this is a legit question to ask yall because im tired of all the threads saying rap is irrelevant, rap is crap etc. i want you all (figuratively ofc to some of yall) to come up with solutions now and not b**** and moan because that will get us nowhere.

do we try to prop up rappers like billy woods, navy blue etc, do we let the opium niggas have the reigns now, or do we just give up and let cacs like jack harlow and lil mabu takeover? discuss

more tiacorine

less ice spice

As long as Carti still makes music Hip Hop is fine.

charts & popularity among the general public have absolutely nothing to do with quality

2010-2016 (give or take a couple years) was my favorite era of rap, but its quality was definitely not reflected on the charts

Ultimately, it rests on the consumers or the masses.

There's tons of threads bigging up great rappers or creative rappers on here but KTT can't influence what Connor, Sarah, and Spencer listen to in the suburbs or what the "streets" listen to.

It also rests on decisions made by labels as well.

That's why telling people on here to "stream the artists you love so much" makes no sense. People's Spotify lists on here clearly show that people ARE bumping the artists they love so much.

Rappers with potential like Mac, Juice, XXX, Pop, and Drakeo not dying will help a lot too. There should be more A&R from the OG's to help young rappers avoid the cycles of d****, death, and jail.

Waiting for u f***s to reply since u guys apparently have all the answers about the state of rap

comparing jack harlow to lil mabu is mad disrespectful and i don't even like jack harlow

More LA MONSTER 90210

"Bad" rappers making fun music needs to become a thing again though.

You don't need to be lyrical miracle spiritual. But, if you rap simple or slur your words a lot, at least compensate by making fun music.

Even "Hot Nigga" was a fun song with a dance to it despite having street content. And Pop Smoke was paving the way for bridging the gap.

Mainstream rap is lacking the fun factor today hence why so many hip hop DJ's are resorting to playing older rap hits, Afrobeats, Reggaeton, and EDM in nightlife by their own admission.

Also, concept albums need to be prioritized again. That's ultimately what made the "Blog Era" stand out so much. It wasn't the radio hits which, if we're being 100, were hit or miss. It was the proliferation of concept albums/mixtapes and creative albums in the underground and many parts of the mainstream.

Excluding Carti and Keem, the newer mainstream rappers are mostly just dropping glorified playlists for the streams. My Turn is the biggest selling album of this decade and it fits the textbook definition of that. Ditto for Durk's, Polo G's, Jack's, etc. albums.

Leave the streets and narcissism behind and actually challenge ourselves to write songs about real life (that “street s***” is not real life for 99% of people including rappers themselves)

Leave trap behind, s*** ran its course

Leave nostalgia behind, the 90s was 30 years ago

Stop confusing dressing like an anime character for creativity

rapping about paying taxes, debt and the commute to work so everyone can relate 🔥🔥

kick push kick push coast…

Everyone has different tastes so I think the best thing is to abandon this desire for the "monoculture" and accept that u should dig for the artists u like (which is easy with YouTube soundcloud spotify etc) support them and stop caring if anyone else likes the same artists u do

I agree that hyper aggressive street rap should be a niche not the predominant sound

It’s nothing any one person can do because it’s multiple factors that got us here

but the answer is in everyone experiencing music together again and the mainstream having higher quality and diversity

Man I love rap but does rap even need to be on top anymore? It's been around 50 years and has dominated popular culture for like 30-40 of those years, maybe it's just time the genre takes a backseat to something else just like other genres did. (Jazz's peak in popularity was from the 20's-50's, Rock from the 60's-90's, and then rap took over)

Oh brother

Maybe we just need leave rap alone until the current phase dies out. Consumerism has taken over so much, its almost taboo to actually share new or real underground artists.

Dudes fighting for their lives in the HDD thread over sales that they not getting a cut of. Niggas dont even care about the music no more, its a d*** measuring contest. S*** gotta change.

Make Tom MacDonald president somehow

Stop Worrying and Listen to Cities Aviv

eminem

Also go to more live shows

Even the most experimental artists are gonna resort to making tiktok bait or lowest common denominator playlist mid if they can't survive off their key moneymaker

Every passionate first week sales watcher should be jailed

Why do people always feel like this is the alternative lol

Every other genre gets a long fine without talking about street s*** and they don’t have to sing about paying taxes lmao

This argument is so tired. Let’s stop pretending like the only alternative to street rap is mundane s***. Life can be quite complex