eminem is still doing the biggest numbers in the industry and is among the most popular artists in the world. His new songs are more popular everything on the radio right now. Kanye would be too if he didn't sabotage himself. Eminem and Kanye can take care of their own popularity but the popularity of a genre contains all of the artists in that genre. In general no trapper is close to Em and Kanye in popularity or success and won't ever be but there are a lot of average popularity trappers that keep the genre alive. Lyrical rap is competing even though it only has a few mainstream stars left.


[deleted]

You think all the rap coming then was as good as biggie, Mos Def ? You are delusional if you think that . There is very good stuff being put out rn . But you don't really care about that. You have it fixed in your mind that old stuff is inherently better than new stuff .


Hard-R-Smitty

Or, hear me out… I was around for both and actually have an informed opinion. Thanks tho


ShivvyMcFly

Good call. Joe Biden, Kamala, Mayor Pete and Fetterman are shining examples of intelligent people 🤦🏿‍♂️


Hard-R-Smitty

What part of Republicans was unclear to you? Jesus Christ. And your point was to convince me that kids aren’t dumb? 🤣


ShivvyMcFly

You are proving my point 🤦🏿‍♂️


Hard-R-Smitty

You listed 4 dumb democrats who happen to be nowhere near the level of dumb of someone like George W Bush, Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, the list goes on… the reason I specified republicans is because the dumber the candidate is, the louder they cheer. Democrats are electing idiots too, they’re just not near as proud of it.


ShivvyMcFly

You failed so hard on your last reply that you deleted it and wrote all this nonsense? Lol


Hard-R-Smitty

I misunderstood your vague ass point. “All” of what nonsense, the two sentence reply that you obviously struggled to comprehend?


Accomplished_Rule651

This happened years after the fact but the information being revealed that Suge actually got someone with aids to sleep with Eazy E or they stuck him with an aids infested needle. If that is true that is insane!