I found it interesting that I came across the above article, and it didn’t seem to get much attention in the press recently. I remember when I was young—in the late ’80s and early ’90s— I was completely wrapped up in the music scene, and then hip-hop arrived.
I always thought hip-hop was wonderful: a fusion of styles and sounds. Sure, many artists didn’t play instruments, but the music they created was fun, danceable, and perfectly suited to the genre. Also, I felt that there was an enormous variety to the genre; the pictures above and below showcase some of my favourites.
The thing about rap, is that I was never a big fan; always thinking that Hip Hop was just SO much more inventive and clever. Also, imho American music in general is at times, very compartmentalized. It always felt to me, that the country was more reliant on corporate acts, and simply did not have a very great “pop” tradition like the UK had.
Playlists were predictable: hip-hop for predominantly ethnic & city audiences, country for rural listeners, and so on. But then, in the early to mid-’90s, both genres began crossing over and hitting the pop charts. The rap acts started to become huge, as well as, in my opinion completely mediocre acts such as Garth Brooks; dreadful. How he is rumoured to be the best selling, single artist in history is mind-blowing. Let’s be honest here, did he ever write & record a Wichita Lineman? A Walk the Line? Etc?
As for rap, part of the popularity (as with any genre) may have to do with how charts work now compared to then. Today, many songs rely heavily on a small group of fans streaming tracks repeatedly. For example, five regular fans might play a song ten times a month—that’s 50 plays. But if one superfan plays it 100 times a month (about 3x / day) that single listener can push the numbers up dramatically (too my knowledge). This wasn’t the case back when you bought an album or a record. One sale was one sale, and that was it. If you never played that song / album again, or if you did; it meant nothing. The sale was the sale. Spotify doesn’t track unique listeners in the same way. They don’t say, “This person listened once three weeks ago, so that’s enough.” Instead, repeated plays count, which is why some pop and rap songs can stay in the charts for an incredibly long time.
This is something that probably needs to be addressed—but that’s another discussion. If Rap is fading, or if it’s just slowly declining, it raises the question: when the charts finally shift, what will take its place?
CB
PS – These are my own opinions. This is not a music blog, I could WELL be incorrect.
Curious Bystander 