Mar 1, 2021

Proto Hip-Hop (1973-1979)
The earliest years where the genre is identifiable, the music at this time is very simple and is more centered on live performance.
Notable stars: None

Classic Hip-Hop (1979-1983)
The beginnings of hip-hop as a recorded art form, still very basic, but new ideas are brought into the genre and the first minor stars join the genre.
Notable stars: Kurtis Blow, Sugarhill g---, Grandmaster Caz, Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel

Golden Age of Hip-Hop (1983-1987)
During this time, the basic constructs of rap begin to take form, and megastars such as Run-DMC and LL Cool J bring the genre greater popularity, while artists such as Big Daddy Kane and Rakim are the creative forces pushing the genre.
Notable stars: Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, Beastie Boys

Gangsta Rap (1987-1991)
Rap, which has been growing more political as time went on has taken a more violent, expressive twist - as rap becomes a mainstay on the West Coast. The era ended as heavy commercialization took place, with Gangsta Rap being countered by sillier artists like MC Hammer, Biz Markie and Vanilla Ice.
Notable stars: Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Too $hort, Ice-T, Public Enemy, MC Hammer, Biz Markie, Vanilla Ice

Modern Rap (1991-1997)
During this era, the cliches, flows, rhyme schemes, and star power of rap music are solidified, cementing the sound of modern rap. Boom bap beats are popular. Serious rap enters the mainstream, propelled by rappers like Biggie and Pac.
Notable stars: Nas, Biggie, 2Pac, Mobb Deep, The Fugees, Wu-Tang

Radio Rap (1997-2003)
An era centered on filling the void after the death of Rap's two biggest stars - rap becomes more radio-friendly, more commercial, and births many superstars.
Notable stars: Jay-Z, Eminem, DMX, Ja Rule, Puff Daddy, Ma$e, Fabolous

The Gangsta Renaissance (2003-2006)
Gangsta rap makes a triumphant return, accentuated with radio-friendly melodies and spearheaded by 50 Cent after being pioneered by Ja Rule in the last era. Backpack rap rises to prominence at this time as a counterweight to the gangsta sounds taking over.
Notable stars: 50 Cent, Jeezy, The Game, TI

Ringtone Rap (2006-2008)
As Gangsta rap quickly died out, ringtone rap sprung up featuring repetitive melodies and quick punchlines that made for great soundbytes. Trap enters the subconscious after bubbling under the surface for years.
Notable stars: Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Soulja Boy

Blog Rap (2008-2011)
As the CD died off, and streaming had yet to rise, this era had many minor stars with intense cult followings - but real stars were few and far between.
Notable stars: Drake, Nicki Minaj, J Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa, Mac Miller

Drill and Drill-adjacent Rap (2011-2014)
Drill and drill-influenced rap bursts on the scene, forever changing the genre
Notable Stars: Chief Keef, Bobby Shmurda, Lil Reese, Lil Herb, Lil Bibby, 2 Chainz

The Trap Renaissance (2014-2016)
Trap becomes the main sound in hip hop, mixing trap beats, melodic flows and drug talk.
Notable Stars: Future, Young Thug, Rich Homie Quan, Migos

Soundcloud Rap (2016-2019)
Rap becomes the popular genre in the United States, as mostly organic rises take place via Soundcloud creating huge stars with dedicated followings. The era ends hard as many of it's stars die.
Notable Stars: XXXTentacion, Juice WRLD, Lil Uzi Vert, Kodak Black, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Pop Smoke

Tik-Tok Rap (2019-present)
Rap is further commercialized as many songs are designed to become viral, a phenomenon taking root in the last era and exploding here. As a counterweight, traditionalist rap like Griselda is able to gain a following. Young Thug's influence is also felt as his offspring become stars in their own right.
Notable Stars: Lil Baby, Gunna, Kid Laroi, Lil Tecca, Lil Nas X, Griselda

 

Mar 1, 2021

Did I really read "TikTok Rap" and "Griselda" in the same paragraph ^

 

Feb 28, 2021

Honestly

90s boom bap s--- that I was too young to experience but like when I listen to it in retrospect

Early 2000s when rap started to heavily crossover. I enjoyed music back then but couldn’t comprehend it.

2005-2016 I group all together because I feel like I was the prime demographic for the target audience, and I loved all the new s--- that happened throughout

2016-present where I feel like I’m not the target audience anymore, and new s--- is hit or miss

 

Mar 1, 2021

we live in a society

 

Feb 28, 2021

I'm not the biggest hip-hop scholar or anything, but this is how I view it:

From the beginning until 1988 (Straight Outta Compton release): old school.
1988-1994: G-funk era.
1994-1999: East coast hardcore rap era.
1999(Slim Shady LP and 2001 release)-2005: Shady/G-Unit/Aftermath era.
2005-2010: Southern era.
2010-2015: Art rap era (influenced by albums like MBDTF, GKMC, TPAB, 2014 FHD)
2015-Present: Emo rap era

 

Mar 2, 2021

@Grim and @Kujaku67 hit the nail on the head. I find it fascinating that 'counter-weights' seem to emerge in each era, its probably never been as pronounced as it is right now. You could be listening to Lil Tecca one minute and then Rome Streetz the next.

I think one that wasn't mentioned was the initial emergence of the underground with Rhymesayers/Lyrcists Lounge through to the hardcore underground Jedi Mind Tricks type s--- in the late 90's/early 00's as a kind of counterweight to the commercial explosion of Bad Boy, Roc-A-Fella, Aftermath, etc.

 

Mar 1, 2021

Pre 1979: The Underground Era
When Rap was still local/regional and basically party/club music where the DJ was the real star and the emcee was mainly doing adlibs and keeping people hype. Grandmaster Caz and Kool Herc are of this era.

1979 - 1986: The Disco Rap Era
When Rap first blew up commercially and was fun, lighthearted, and still party music like Disco with basic rhymes but wholesome messages with artists like Sugarhill g---, Whodini, Kurtis Blow, Afrika Bambaataa, etc.


1987-1991: The Conscious Era
When Rap started to become very political, introspective, Afro-centric, and conscious, touching on many subjects on society and injustice. Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions, NWA, Ice Cube, Tribe Called Quest, Jungle Brothers, De La Soul, DOC, Queen Latifah, Eazy E, etc. made hip hop less party oriented and more message oriented and way more serious than it started out. It's also the era where Rap became more technical because of Rakim and BDK and more rappers started having more advanced rhymes and flow.

1992-1996: The Gangsta Rap Era

When Rap became more hardcore and centered around the gangster lifestyle whether it's Crips/Bloods out West or mobsters/Drug Kingpins out east. Still relatively conscious but way more vulgar, flashy and controversial than rap from the previous era. Dr. Dre kicked the era off with The Chronic and more rappers followed suit. Snoop, Nas, Mobb Deep, Wu Tang, Tupac, Biggie, Bone Thugs, Raekwon, Kool G Rap were all rapping about street s--- while still mixing conscious messages with it(especially Pac and Nas). There was no real room for "soft" rappers to blow up during this time.

1997-1998: The Shiny Suits Era

A small era where rap tried to do a 180 from Gangsta Rap and tried to become more happy and party oriented. Era began when Biggie died and Puffy/Bad Boy took over. Rap videos became very flashy and tons of dancers to the point of looking like a borderline caricature. Not just Bad Boy records but Cash Money also had tons of flashy album covers and music videos and rap became slightly less about skill and more about charts and sales as evidenced with Silkk The Shocker blowing up. It also paved the way for more materialism in rap.

1999-2005: The Ultra Commercial/ Bling Bling Era

This is the era where Rap album sales were at their peak and Urban culture became much more heavily marketed to the masses and around the world compared to the 90's. Rappers were getting more blockbuster movies, merchandise, clothing, toys, etc. compared to the 90's and rappers were achieving feats that weren't possible in the 90's unless you were a pop act like MC Hammer or Vanilla Ice. Also, like the Shiny Suit era, a lot of rap videos looked like caricatures either with flashy videos with video vixens, grillz, gold chains rented cars, and mansions or as cartoony comedy videos like with Ludacris and Eminem. The whole aesthetic of baggy jeans, fitted hats, big chains, earrings, etc. as fashion spread to the suburbs and overseas too during this era.

2006-2009: The Ringtone Era

This was when ringtones were still in style and had a big influence over the success of rap songs. It was also the decline of rap sales and Shady/Aftermath's dominance as Wayne and Kanye began to replace Eminem and 50 Cent as the new top dogs in rap. In this era, there were tons of one hit wonders and mid singles that blew up on the charts because of ringtones. Artists like D41, Yung Joc, Mims, Soulja Boy, Hurricane Chris, Lil Scrappy, Jim Jones, GS Boys, etc. were dominating the radio and Wayne and Kanye honestly don't get enough credit for holding this pretty mid era down and helping rap transition into the 2010's.

2010-2014: Art/Blog Rap Era

Rap started become less singles oriented(partly because of the decline of ringtones) and more project/album oriented and experimentation and being leftfield became embraced over being hardcore or fitting the stereotypical rapper box. Even Eminem cut back on the Slim Shady persona in this era. MBDTF, Yeezus, GKMC, Take Care, FHD, Live Love ASAP, Acid Rap, etc. helped made this era what it is.

2015 - 2018: The Trap/Emo Rap Era

Starts off with Future's big run in 2015 and ends around the time of ---'s death. During this time, a lot of hip hop production became very concentrated around trap beats, 808's, emo song themes, and melodic style of rapping. Drake's peak is also in this era. Sound becomes more redundant but there's still a lot of great albums from different artists.

2019 - Present: TikTok Era

Similar to the Ringtone Era but with a different medium. A lot of rappers are focusing on singles and topping charts more than albums/projects. A lot of these hits are forgettable and Tik Tok is being used to help rappers get buzz and top the charts. Only a couple of mainstream rappers are doing interesting stuff and the best music is Indie or lesser known.

 

Mar 1, 2021

I mean, he did say "as a counterweight". So being the exact opposite compliments the overarching feel. I don't disagree with this.

So Griselda are so popular because they are the EXACT opposite of TikTok rap.

 

Feb 28, 2021

I break it down based on early, mid and late. IE, Early 90s, Mid 90s, Late 90s. Too many artists would be left out if I tried to define an era by one sound. Early 90s is known for G-Funk but it was also the Afrocentric era, the Native Tongues era.

 

Mar 1, 2021

I need to learn more english words I guess

 

Mar 1, 2021

80s, 90s, 2000s, 2010s

 

Mar 1, 2021

I just go by decades but that's me being lazy.

 

Feb 28, 2021

Almost everyone feels like, there is no prime audience now over the age of ~13 unless you're a superstar. Most younger and lesser known artists are trying to appeal to these tweenie bopper a--- tiktok kids and it sucks.

 

Feb 28, 2021

Usually by what the prevalent style of rap was at that time. Gangsta rap era, crunk era, snap era and so on.

 

Mar 1, 2021

We need another blog rap era