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Top 10 Rappers of the decade

Started by MichaelsMad, Dec 25, 2019, in Music Add to Reading List

  1. Wreckless
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    Wreckless

    Dec 29, 2019
    yea, whoa, ché, woo, chu, huh, yea, brrrrr


    Gucci g---, gucci g---, gucci g---, brrrrr


    That's what we consider top rappers now? I feel bad for the kids who gravitate towards these face tatted clowns.

    Feel free to post tracks from the dudes you mentionned that have actual substance or meaning. I'm pretty sure they are very far inbetween, because I have listened to Young Thug, Future and some of the other guys mentionned.. And more than just a couple songs.
     
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  2. Michael Myers
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    Michael Myers Moderator

    Dec 29, 2019
    To be fair I don't think anyone thinks Pump was going for a lyrical rap song here lol he's just having fun. Be Like Me (the one I posted in the other thread) is a lot better.

    Will post some songs tomorrow but I'm sure others have lots of suggestions of songs with substance as well.
     
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  3. Wreckless
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    Wreckless

    Dec 29, 2019
    You don't need to bother tbh. I've tried a lot of them and even if a small percentage of their songs do happen to have meaning behind them, it must be hidden behind mumbling and bad production. I'm just not into the overall sound.
     
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  4. DKC
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    DKC shortygonletmecrush

    Dec 29, 2019
    A lot of Future's music is a deep dive into depression/addiction. Kodak is a very good lyricist who raps a lot about the racism of the prison industrial complex. Same with Greedo. I shouldn't have toe explain YG, Gibbs, Kendrick, Kanye.

    Even so, you're still stuck on the idea that rap has to fit in a certain box. Why can't a rapper just make fun music? Or interesting music? Or experimental music? Why can't someone make compelling party music? Why can't a rapper use a song to convey an emotion less through lyrics that explicitly state it and more through freeform association/the way they use their voice/the production? MF doom raps about f---ing bs but he's widely considered one of the greatest rappers of all time cuz he's weird and quirky and funny and innovative with the way he raps. What the f--- message does MF Doom carry? Maybe that rap that you like has to be lyrically "dense" in a more traditional sense, but that doesn't mean someone has to rap like Ghostface or Nas for it to be considered good.

    In fact, Nas even PRAISED future for his innovation: "Big fan of Future. He's pushing flows forward and he's speaking about this generation and what's going on. That's a great place to be and that's what I respect about him."
    https://djbooth.net/features/2016-05-19-nas-fan-of-future

    You don't have to like the music, but the fact that you're saying that it's "wrong" to consider the rappers I mentioned as the best of the decade really demonstrates to me that you're simply not open to listening to music that fits outside what you like. And that's fine, you like what you like, but that's why people call you out of touch.

    Rap is amazing because JPEGMAFIA, Young Thug, Denzel Curry, Freddie Gibbs, and Westside Gunn can all fit into the popular rap consciousness in a single year and sound virtually nothing alike but all bring different things to the table. I don't like deathgrips but I understand why someone would. I can't really get into the Griselda guys that much but I also understand the appeal behind them. They're both great groups for different reasons and I'm happy they exist.
     
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  5. DKC
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    DKC shortygonletmecrush

    Dec 29, 2019
    Have you heard Culture II? It's poppier than the OG Culture and more fun imo, they play around with more varied production and styles.
     
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  6. Wreckless
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    Wreckless

    Dec 29, 2019
    You do have some good points.

    I never said there's anything wrong with making party music. Or expressing yourself differently. But if by "Freeform" you mean hiding the fact you can't rap by altering your sound and production then it's not about rap anymore. And this thread is about the top 10 rappers. Not the top 10 artists who can alter their voice to convey an emotion.

    It's just funny to me how ingenious you're trying to make them seem when all it is is lazy rappers not putting any effort into their lyrics over a generic beat which they didn't even produce themselves.

    I think we should move on. I doubt we will ever come to an agreement on the subject lol
     
    Last edited: Dec 29, 2019
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  7. DKC
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    DKC shortygonletmecrush

    Dec 29, 2019
    Freeform has to do with lyricism and is more like what Lil Wayne and Young Thug do with their lyrics. Freeverse, free-association, whatever you wanna call it.

    All of the qualities I've talked about (making good party or dance music, experimentation in sound, dense narrative lyricism, free-association lyricism, successfully conveying a mood, etc) are things that can make a rapper good and their music compelling. It doesn't need one or all or any of them to be good rap music. GZA doesn't accomplish the same thing as Future who doesn't accomplish the same thing as MF Doom who doesn't accomplish the same thing as Dr. Dre who doesn't accomplish the same thing as Cannibal Ox with their music. There's different rap music for different times and places and moods in life.

    Which is why it's wack t me when you say stuff like "it's not debatable" and "all it is X" like you're the objective expert on a genre you said yourself you haven't paid much attention to in years. No one is saying Lil Pump or Famous Dex belongs on a top 10 list, and yeah there are a dime a dozen generic trap rappers we won't remember just like there were a dime a dozen grimy new york rappers and g-funk rappers no one remembers. Future and Young Thug might not be your style but the way you pose them is reductive and most of their biggest detractors even stopped saying s--- like that 5+ years ago. I understand trap can be jarring at first but Future and Young Thug are widely considered two of the best rappers of the decade by people (myself included) who grew up on the same type of 90s-00s rap that you love. And like I said that's why I love rap because A Tribe Called Quest and Young Thug and Mobb Deep and Future and Clipse can all be in my top 10 favorite rap acts of all time.

    have you ever listened to kodak black? Check out the album Dying to Live. You might like some of it minus the three songs with features that are obvious chart-grabs (though they're catchy so who knows).


    Also check out the rapper billy woods if you want something super dense lyrically.
     
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  8. Lucy
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    Lucy #1

    Dec 29, 2019
    Dust head doesn't understand current year
     
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  9. Jay Zeus
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    Jay Zeus I am the god-favored weed strain

    Dec 29, 2019
    Mumble Rap doesn't exist. Inflectionally Modified Oration Demonstrations (IMOD). IMOD is a sub-genre of Rap/Hip-Hop that primarily focuses on an onamatopoeia-based motif shared by a Ubiquitous Demographic of Gen-Z Contemporaries. Get Scientifically-and-Etymologically-Creative With This Sub-Genre-Labeling because the term "Mumble Rap" redefines the compound word "Titular Contrivance", my friends. It's a cry for help. It's rather lackadaisical to chalk all incoherent verbiage up as "Gibberish", too. We gotta throw this whole colloquialized expression in the dumpster; in the turn of this Beyond-Bicentennial-Zenith. It's about to be the dawning of a new era, lead on by the beginning of a new decade. It's Summer Olympics Preparation Season. Mumble Rap is a f---ing myth. Grow the f--- up, dusthead collective! And this is being relayed by a Nihilistic 30-Year-Old.
     
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  10. Lil Squeed
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    Lil Squeed French Montana Stan

    Dec 29, 2019
    NF
    NF
    NF
    NF
    NF
    Chief Keef
    NF
    NF
    NF
    NF
     
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  11. Sea Mauville
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    Sea Mauville

    Dec 30, 2019
    :emoji_100:
     
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  12. Sav Stanfield
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    Sav Stanfield

    Dec 30, 2019
    Ol' Dirty b------ invented mumble rap.
     
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  13. Enez
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    Enez Purple Heats Forever

    Dec 30, 2019
    btw it’s always better to promote and talk more about the so called “real rappers” to give them a boost of popularity instead of berating and throwing dirt on “mumble rappers” that way everyone wins. those 2 are better albums, but I'm more likely to listen to someone like thug or migos cause i just want to zone out majority of the time and just have a little fun.

    psychodrama... it ain’t that good. much better uk albums imo
     
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  14. Freestyle
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    Freestyle

    Dec 30, 2019
    If that's the case, why have you argued for 2 pages that they don't have any meaning? Surely having a meaning behind a sound you don't like won't change anything about the sound itself? You won't like it anyways, saying it doesn't have a meaning is just something you tried to throw in to make it sound better?
    Anyways, not accepting the new norm has always existed and will always exist but the new artists have pushed hiphop to new levels, accept it or don't
     
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  15. Sav Stanfield
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    Sav Stanfield

    Dec 30, 2019
    Every single generation of new rappers always faces the same criticism. The best example is probably from this interview with Pharaoh Monch

    As I was coming up, I remember we had cats yelling at Organized, “You’re the reason s--- is f----- up now! Hip Hop used to be fun with the hippity hop and the ‘Ho! Wave your hands in the sky.” Why y’all put so many words in the bars??” And I’d be like, “Well, f--- y’all.”

    The same thing happened when NWA and west coast hip hop first came on the scene. Rap was from NY so anything from outside must automatically be trash. The same thing when the South came up. People used to despise Lil Wayne. OutKast got booed at the Source Awards. I remember when 50 Cent first came out there were legions of hip hop 'purists' claiming 50 Cent was killing hip hop, he was trash, he ruined the genre, he was 'too commercial'.

    What I find hilarious is that 'mumble rap' really just refers to a specific set of rappers from around 2014 - 2016 with strong Southern accents and who do slur their words and inspired a lot of imitators. But Future, Thug and Migos are old news now. There was an entire SoundCloud era of X, Ski Mask, Pump, Kodak, Uzi that followed them and even that era is outdated. We're in an entirely new era now - how the h--- are DaBaby, XanMan, Teejayx6, Baby Keem, Rod Wave, Youngboy NBA, etc mumble rappers? Thats like calling MC Hammer a ringtone rapper. But somehow the term stuck and is just used to lump any rapper people dislike from 2014 - present.

    Bottom line is all the same s---, again and again. Absolutely nothing wrong with liking a certain era of music (I f---in love classic Mobb Deep, Wu Tang, Nas, Big 90's NY rap) but that doesnt mean everything that came afterwards or that is different is worthless. If anything, given the time the genre's had to evolve and the technology that allows it to spread, its way better imo. And also nothing wrong with disliking a certain era (80s hip hop is boring to me). But theres variety enough that you can have literally any style you want these days and still have a steady stream of great new music and just ignore the stuff you don't like.
     
    Last edited: Dec 31, 2019
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  16. Sav Stanfield
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    Sav Stanfield

    Dec 30, 2019
    Yeah Psychodrama is waayyy overrated. Stormzy, Skepta and JME albums were better. Little Simz and slowthai dropped the best UK albums this year.
     
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  17. Mraczewsky
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    Mraczewsky r.i.p. mac

    Dec 30, 2019
    switch kodak with pusha and this is my list
     
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  18. Mraczewsky
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    Mraczewsky r.i.p. mac

    Dec 30, 2019
    hm to Andre tbh, every feature was 10/10
     
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  19. Lucy
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    Lucy #1

    Dec 30, 2019
    *posts 10 arguably terrible artists*
    Haha gottim!
     
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  20. Michael Myers
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    Michael Myers Moderator

    Dec 30, 2019
    I did when it dropped!

    Mostly I listen to an album a few times and when I like it, it goes on my phone. Or just the songs I like. Searching culture 2 I got these on my playlist / phone:

    CC
    Made Men
    g--- g---
    Narcos
    Stir Fry
    Too Much Jewelry

    So yeah I do like some of it I guess but overall there are way more interesting (current) rappers for me.
     
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