Oct 10, 2020

 

Oct 11, 2020

Honestly believe we’re gonna enter a decade of female rap dominance. The evidence is there: Cardi is as big of a public figure it gets, Megan is rapidly getting there—probably just needs another solo hit like WAP, Doja Cat had hit singles...there’s probably another wave coming in. Hopefully they also become legitimate album artists as well, feels like rap became to singles-dominated and rarely do we get those transcending albums lately.

 

Apr 15, 2022

randomly scrolling through this thread and holy s---.

 

Oct 10, 2020

We're almost through with the first year of the decade. The kings of the 10's are slowly entering into OG status: Kendrick's gone quiet, Cole's doing his own thing in his own world and Drake's become some sort of mutant algorithm hybrid pop-meme monster. Question is: who's next? Who are the mega-superstars of the next decade? Obviously we can't know for sure but its always fun to guess.

And to clarify I'm not talking about artists that'll just have a good or even great career (ASAP Rocky, Big Sean, Freddie Gibbs, etc.) I'm talking about the massive, world-domination likes of Kanye, Em, Wayne, Jay, Drake, etc.

Based off their recent output, numbers and quality, I'd have to go with some combination of the following:

Lil Baby: from generic Thugger clone to the people's champ. What a story. Ok thats a huge oversimplification, but still. The sucess of his album, the incredible The Bigger Picture and the whole mystery and excitement around 4PF. He's number 1 on my list.


DaBaby: I'm not sure if his peak has already come and gone or if there's more to come. Eitherway, he's gotta be a contender


NLE Choppa: It is insane how many features, streams, views, songs this guy has done. His energy is infectious, his presence and charisma is massive. He's got the XLL co-sign, he's dropped a really solid debut a few months back, can't see him going anywhere but upwards.


Roddy Ricch: Out of everyone moulding and meshing different sounds and styles, half-rapping, half-singing, Roddy's one of the best doing it (note: not the best, but definitley the biggest star potential). The Box was a game changer and everything he's touched since has turned to gold. All he has to do is keep it up.


Polo G: This is a gamble. Still too early to say but the number don't lie, plus he's got the critical acclaim to back him up.


Megan Thee Stallion: no-brainer. Sure she's strutting over the bridges Nicki and Cardi built but she does it all with her own style thats already got her name firmly in contention.


Lil Uzi Vert: Uzi's already a contender for one of the top artists of the previous decade, but only started half-way though. He's outlived and outperfromed his contemporaries and his latest album was his biggest and best yet. Also, hard to say what'll happen next but its possible he could just keep growing and growing like some kind of purple-haired anime expandable water bean things.


Some other contenders:

Fivio Foreign: Sad truth is Pop Smoke would absoutey be on the above list. Fivio's great but don't think he has the staying power. Not sure anyone from the current NY scene does tbh. (Sheff, Sleepy, etc are all great but same thing - not broad enough appeal). Who knows though? Stranger things have happened.

Griselda: These guys have already done an insane amount but how much further can they go realistically? A solo career for Benny is probably the likeliest prospect.

Someone from Detroit: Sada Baby is getting BIG. Talented, creative, he ticks all the boxes. There's potential there. 42 Dugg or YN Jay are both other potential Detroitians but too early to say.

JID: Lots of hype around this guy, but does he really have what it takes? 2 solid projects and a handful of really good features dos not a star make.

Baby Keem: Like, JID plenty of hype but not yet enough to prove he really has what it takes.

Alright... what did I miss? Why does my list s---? Tell us more about the sad state hip hop is in?

 

Oct 13, 2020

check out the album! I wasn't 100% sold on Baby for a while but he's become one of my most listened-to artists this year.

 

Oct 12, 2020

Agree with the people saying Meg/Cardi, Meg in particular will only get bigger and bigger. Uzi is already as big as he can possibly be imo, he’s comfortably in that Kendrick kinda lane where he can take years off and drop whenever he wants and still take over the world. Don’t see him changing it up very much.

 

Oct 12, 2020

hows that rock you livin under

 

Oct 12, 2020

check out his music, he's great

 

Oct 12, 2020

Ain’t no one mentioning Griselda?

 

Oct 11, 2020

What I love about you guys is that you have your fingers firmly on the pulse of hip hop culture, its incredible

 

Apr 17, 2022

MY MAN. I'M ALIVE



been good bro. I miss you guys. Looks like S80s has become the world's premier Lloyd Banks forum? But glad to see you're still here, spreading the good word. Converting the heathens

 

Apr 15, 2022

Tech N9ne
Logic
Eminem
Royce
McDonald
NF
Token
Rittz
Trump
Desiigner

 

Oct 12, 2020

The international perspective is crazy but it really does change the game. In South Africa a lot of popular s--- was generally mirrored by whatever was happening in the US, same here in the UK. Europe/Asia's a different story though. I guess the best metric is worldwide sales? I havent looked up the numbers but I think Em's probably taking the crown on that one, maybe Drake too. Not sure if anyone else is in their league tbh.

 

Oct 12, 2020

I remember Kanye in his prime during his tour once booked tables at a well known restaurant here in Antwerp Belgium and arrived hours late and was sent walking. Apparently the owner didn't realize who he was. Poor Kanye was forced to eat at the pizzeria across the restaurant.

I don't think lil' wayne nor 50cent would be recognized a lot just walking the streets of Belgium tbh, unless it hits the news. Same is probably the case for Kendrick.

 

Oct 12, 2020

Huge ? d--- you're so wrong with this one lol
I don't know what's your definition of huge when it comes to a rap artist worldwide. Does every rap fan worldwide know who Kendrick lamar is ? yes of course.
Regular people that don't listen to rap know who Kendrick Lamar is ? Don't think so

 

Oct 12, 2020

I agree with your points and you definitly are right with the difference between Em an Tekashi, Em has a background and more to show than just a bold persona. Just wanted to point out the similarities.
God d--- why you mentioned ringtones, now I have that polyphonic Dilemma version I had way back stuck in my head. lol
And you're right, Drake is a master at playing the market and we have to respect the guy for that, that's a huge talent to be able to deliver what the masses want or set the trend, but that's exactly what I'm trying to say:
Streaming era, along with the globalization of informationan and instant exchange of informationen that came with the internet, freed us in one way, but it also somewhat standardized a global mainstream culture (which Hip Hop nowadays of course is a huge defining part of, much like rock was in the 80's). It changed the way we consume music.
Before you had gate keepers, namely radio and tv stations, that decided who got play, now everyone can expose their stuff on social media, create a soundcloud account or upload their mixtape onto some server for others to download to create some buzz.
In that sense, I believe what I'm trying to say is that the amount of different music one can access has broadened, but at the same time if you want to reach mainstream success or the level or stardom you've described you'll have to appeal to the current wave musically (or be a super edgy personality).
And unlike before this trend isn't set locally, but globally. If we take a look at the last decade, and I don't have the statistics to back this up, this is an observation, we can see how popular music has become more similar, fast-lived, melodies have become simpler, you have artists copying each others flows, styles and sounds that currently work on the charts all over the world (The Brits, French and Germans as well, trying to sound like the U.S. and vice versa) (and don't get me wrong this is is not necessarily bad, not saying that this copied music is bad).
So I believe it's become harder to become a torch-carrying character in the light of this developments, you'll really have to bring some extraordinary vision to the table to set yourself apart from the others while still being able to appeal to a large audience of people to maintain longevity and attention.
On the side: The pro of this development is that you can still make a good living as a small artist through the technologies we have now available which allow you to move independent.