Reflecting on The Low End Theory, iI'm really wondering if they ever envisioned the future of hip-hop leaning so heavily into bass, often at the melody's expense.

Now there were trends bubbling or starting to take place regionally (Miami bass and Nola bounce and Memphis much later), but I feel like today most of the things making waves underground and mainstream just lack melody. (New Jazz is probably the only new sub genre deviating from this)

Maybe that's so the artist can fit on the songs and do their thing----Maybe it's a drastic response to the early soundcloud producers (Icytwat, MexikoDro, Monte Booker, Lord Fubu, Ethereal )

This dropped today just as an example.

OP could be tweaking

idk

Maybe maybe not

Feel like im not quite articulating what I mean

I mean Tip said it in the first few lines of the album

"Before I had status and before I had a pager
You could find the Abstract listening to hip hop
My pops used to say, it reminded him of be-bop
I said, well daddy don't you know that things go in cycles"

@op It's funny how you mentioned "Bass" being the focal element of today's music, when that first track on TLET was focused solely on the Upright Bass Sample.

The upright bass sample on that album influenced rap now?

U real for mentioning Lord Fubu and Monte Booker

I mean how much of 80s rap was just bass and a drum loop though

Hip-Hop has always been about the focus of the bass/drums that's the basis of the genre

EPMD are a group that were heavy on that bass before The Chronic came out

predicted ? nah they just recgonized what the genre is about

others have already said on here the genre has been about bass and drums since its inception, like literally since them early parties in the bx

blond is legit the only super popular album by a black artist that has stripped back bass arrangments with little to no drums

im reallly tryna think but other than what like tracy chapman, its all bass heavy

I was just thinking today it’s crazy how rap went from soul loops and breakbeats to like Ken Carson Yeat beats or even Lex Luger styled s*** lol

Like the moments that had to happen for niggas to get to each next stage of the sound. Crazy

That last line is probably the greatest line in music ever.

It comes with the tech and whats acessible but yea crazy to see

80%

bit unrelated but i remember listening to the chronic and noticing how much bass that s*** had

and that came out in 91 i think?

That's why Tip is one of my favs ever

Here's a way of looking at it

The boom box was good for bass. Was there a lot of technology before that era good at reproducing bass?

What’s crazy is that all of those points in history were documented too

Hot Take : "Beats, Rhymes, & Life's" a classic.(imo)

Sure but I think we could talk all day about subwoofers being introduced to vehicles or improved arena/concert venues lending to people wanting that “feel”.