Current Events > How come hip hop music has the lowest lifespan of any genre?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I don't mean hip hop in general, but hip hop eras/generations

It seems like hip hop has the least amount of fans familiar with the history of the genre, listen to older artists, etc

I doubt there's many, if any, rap fans out there (who didn't grow up in that era) who're like "yeah Rakim and LL Cool J are my favorite rappers"

Meanwhile, there are many middle schooler and high schoolers whose favorite genre is classic rock, or 70s punk, or 80s death metal, or 2000s indie, or (insert dozens of era-specific subgenre)

I doubt there's a high schooler out there whose favorite era of rap is any 80s rap; heck, there's probably not that many who'd say 90s west coast rap (for as popular and influential as it was) is their favorite or majority of what they listen to (not just being decently familiar with it)
---

I was born 93 and some of my favorite stuff is from that era, like Wu-Tang, and I like KRS-One a lot. PRT too. Idk, there are a lot one could name. I got love for Rakim and LL too.

But yeah you could very well be right in general, idk.

---

This is straight up wrong lol there's hip hop legends that stay relevant even past their prime. 90s hip hop is still relevant and huge among all generations.
---

One of my best friends is like this...he's only interested in what's new doesn't gaf about anything that's not current.
---

But also I think rap has evolved very rapidly to where the stuff now is very different from the music at its inception.

I guess you can say the same thing about other genres but like, a lot of songs by The Beatles or The Ramones or Velvet Underground sound like they could have been made today.

---

Smashingpmkns posted...

This is straight up wrong lol there's hip hop legends that stay relevant even past their prime. 90s hip hop is still relevant and huge among all generations.

I kind of think this too.

---

ok first of all, I'm not entirely convinced that that idea is true. it reeks of anecdotal evidence to me.

but I can think of a few reasons why it could be the case.

my guess: a lot of people grow up basically listening to the music their parents listen to. because hip-hop is relatively young as a genre, it might not have reached broad popular appeal when their parents were developing their taste in music.

---

I thought you were talking about the literal lifespan of the artists at first.
---

Hip hop has evolved VERY quickly as a genre. Classic rock and rock today sound way more similar than 90s hip hop and hip hop today do

---

GodardOnGodard posted...

I doubt there's a high schooler out there whose favorite era of rap is any 80s rap; heck, there's probably not that many who'd say 90s west coast rap (for as popular and influential as it was) is their favorite or majority of what they listen to (not just being decently familiar with it)

I was that guy in high school. Just replace west coast with east coast. That was 10+ years ago, but still it was music mostly before my time or before my rap listening time. I still mostly listen to 80's/90's rap.

I think part of it is that a lot more people can get into today's rap than today's rock so people listen to the classics more.
---

Bananana posted...

Hip hop has evolved VERY quickly as a genre. Classic rock and rock today sound way more similar than 90s hip hop and hip hop today do

I think that has more to do with the development of electronic music than anything else

---

Smashingpmkns posted...

This is straight up wrong lol there's hip hop legends that stay relevant even past their prime. 90s hip hop is still relevant and huge among all generations.

Not really dude
---

Because a lot of it is based on a culture of keeping up with whatever's considered "hot" at the moment.
---