Current Events > As I get older, I'm liking rap music less and less

(+) Yeah! (+)

Does this mean I'm getting old or am I listening to the wrong stuff

Neither.

I kind of pulled away at about 1991.
I was there from the start, but I thought things were starting to get less street and more commercial.
Or formulaic. ((I know someone will tell me I am crazy for missing out on mid 90s rap))

~Pull I started to learn how to read music, so it became more interesting to me to play along with what I was learning.

I can say I dislike rap, but it's kinda a lie. The genre is so ridiculously diverse that even if I can say I don't like it on the average I can still find artists or songs I enjoy. It's kinda hard to straight up dismiss it.

for me, rap is still my favorite genre, but the older I get, I prefer stuff that makes me feel over clever rhymes.

Depends on what you were listening to. I like rap that tells a personal or engaging story, or gives a positive message. I hate rap that glorifies gang life, or is very narcissistic.

I liked rap and rock in my teen years. Now I just listen to classics in the 70s and 80s.

Can't spell crap without rap, etc.

i feel like the same is true about rappers, anyway
that's all they seem to say as they get older

I stopped keeping up with rap around the mid 00s. I prefer stuff from the 80s and early to mid 90s.

And in a way, I can see where the TC's coming from even in regards to some older rap. Many of us were probably pre-teens or teenagers when Tupac released Hit Em' Up. We probably thought the sickle cell diss was amusing back then, but now as adults, we probably think that was taking it too far. Especially if you know somebody that has sickle cell.

i mean it's pretty much "solved" music by now, just like pop, it's creatively benign and highly commercialized with nearly no actual instruments. it's all about the face behind the voice. people say rap is diverse, but i think it's a mistake to conflate rap as a genre, with the vocal technique of rapping in a song. radio rap is as banal as radio rock. is butt rap a term like it is for rock?

I tend to only remember hip hop songs that get put in video games, but when I think about it they're always more lyrical hip hop songs than the super commercial rap songs. Even then, I haven't gone out of my way to find more artists like Del tha Funkee Homosapien, J5 and the artist named Freestyle. Commercial rap is a non starter, especially what came of it after Krunk and Memphis and Trap music. Forget mumble rap, Soundcloud rap and "S A D B O Y" rap.

KCJ5062 posted...

I stopped keeping up with rap around the mid 00s. I prefer stuff from the 80s and early to mid 90s.

Ditto

As I get older, I like rap music more and more

https://youtu.be/zvxOptlgsis?si=-Ark6qUra7g34rfd

as i get older i've stopped following new releases (except ye) and mostly found myself listening to 80s/90s for the artistry and vibes and 00s/10s for the nostalgia

I like it a lot more when there are interesting components in the music behind the vocals rather than having the same sample / drum loop repeating all throughout. So basically those fusion groups and sometimes alternative hip hop often have really interesting stuff. I can't really act like I go too far out of my way to find that stuff though.

I still like it but am admittedly stuck in the past. I really don't listen to any music past 2000 so whenever I hear all the modern rappers here in a topic I don't know who any of them are. All the stuff I listened to was from the late 80's/early 90's when I was hitting high school.

I remember when gangster rap was hitting even my little isolated world in the middle of farmland in the Midwest and NWA was huge. Then I went on to follow both Ice Cube and Dr. Dre solo. Big fan of Too $hort. Love Ice-T, not only his solo career but what he did with his metal group Body Count. I remember Snoops debut album and the rise of Death Row Records. Ended up becoming a huge Tupac fan.

I also absolutely loved Public Enemy and listening to Chuck D's lyrics. I remember in high school really liking what Cypress Hill brought to the table. Man I used to listen to that Black Sunday album so much. Still do from time to time.

The list goes on and on but yeah I still love rap, but I'm frozen in time on the era that I listen to.

Was never really hugely into it. I liked Eminem a lot when I was a kid, but that was mostly "haha he swears a lot" at the time and I didn't have a clue what the actual meanings of his raps were. Outside of that, I used to not mind it and liked the occasional track but wasn't too huge on the genre as a whole, and that's still the case now.

https://youtu.be/AGaGJW9ocnY?si=yBSqty8AdYJ9c7GB

I took lost interest in the mid 2000s when there was a huge shift in the genre.

There's still a ton of great stuff though. People like Kendrick Lamar, Vince Staples, Denzel Curry, and JID keep pulling me back to the genre.

Kendrick is in my top 5 all time but most of the rest of mainstream Hip-Hop since 2006 is fucking asscrap.

I love rap as a genre but every single song I hear on the radio makes me want to blow my brains out, so I feel you.

Contemporary Rap, AKA CRAP.

There's a song on the Fast X soundtrack called "Won't Back Down" that played during the end credits by Bailey Zimmerman. I think it's mainly a rock song, but it does have a rap verse by a rapper called Youngboy at the beginning. It's a pretty good song. It didn't have any swearing, no talking about drugs or money etc.

KajeI posted...

I love rap as a genre but every single song I hear on the radio makes me want to blow my brains out, so I feel you.

Contemporary Rap, AKA CRAP.

I don't think many people that grew up listening to 80s and 90s rap are gonna disagree with you there. Lol.

Is it weird when I think of 80s rap I think of The Fat Boys?

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

This except rap is by far my least favorite. Followed by mainstream country

wanderingshade posted...

Is it weird when I think of 80s rap I think of The Fat Boys?

Have you ever watched the 1987 movie Disorderlies with them? It is actually pretty funny.

archizzy posted...

Have you ever watched the 1987 movie Disorderlies with them? It is actually pretty funny.

No I haven't. I'm mostly aware of the Fat Boys from other media waxing nostalgia about the 80s and the whole beat box thing. Seems that The Fat Boys were more known than Doug E or Biz Markie.

I don't listen to much from the 2020s but I think my catalog is pretty diverse otherwise

wanderingshade posted...

No I haven't. I'm mostly aware of the Fat Boys from other media waxing nostalgia about the 80s and the whole beat box thing. Seems that The Fat Boys were more known than Doug E or Biz Markie.

They were pretty big back then (not a pun) for a few years, hence the movie. Hell they even did a version of wipeout with The Beach Boys. Beach Boys are a huge iconic band. It was a short window when they were big but from like 85 to 88 yeah they were pretty big. Unfortunately 2 of them are already gone. One from congestive heart failure and one from a heart attack. The one that had a heart attack was only in his late 20's too.

SiO4 posted...

I kind of pulled away at about 1991.
I was there from the start, but I thought things were starting to get less street and more commercial.

As I said when Migos had their first hit, in barely 30 years, rap went from

"Don't push me cause I'm close to the edge
I'm trying not to lose my head"

to someone saying "Versace" like twenty times in a row.

Something went drastically, dreadfully wrong somewhere along the way.

all the rappers i liked turned out to be right-wing nutjobs except for eminem and dre

Same here except for classics like 2pac and others

As I'm getting older I'm liking music less. Just sticking with what I know. 60s 70s 80s and very early 90s.

DiScOrDtHeLuNaTiC posted...

As I said when Migos had their first hit, in barely 30 years, rap went from

"Don't push me cause I'm close to the edge
I'm trying not to lose my head"

to someone saying "Versace" like twenty times in a row.

Something went drastically, dreadfully wrong somewhere along the way.

Its almost like several types of rap can exist at once. If you only listen to rap thats incredibly popular or what they play on the radio, youre not gonna get anything good most of the time. This applies to almost any genre.

There have been incredible rap albums released in just the last 2 years that dont have someone saying versace 20 times in a row, i assure you.

I feel like people are so ignorant when it comes to newer rap. Like yeah, the shit they play on the radio thats literally created to make money isnt gonna be good.

That doesnt mean all modern rap sucks.

Rap peaked at Gangsta's paradise.

SCARING THE HOES only came out last year

Umbreon posted...

Rap peaked at Gangsta's paradise.

Rap peaked at Coolio sampling Stevie Wonder to talk about how hard he though he was?

wanderingshade posted...

Rap peaked at Coolio sampling Stevie Wonder to talk about how hard he though he was?

Gangstas paradise is like the exact opposite of talking about how hard he is lmao. I obviously dont believe rap peaked with it, but its literally about how gangstas paradise will probably kill him before 24 lmao.

ssb_yunglink2 posted...

Gangstas paradise is like the exact opposite of talking about how hard he is lmao. I obviously dont believe rap peaked with it, but its literally about how gangstas paradise will probably kill him before 24 lmao.

I dunno, he calls himself a "loc'd out gangsta" in the song.

wanderingshade posted...

I dunno, he calls himself a "loc'd out gangsta" in the song.

Yes, but it's in the context of he clearly thinks the lifestyle will lead to an early death.

"I'm a loc'd-out gangsta set trippin' banger, and my homies is down so don't arouse my anger, fool
Death ain't nothing but a heartbeat away, I'm living life, do or die, what can I say
I'm twenty-three now, but will I live to see twenty-four, the way things is going I don't know."

I'm finding I still really enjoy heavy metal, but I've just expanded my musical palette much more broadly, so I simply listen to less metal because in exploring more genres.

To add something about rap: I like some of the actual sound and production, I dislike the subject matter. Way too much misogyny and petty negativity, but maybe worst of all is that every song is about the artist and must cater to the expectation of the audience regarding that artist in superficially and sometimes toxic ways. Rap songs (and Pop has followed and become just as bad maybe worse) rarely have a universal message, which is one of the stronger points of rock and metal... even when a song is very personal it's usually less important than the more universal relatable themes.

I dunno, does that make sense? Not saying one way is objectively better than the other, it's just my preference.

wanderingshade posted...

I dunno, he calls himself a "loc'd out gangsta" in the song.

Yeah his persona in the song is that of a gangster. He acknowledges what led him down this path, as well as how hard it is to rehabilitate someone once theyre living this life. The song absolutely does not glamorize the lifestyle. its a strong criticism of it, as well as the institutional failures that lead young people to it.

Seriously, how does one listen to Gangstas paradise and think its Coolio bragging about how hard he is? I almost hope youre fucking around with how bad of a read you had of this song.

different genres and artists are good for different moods. i still like rap but not the same kinda rap as when i was younger

DiScOrDtHeLuNaTiC posted...

Yes, but it's in the context of he clearly thinks the lifestyle will lead to an early death.

"I'm a loc'd-out gangsta set trippin' banger, and my homies is down so don't arouse my anger, fool
Death ain't nothing but a heartbeat away, I'm living life, do or die, what can I say
I'm twenty-three now, but will I live to see twenty-four, the way things is going I don't know."

This conversation just reminded me of this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV5jJrv2kjY

Today was a good day.

KajeI posted...

This conversation just reminded me of this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV5jJrv2kjY

Today was a good day.

I like that.

I like when hip hop blends in jazz and rock elements.
https://youtu.be/biY3BARR0wc

Torgo posted...

I'm finding I still really enjoy heavy metal, but I've just expanded my musical palette much more broadly, so I simply listen to less metal because in exploring more genres.

To add something about rap: I like some of the actual sound and production, I dislike the subject matter. Way too much misogyny and petty negativity, but maybe worst of all is that every song is about the artist and must cater to the expectation of the audience regarding that artist in superficially and sometimes toxic ways. Rap songs (and Pop has followed and become just as bad maybe worse) rarely have a universal message, which is one of the stronger points of rock and metal... even when a song is very personal it's usually less important than the more universal relatable themes.

I dunno, does that make sense? Not saying one way is objectively better than the other, it's just my preference.

God posts like this just make me want to beg you to listen to more rap lmao. Saying all rap songs do this is just objectively false. There is a lot of rap that that is hyping up the artist, and there is a lot of rap that does nothing of the sort.

Okay, so it's a concept song. That's kinda of less common than dudes making songs about being a gang banger because that's who they hang out with even though they're rapping about something that never happened. Like I don't think Big Punisher actually riddled two middlemen who didn't do diddly.

ssb_yunglink2 posted...

God posts like this just make me want to beg you to listen to more rap lmao.

I can't argue there, I mostly know what rap was popular on the radio/MTV and some friends from the 90s and 2000s.

It's very possible that I am missing a lot that I would like, but also I had people try to get me into different artists and none took really. I'm not against the genre on principle, I kind of wish I was able to enjoy it more.