All genres go through what rap is going through right now. During the 50s, you couldn't get in a club as a "rock n roll" band unless you wore your hair like everyone else and knew at least 2 Chuck Berry songs. 60s saw Beatlemania, during the 70s everybody wanted to be like Zep. 80s was the worst, not only was this the beginning of the whole "image > music" thing, but everybody stole from everybody else. Hair metal especially. 80s had a lot of variety though; New Wave, Pop, REAL heavy metal, early rap, Sade, etc.
90s were commercial as fuck. Sonic Youth sold out, ZZ Top sold out, NU Metal blew everyone's ass. There was some good stuff, but the 90s. Just. Blew. And the musical impoverishment of today is all a fallout of how bad that past decade blew.
Now we have rap, going through the same cycle as all other genres. It's all about trends now, remixes, and a bunch of producers in Armani suits telling you what to make songs about. It's bullshit. Kind of a good thing though, because at least we know in the next 5 years or so, rap will be gone and a new genre will emerge.
But, that's mainstream. Underground hip hop is where all the talent lies. Maybe not the beats, but the lyrics and subject matter are/is a lot more in depth and, well, better.
EDIT: My favorite is by far MF Doom: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ewc1hixzYPY
Aesop Rock is pretty cool too. Roots Manuva, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien is OK (emphasis on OK), etc. It's out there, but how far you have to dig makes me sad. =(
90s were commercial as fuck. Sonic Youth sold out, ZZ Top sold out, NU Metal blew everyone's ass. There was some good stuff, but the 90s. Just. Blew. And the musical impoverishment of today is all a fallout of how bad that past decade blew.
Now we have rap, going through the same cycle as all other genres. It's all about trends now, remixes, and a bunch of producers in Armani suits telling you what to make songs about. It's bullshit. Kind of a good thing though, because at least we know in the next 5 years or so, rap will be gone and a new genre will emerge.
But, that's mainstream. Underground hip hop is where all the talent lies. Maybe not the beats, but the lyrics and subject matter are/is a lot more in depth and, well, better.
EDIT: My favorite is by far MF Doom: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ewc1hixzYPY
Aesop Rock is pretty cool too. Roots Manuva, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien is OK (emphasis on OK), etc. It's out there, but how far you have to dig makes me sad. =(
"We pissed away all the money on rock n' roll."
-Slash
-Slash