That's what i'm trying to say though. 2010s rap (especially 2016-2019) had one of the biggest new artists explosions of all time of any genre, and I honestly don't think we'll see something like that again in our life times

Meanwhile during that same period, pop was really dead, especially star wise. So pop really needed new stars, whilst rap really hasn't needed new stars. There's been enough rappers, it was honestly oversaturated for a while

What happened was there was a stupid amount of popular/"known" rappers after that soundcloud/2018ish era and a lot of them fell off, but a lot of them have continued to grow their fanbase and are now bigger than ever. Carti is yet another example, he's far bigger now than 5 years ago and his new album is probably gonna compete with the biggest popstars.

Carti, Future, 21 Savage and Tyler have all hit new career peaks this year, so I think it's a crazy exaggeration to say the genre is in a terrible spot. if those 4 were all struggling, then sure it'd be in a terrible spot. but theyre all doing better than ever

Go back to 2020 and name the top 10 popstars, then name the top 10 rappers, and you'll see what im tryna say lol. You'd probably have to include Selena Gomez in your list back in 2020

maybe if ur an NPC

rap is apparently in a "terrible state" whilst lets be fr here

Artists that have "recently" done 200k streaming units FW by genre (only pop/rap)

Pop:
Taylor Swift

Rap:
Future
Drake
Travis
Cole
Kendrick
Tyler (if he had a full week)

like seriously how can you say this s***s in a terrible state lol. the only issue is these rappers have huge hype from their fanbases, but the music they put out is just below par, so it doesn't do well long term. It's extremely clear there's still huge appetite for rap, and more appetite for it than pop, it's simply that pop artists have been dropping better music

god damn Tyler The Creator's 3rd week is competing with Billie/Ariana's 3rd weeks when he's putting out god damn mysterious music and you got mfs on here saying rap is in a terriible state, im triggered

No shade but people have been anticipating the "return of Rock" for as long as I could remember.

The reality is only Pop Rock or Legacy acts sell well which is why Imagine Dragons, Maroon 5, Coldplay, Rolling Stones, etc. are still eating and able to chart well.

But I don't really see a new Rock band that isn't Pop music becoming a cultural zeitgeist with massive commercial success anymore. People are just too stuck on the legacy bands to even rally around them in that way.

The "resurgence" you speak off will likely be Indie based with a strong cult following but won't reach the heights of a Morgan Wallen, Drake, Taylor Swift, or BTS.

Honestly, Arctic Monkeys probably reached the highest level of commercial success that a non-Pop/Indie Rock band can reach in recent times. I don't see newer bands reaching their heights.

That’s where y’all always get it f***ed up. Who gives a f*** about streaming units if the overall numbers are still lower

Once again, streaming has brainwashed you niggas into believing it matters more than pure sales. It doesn’t.

There is no new life sparking all of the rap game. That’s what people mean when they say rap is currently “dead”. Are you right in rap having an abundance of newer stars in 2016-2019? Yes. Is rap still uber successful and dominating the top of the charts? Not on the Hot 100 for a while but otherwise, yes. Your argument is 100% factual…on paper.

You gotta step back and look at the big picture: there is something going on in the culture where things are shifting, new meta is being created at every corner of not just music - but in film/tv, gaming, dance, skating etc. There is something going on in pop with Charli XCX, Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter. There is something going on in country with Shaboozey, Morgan Wallen, Zach Bryan. But what about hiphop?

Hiphop is nowhere to be seen in the greater cultural shift in pathology that’s been occurring since COVID. Where is hiphop’s Olivia Rodrigo? Where’s hiphop’s Billie Eilish? Look at all the names you’ve listed as examples of hiphop’s current dominance; all from the 2010s in fame. Everyone else is present in the greater cultural shift except for hiphop. This is beyond Billboard 200 and first week sales amongst a crop of veterans.

People aren’t saying it outright in those words but most people can recognize there is a great shift and thus hiphop being largely absent from it is glaring. It can be felt, and the great crop of new stars being so recent, just to fizzle out, makes it even more apparent.

Hiphop has not produced a single agreed upon new superstar rapper this decade. Kill me now.

There is also no one who seems to possess the combination of poetic rap skill, wide commercial appeal and forward thinking style born from Gen Z. There is no upheld standard of quality writing at the moment. That is bad.

If it keeps up at this pace, expect to see nothing but geezers being talked about in rap for the foreseeable future. That is bad. God step in. Spirit of J Dilla and James Brown step in. But I’m out for now, you think about that one bucko.

- BRAVE

brother it's 2024. these popstars aren't exactly doing crazy pure numbers

Chappell's album 336k pure out of 1.6m sales this year
Billie's 455k out of 1.8m
Ariana 185k out of 1.2m
Charli 198k out of 960k

Overall numbers are only lower for longterm streams/sales in rap because the rappers aren't making music as good anymore, but the initial hype for their music is still exactly the same as it was in 2018. This is a literal fact

Read my post above that one though, rap hasn't needed new stars, because there's ALREADY enough. Pop/country desperately needed them, because it was like an absolute desert in those genres. Rap right now does not have a lack of artists that excite people. Whilst pop 100% did in 2020.

Again, you guys are completely exaggerating the issue here. First week numbers show there's far more hype for rap music than there is for pop music, when that changes, sure, lets panic. Until then, relax & hope rappers start putting out actual replayable music again instead of boombap lullabies.

I'd be down to bet that this new Carti album (if it drops lol) will outstream Billie's, The Weeknd's and Ariana Grande's latest first week. Seriously if that happens, how can anyone say rap is in a bad place. it's f***ing carti, an artist that niche should never be competing with popstars like that.

Lovin on Me was only a year ago lol. One of the few rap songs to go #1 in Europe

Kendrick, J Cole, Travis have never gone #1 in the UK. yet Jack Harlow did, only a year ago. This isn't me saying Jack is huge btw lol. I'm saying there's still HUGE appetite for rap in the US and also in Europe. The entire issue is the type of music rappers have been putting out, not that the appetite for the music is dead

You guys are confusing these two things completely.

Someone needs to explain to me how the culture is apparently moving away from rap to pop

when factually, rap albums are still getting far more hype at release than pop albums. And the apparently biggest popstar (The Weeknd)'s biggest single for his new album, is basically a rap song

Tyler the Creator dropping mysterious self produced self written music is competing in numbers with Billie/Ariana/Sabrina and their whole ass teams of writers

You typed this out better than I ever could’ve. Mic drop post.

Nobody is saying people don’t care about rap music, or are moving on from it en masse.

There will always be those established legends still representing the genre at the top.

The point is that are no new stars. We are halfway through a new decade and still have no rap artist that can be called a crossover star.

Nothing is being done to push the genre forward whatsoever. All of the top guys are still releasing music that sounds like it could’ve came out in the 2010s.

When all of these guys are past their creative & commercial peaks, or decide to stop releasing music altogether, who will be there to take their spots?

we love deezer 💜

you said it's in a terrible spot tho

I don't understand how you're not seeing my point, rap has enough known artists, it doesn't need more. Tyler/Carti especially have grown a LOT this decade and are now super mainstream, 21/Future etc have also grown quite a bit.

A huge reason there hasn't been new stars is because they literally aren't needed. Pop/country completely needed them, people were completely tired of artists like Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez. People clearly aren't tired of Lil Baby, Gunna, Carti etc right now.

Rap is in need of a new megastar for sure though, but I think pop is too. I don't see Sabrina/Olivia being able to transition into that, their music is too temporary imo

The #1 popstar of the 21st century is gonna be an artist with barely any widely recognisable songs, you love to see it

Tortured Poets Department has sold 6m units this year alone whilst having very little success on hot 100

that + morgan is probably a good sign that the Hot 100 is basically worthless now

Being vindicated about trash ass music

This right here is what BRAVE is talking about

Please tell me an artist under 30 who has the potential to be a superstar

This genre is looking like is going to go back to late 80s/early 90s level of popularity and I don't think that's a bad thing.

Certified Lover Boy out now!

You can’t be talking about Beyoncé or Taylor because this doesn’t apply to either of them

Taylor Swift having "barely any widely recognizable songs"