Maybe we'll see emo rap fill the gap in hip-hop...

Both are stale and going nowhere now so that is the problem. At this particular moment there's nothing really notable going on in the music scene.

I don't think Hip Hop is going anywhere, what people forget is that Hip Hop is largely cultural, many people (including me) won't simply listen to Taylor Swift's music just because she is popular, she has a certain demographic, as does hip hip, and even though Hip Hop may not be front and center the way Taylor Swift is, doesn't mean it's fading entirely, but thats just my opinion

There's plenty of interesting stuff going in the worlds of Rock and Hip-Hop.  It's just not really in the mainstream too much.  You're certainly not going to hear it on Top 40 radio.  You may hear snippets of the Rock stuff occasionally on your local Alt Rock station if you're lucky though.

Really, I think Rock and Rap in the 2010s will be like Rock in the 90s.  Rock in the 90s was more influenced by the underground scene of the 80s than the mainstream scene of that period.  High selling 90s Rock bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden (hell, pretty much the whole Grunge scene), Red Hot Chili Peppers, and The Offspring were all active and released albums in the late 80s, but their mainstream presence was pretty much zero.  They were also definitely not influenced by the mainstream Rock scene at the time, which mostly consisted of copycat Hair bands with the occasional saving grace like REM and U2.  This was also the case with Hip-Hop.  While N.W.A. was active and stirring controversy in the very late 80s, Gangsta Rap didn't become big until a couple years later and had almost nothing in common with then-mainstream Rap like DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince and Beastie Boys.

Rock and Rap in the 2010s will be like that.  The current crop of mainstream artists of both genres will have little influence over the next decade's music.  With the internet, the declining influence of mainstream record labels, and bands like Death Cab for Cutie and Radiohead having had #1 albums despite little radio airplay, I would say the ground is well set for something new, just like the seeds of the 90s were planted in the late 80s, though many didn't see it at the time.

The reason why music wasn't as sharp as it was in the past this decade was because people are trying to search for a new sound.

I think of the 00's as a crossroads for the music industry.

Hip Hop will not be dying anytime soon, it will just evolve, as time goes on.

Hopefully, Emo will die a horrible death.

I think they will basically cease to evolve, but their niches will live on. They won't be hot item though like they were for so long.

I have noticed even though I kind of eluded to it on the original post of this thread. the only rappers on todays Billboard Charts are veteran rappers that have been around for awhile like Jay-Z, Ludicras, and Kanye. The only new rapper is "Drake" thats making hits nowadays in 2010. Even if you factor a rapper like Lil Wayne into the equation what year did he debut in as a solo artist? 2002 or 2004?

I have noticed even though I kind of eluded to it on the original post of this thread. the only rappers on todays Billboard Charts are veteran rappers that have been around for awhile like Jay-Z, Ludicras, and Kanye. The only new rapper is "Drake" thats making hits nowadays in 2010. Even if you factor a rapper like Lil Wayne into the equation what year did he debut in as a solo artist? 2002 or 2004?


There's B.O.B. though he's a bit different.

There's B.O.B. though he's a bit different.
Oh yeah I forgot about him(B.O.B.) Yeah B.O.B is different.

There's plenty of interesting stuff going in the worlds of Rock and Hip-Hop.  It's just not really in the mainstream too much.  You're certainly not going to hear it on Top 40 radio.  You may hear snippets of the Rock stuff occasionally on your local Alt Rock station if you're lucky though.

Really, I think Rock and Rap in the 2010s will be like Rock in the 90s.  Rock in the 90s was more influenced by the underground scene of the 80s than the mainstream scene of that period.  High selling 90s Rock bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden (hell, pretty much the whole Grunge scene), Red Hot Chili Peppers, and The Offspring were all active and released albums in the late 80s, but their mainstream presence was pretty much zero.  They were also definitely not influenced by the mainstream Rock scene at the time, which mostly consisted of copycat Hair bands with the occasional saving grace like REM and U2.  This was also the case with Hip-Hop.  While N.W.A. was active and stirring controversy in the very late 80s, Gangsta Rap didn't become big until a couple years later and had almost nothing in common with then-mainstream Rap like DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince and Beastie Boys.

Rock and Rap in the 2010s will be like that.  The current crop of mainstream artists of both genres will have little influence over the next decade's music.  With the internet, the declining influence of mainstream record labels, and bands like Death Cab for Cutie and Radiohead having had #1 albums despite little radio airplay, I would say the ground is well set for something new, just like the seeds of the 90s were planted in the late 80s, though many didn't see it at the time.


Good observations.  Though I love rock, I think it has been somewhat dead for awhile in the mainstream.  New York City doesn't even have a legitimate modern rock station any more!!!!!  There are top 40 stations that play the occasional rock tune, but none dedicated to modern rock.  I believe Philadelphia may have one modern rock station if it is still around.

Hip hop has been terrible for years.

I agree it seems that the future of rock and hip hop may be up for grabs.  Who will win?  Will it be a futuristic, dancey, keyboard-driven big beat sound like that of a certain BLONDE REINCARNATION OF MADONNA that currently oversaturates the music scene?

I agree it seems that the future of rock and hip hop may be up for grabs.  Who will win?  Will it be a futuristic, dancey, keyboard-driven big beat sound like that of a certain BLONDE REINCARNATION OF MADONNA that currently oversaturates the music scene?


Well, it's either Lady Gaga or the latest incarnation of Insane Clown Posse.  (Either way, glam rap goes out with a Bang! Pow! Boom!  So at least we've got that going for us.)

Anything is better than rap  ;)

I was at a birthday party (large hall, buffet, etc...) last Friday night
and the DJ started playing Rap after dinner.
The adults just sat there while 4 or 5 little kids (6 to 8 yrs. old) ran around
the dance floor. The Rap music was spitting out curse word after curse word
for the little kids to listen to.
This went on for about 1/2 hour until the brain dead DJ started playing
different  types of music then the adults (of various ages) started dancing.

Personally I think Latino music is the next big thing, but as I said...
Anything is better than Rap.

Well, it's either Lady Gaga or the latest incarnation of Insane Clown Posse.  (Either way, glam rap goes out with a Bang! Pow! Boom!  So at least we've got that going for us.)
Glam Rap has been dead with a few exceptions(i.e. Ludicras) since at least mid 2008.

I wouldn't mind if Rap died, it's been crap for a while now.  They need to go back to rapping about things that matter, not just money and disrespecting women. 

I'll be sad if Rock dies, even though it hasn't been doing much of anything for a few years now.    But music in general hasn't been good since 2004. 

Least you still had some rock on pop stations in 04, trying to find a rock song on modern pop radio is almost impossible it's all the same corny electrocheese. It was an ok thing at first but now everythings getting more and more generic, the Kesha/ DeRulo/ Iyaz/ Taio Cruz style is getting nauseating.

There's plenty of interesting stuff going in the worlds of Rock and Hip-Hop.  It's just not really in the mainstream too much.  You're certainly not going to hear it on Top 40 radio.  You may hear snippets of the Rock stuff occasionally on your local Alt Rock station if you're lucky though.

Really, I think Rock and Rap in the 2010s will be like Rock in the 90s.  Rock in the 90s was more influenced by the underground scene of the 80s than the mainstream scene of that period.  High selling 90s Rock bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden (hell, pretty much the whole Grunge scene), Red Hot Chili Peppers, and The Offspring were all active and released albums in the late 80s, but their mainstream presence was pretty much zero.  They were also definitely not influenced by the mainstream Rock scene at the time, which mostly consisted of copycat Hair bands with the occasional saving grace like REM and U2.  This was also the case with Hip-Hop.  While N.W.A. was active and stirring controversy in the very late 80s, Gangsta Rap didn't become big until a couple years later and had almost nothing in common with then-mainstream Rap like DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince and Beastie Boys.

Rock and Rap in the 2010s will be like that.  The current crop of mainstream artists of both genres will have little influence over the next decade's music.  With the internet, the declining influence of mainstream record labels, and bands like Death Cab for Cutie and Radiohead having had #1 albums despite little radio airplay, I would say the ground is well set for something new, just like the seeds of the 90s were planted in the late 80s, though many didn't see it at the time.


I've just been thinking about this recently. It seems to me that both rap and rock music today are sort of in a similar position to where rock was in the 1989-1991 time period (i.e. repetitive power ballads, bands all looking and sounding exactly the same etc.) In the only year where rock seemed as dead as it does right now (1990; the year of "Cherry Pie" and Nelson), you did have songs by groups like Temple of the Dog and Faith No More that were hits as well, and sort of laying the foundation of what would come the next year.

In 1991, you kind of had the perfect storm of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" taking off at the same time that groups like Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and Soundgarden were all releasing new albums as well, all during a time when the "hair metal" genre was getting so stale and repetitive that people were looking for anything new. I don't think anyone would argue that rock isn't already stale and repetitive now (Nickleback coming out with a 15th album and the like), and when you add in the fact that the '00s generation of teens is getting older to the point where the majority of them are well out of high school and a new generation is starting to take the pop culture reigns, it certainly has me thinking that we will be experiencing another 1991 style musical revolution in rock during the next few years.

That was also true what you pointed out about some '90s bands having been around for years before they became popular. The Red Hot Chilli Peppers started, I think, in 1984; Nirvana came out with their first album in 1989; and even Green Day formed in about 1988.

But the problem is, things are MUCH different technologically from what it was back in 1990. This was before the Internet was mainstream and MTV, radio, word of mouth, and music magazines were the best way to promote new music; and $12 was still a big deal toward selecting the right album before Napster made everything free. The only new stuff that I've been finding are underground stuff, mainly published by bloggers and some alternative press, but the mainstream wants to continue to make as much money as possible at the expense of talent.

Sooner or later, I feel that the concept of a mainstream record label will be dead as small companies (even by well-established stars who would just make their own label) become the new drivers. I feel pop music is sort of like an aging TV show well past its prime; simply recycling old ideas but rapidly losing its audiences. There will be a memorable song once in a while (like Black Eyed Peas' I Gotta Feeling or Beyonce's Single Ladies), but the days of having dozens and dozens of memorable hits every year from the '50s to the '80s/'90s are long gone. Tribute acts, jukebox theater musicals, and the dwindling supply of superstars from the good old days will dominate the 21st century scene.

But the problem is, things are MUCH different technologically from what it was back in 1990. This was before the Internet was mainstream and MTV, radio, word of mouth, and music magazines were the best way to promote new music; and $12 was still a big deal toward selecting the right album before Napster made everything free. The only new stuff that I've been finding are underground stuff, mainly published by bloggers and some alternative press, but the mainstream wants to continue to make as much money as possible at the expense of talent.

Sooner or later, I feel that the concept of a mainstream record label will be dead as small companies (even by well-established stars who would just make their own label) become the new drivers. I feel pop music is sort of like an aging TV show well past its prime; simply recycling old ideas but rapidly losing its audiences. There will be a memorable song once in a while (like Black Eyed Peas' I Gotta Feeling or Beyonce's Single Ladies), but the days of having dozens and dozens of memorable hits every year from the '50s to the '80s/'90s are long gone. Tribute acts, jukebox theater musicals, and the dwindling supply of superstars from the good old days will dominate the 21st century scene.


Well, yes that is the other scenario you have to consider. I could easily see a scenario where, in the decades to come, Generation Y is the final generation that holds on to the notion of mainstream artists and record labels defining what drives pop culture (mostly because of their experiences of this during their formative years in the '90s and '00s), while the newer generations reject the idea all together; either because they don't like the music, or view it as a way to "rebel" against the earlier generation and chart their own course from a pop cultural stand point; or, most likely, a bit of both.

When you think about it, the ideas of what you mentioned are very interesting because, even as late as early 2005, it would have been slightly less likely to have happened. YouTube (which really revolutionized, or you could even argue created the idea of video sharing) has made it extremely easy for artists to get their music out to mass audiences, regardless of how "underground" they may be, without having to go through a major record label. If something like YouTube had existed back in 1991, I don't doubt that many of the early Seattle Grunge artists would have used it as the main tool of getting their music out to the public as well.