The Evolution of Rap Music

Hello everyone,

I've been tracing the evolution of rap music over the years and thought it would be an interesting topic to discuss. From the old school rhymes of Grandmaster Flash and The Sugarhill Gang, through the socially conscious raps of Public Enemy and Tupac, to the trap beats of Migos and Kendrick Lamar, the genre has changed immensely.

It seems that as rap has become more mainstream, it's also become more diverse. We now have artists experimenting with a range of styles, crossing genre boundaries, and reaching wider audiences. This, I believe, is both a boon and a bane. On one hand, the diversity allows for more creativity and wider reach, but on the other hand, it might lead to dilution of the original essence of rap music.

What do you all think about this evolution? How do you think the rap scene will change in the next decade?

I feel like Music is only going to get worse just how society has got worse.

Rap will always exist in some form or another. Whether its attitude and styles are co-opted by music to come or there remains people who hold on to that traditional sound.

I do think it will still be diluted as time progresses. That's just the nature of subcultures expanding until they become dominant within culture. You had punk, which started as a super insular counter-culture movement, slowly be co-opted until we got shit like Green Day in the Transformers movie and make-up brands selling faux punk aesthetics. This is why gatekeeping, though often annoying, has a very vital function. Gatekeepers can stall progress within a subculture but they also ensure that people who don't respect the culture they are engaging with have limited influence. In hip-hop, gatekeeping is dead. Nobody gives a shit what these oldheads have to say. It's a double edged sword.