Joey Bada$$: "Rap Is In A Very Trash State Right Now"
NY rapper Joey Bada$$ is in the news after some impassioned Tweets on the state of rap music, claiming the genre is currently in a "trash state" right now. These are my thoughts.
Do you happen to agree with Joey? Do you think rap music is off the rails at the moment, and in need of some recalibration? I'd love to read your thoughts below, and upvote those with the best input! Thank you!
Joey is one of the exceptions himself. I'm glad he's using his platform to bring light to the bleak future of mainstream hip-hop that we all know and hate. Will it change anything? Probably not, but I hope it makes at least a few people think about the music they're consuming.
#TrashRaps
The audience isn't looking for the most 'woke' lyrics, they are looking for what invokes the most emotion and is most memorable. If that is Post malone doing his weird voice roll or people going nuts to the same 808 in every soundcloud song then so be it..
It's about finding a niche that suits you and making an audience, which joey has definitely already accomplished, idk why hes workin with the cringe boy
The unfortunate issue with Hip Hop these days is that it is a rich mans game. Unless your very young (with little life experience) the Hip Hop world expects you to be wealthy. I’ve been part of the Los Angeles underground Hip Hop community for over a decade, and know some extremely creative and interesting Hip Hop personalities with some innovative takes on the culture. What I’ve seen these talented individuals do, is temporarily abandon their music pursuits in order to build wealth or use a different entertainment gateway to reintroduce themselves to a more welcoming audience. As both a rapper and a fan, I haven’t lost hope, nor do I resent the current “Stars” dominating the culture. We just need to be patient and diligent, our voices will be heard. Hip Hop simply has fallen into some unhealthy patterns that will be corrected.
I am about Joey's age. I kind of get what he means that a lot of the new music is trash. I think this is the first generation I'm starting to not relate to a much. A lot of different artists out here, weird and wacky.
Joey's comments made me think of this: https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/ti-backs-up-21-savages-statement-on-og-rappers-news.39844.html
Rap changed insanely from 2014-15 to now. I think maybe Joey is just in a state of shock. None of these new dudes or gals are his style.
IMO new rap music, in almost every new generation/wave, is usually criticized very quickly. Even by artists just a few years older than the current wave.
The way I see it rap always tries to break the mold in a sort of shocking way. Best example I can think of is Tyler, the Creator when he first came out. He had so many haters and fans and so much attention when the Yonkers video came out. There's a lot of other examples like him too. I know a lot of people thought Tyler was trash and was going to ruin rap or something dramatic like that. Kind of like XXXTentacion? maybe.
Like any genre you should probably be different in noticeable. Rap music is progressive in a very fast way. I think if you combine that natural fact about rap with the fact that we are fully in the digital/internet age, you are going to get maybe some wacky and strange stuff.
I think nowadays there is also a lot more people rapping than probably ever before. So I mean there's that. Everyone wants to be a rapper. Nowadays technically everyone can be.
Rap music is the music that fits perfectly in this internet age. New music can be pumped always.
Steem on. RIP Lil Peep and Fredo Santana.
Call me a curmudgeon, but mainstream music in general is in a terrible state these days, Hip Hop probably leading the way. Blame it on the Millennial Woop.
I believe that saying music is trash or something along those lines is self-defeating. Joey is right and we have ourselves to blame. We need to reach out, listen and support the music we want to hear not generalize the things we haven't heard.