Following the “golden age” of hip hop in the 90’s with artists and groups like Notorious B.I.G. and N.W.A., the talent pool has sufficiently declined and the popularity has oddly grown exponentially. Many believe that modern rap has the upper hand on the earlier years of hip hop as it “expresses a deeper meaning” than it did years in prior. I object to this absurd statement due to the senseless beats and sub-par lyricism that makes up modern rap. There is absolutely no comparison between lack of creativity in modern times with the natural talent and unique, yet simple beats that made up classic hip hop. Modern rappers do not know what it means to produce a true and authentic piece of music.

According to present day standards, any amateur can become the next “Dr. Dre” by playing around on Garageband or becoming the next “Mos Def” by simply rhyming two lines together that just happen to be captured and posted on Twitter. It is quite pathetic that this is what rap success has come to. The entire rap game is saturated and filled with people following trends and ignoring the natural ability of creativity. The sad thing is, this trend following philosophy does not just apply to new rappers as it applies to established rappers, like artists such as Lil Wayne, Eminem, and Kanye West, that have converted from their original hip hop mentality over to modern rap in order to appeal to mainstream music culture and awards. Once respected artists with original and unique material, have now turned to following trends and appealing to the pop side of music, ignoring their roots. For example, my favorite rapper of all time used to be Eminem. His first three albums or four if we are being generous, Slim Shady LP, Marshall Mathers LP, The Eminem Show, and Relapse, were spectacular as they featured his past experiences that lead him to success as he told them through lyrical mastery. However, his past two albums, Recovery and Marshall Mathers 2 LP, have had a new mentality towards them. He lost his furious attitude and his music began to sound like the music award shows like. He lost what his music what was built upon, a similar characteristic that describes the entire modern rap game.

Back in the early 90’s and even the late 80’s, the hip hop game was just becoming prominent in the music world. People and groups such as 2pac, Cypress Hill, Beastie Boys, Wu-Tang Clan, Mobb Deep, and Nas put forth their own music, becoming trend setters themselves. They didn’t make music that would appeal to record sales and what would be best for business. Snoop Dogg stated how he “would rather keep his hip hop credibility than have million record sales.”  Snoop further proves how rapping as and for themselves help lay the foundation for Hip Hop for years to come. However, rappers nowadays such as Chief Keef or Meek Mill have tarnished what their forefathers made as they mumble incoherent thoughts and words over mundane and loud beats that sound like someone laid on top of the soundboard for an extended period of time. Many established hip hop artists have expressed their disgust in what classifies as hip hop currently. 50 Cent stated that “when a person decides [rap] as themselves, they offer something no one else can be.” His statement clearly shows how far being yourself when it comes to rap can take you than following a ubiquitous trend that lacks authenticity and faith in themselves.

The title of this article, ‘Modern Rappers Have Tarnished Hip Hop’, is a contradicting statement. It should have been titled, the death of hip hop, but the title serves a purpose. Rap is not equivalent to hip hop. Although these two words are used interchangeably and the word ‘rapping’ is used to define the action of both words, both are two completely different subgroups of music that carry different meanings. These two groups do share the core musical features with the combination of rhyming and hints of poetry set to a musical beat. But, the ideals and community messages of these two groups are far from similar. Rap is a tool to express current events and tell the stories in their local communities while hip hip shows a community message that expresses hope for the future and remember success in the past. There is practically no modern hip hop that exists anymore as rap dominants the music industry. Without hip hop, there is no future in this music subgroup. Rap is tearing the future down as it tarnished what hip hop handed to them on a silver platter.

Through all this junk that is labeled as true rap nowadays, there is hope for the future through artists, like Kendrick Lamar, Earl Sweatshirt, Chance the Rapper, Joey B4da$$, and Tyler the Creator, as they try and salvage the authenticity of hip hop once again.