...yet paradoxically, at the same time, they were lit. I remember doing dances to these songs in elementary/middle school.

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I wouldn't use dark. Just then, Hip Hop was on a major decline. A nice amount of fun Hip Hop hits were released in 2004-2005. 2006 is really when Hip Hop became purely South.

Frankly, hip hop didn't seem to be that different for a very long time. Ever since the late 80s, it was all about important themes from rappers. Sure, some of them were about partying and bitches, but that's the stuff that most non-hip hop listeners say on the media. Hip hop never really got a dark age to most people. Sure, there were times when rappers like Eazy-E, Biggie, and Tupac died, but a lot of people moved on from it.

I like Outkast, Killer Mike, Ludacris...and Lil Wayne to a certain extent, but despite being from the south, I despise southern rap for dumbing down rap so terribly. But it did do one thing great and that was squash the insipid east coast vs west coast rivalry.

I remember kind of being in my own little music world between 2003 and 06 but I remember Kanye being the only MAINSTREAM rapper who stood out at that time. Rap didn't feel like it had a new king until Drake.

Only the ringtone, crunk and snap rap were terrible. There were plenty of hip-hop artists who didn't adjust to those subgenres and had their own thing.

I like Outkast, Killer Mike, Ludacris...and Lil Wayne to a certain extent, but despite being from the south, I despise southern rap for dumbing down rap so terribly. But it did do one thing great and that was squash the insipid east coast vs west coast rivalry.

I remember kind of being in my own little music world between 2003 and 06 but I remember Kanye being the only MAINSTREAM rapper who stood out at that time. Rap didn't feel like it had a new king until Drake.


Ye!!

Zelek delete your thread and start anew with this hot track from 2005!

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edit: eek, it's censored. IDK anymore lol.

Dark age? What would you call the current age then? Stone age? Because people nowadays seem to envy the 00s in Hip-hop.

Those songs I've admittedly never even heard of before. But that's because the "artists" behind those tracks were one-hit wonders essentially no different from Internet memes like Rebecca Black or YLvis. Ringtone rappers didn't tend to have very impressive discography sales and didn't stay popular for more than a couple months, hence the name.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Ringtone%20Rapper

None of the rappers you posted even have a single platinum album! That's how obscure they were once their 15 minutes were up.

I've noticed lately that the mid to late-00s are becoming increasingly well regarded when it comes to Hip-hop thanks in part to folks like Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West, Gnarls Barkley Common, Wiz Khalifa, Kid Cudi, Talib Kweli, Madlib, Lil Wayne, Jay Z, Mos-Def, Blu, Clipse, K-os, TI, Ludacris, Ghostface Killah, Chamillionaire, G-Unit, K'naan and The Game. HipHopDX covered the 10-year anniversary of these classic albums last year.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/49/Foodliquor.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/25/Hell_Hath_No_Fury_Clipse_album_cover.jpg
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This video both cracks me up and depresses me with how far Hip-hop has fallen since the 2000s.
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Dark age? What would you call the current age then? Stone age? Because people nowadays seem to envy the 00s in Hip-hop.


The early 00s were the silver age, mid 00s the dark age.

Dark age? What would you call the current age then? Stone age? Because people nowadays seem to envy the 00s in Hip-hop.



I think it's the "ringtone rap" era that is somewhat a hip-hop dark age.  This song is the epitome of that era.

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Today's hip-hop isn't as good as the late '00s and early '10s, but it's improved quite a bit since 2005 and 2006.

The early 00s were the silver age, mid 00s the dark age.

Why were there so many acclaimed albums to come out of those years?


I think it's the "ringtone rap" era that is somewhat a hip-hop dark age.  This song is the epitome of that era.

Today's hip-hop isn't as good as the late '00s and early '10s, but it's improved quite a bit since 2005 and 2006.

So in what ways was this song influential for the era? Which big rappers/industry veterans adopted this style? How is this different from the "Friday"/"what does the Fox say" era we're in now?

That Snoop Dogg video is funny. Pretty much goes explains why I can't stand modern Hip Hop. The style that he made fun of somehow got popular and all the artists started copying that style.

That Snoop Dogg video is funny. Pretty much goes explains why I can't stand modern Hip Hop. The style that he made fun of somehow got popular and all the artists started copying that style.

Including some of the industry veterans unfortunately.

Dark age? What would you call the current age then? Stone age? Because people nowadays seem to envy the 00s in Hip-hop.

Those songs I've admittedly never even heard of before. But that's because the "artists" behind those tracks were one-hit wonders essentially no different from Internet memes like Rebecca Black or YLvis. Ringtone rappers didn't tend to have very impressive discography sales and didn't stay popular for more than a couple months, hence the name.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Ringtone%20Rapper

None of the rappers you posted even have a single platinum album! That's how obscure they were once their 15 minutes were up.

I've noticed lately that the mid to late-00s are becoming increasingly well regarded when it comes to Hip-hop thanks in part to folks like Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West, Gnarls Barkley Common, Wiz Khalifa, Kid Cudi, Talib Kweli, Madlib, Lil Wayne, Jay Z, Mos-Def, Blu, Clipse, K-os, TI, Ludacris, Ghostface Killah, Chamillionaire, G-Unit, K'naan and The Game. HipHopDX covered the 10-year anniversary of these classic albums last year.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/49/Foodliquor.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/25/Hell_Hath_No_Fury_Clipse_album_cover.jpg
52HvoQu0TTQ

This video both cracks me up and depresses me with how far Hip-hop has fallen since the 2000s.
g0OdmRtuQew


That's because those terrible sub-genres most likely didn't hit Canada like it did here. Throughout the mid 00s, they were everywhere! Here are a few examples.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SBN_ikibtg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwXeN2FsE7w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9usnJPJ25e0

Yeah, most of them were one-hit wonders, but they were also very popular for a short time.


That Snoop Dogg video is funny. Pretty much goes explains why I can't stand modern Hip Hop. The style that he made fun of somehow got popular and all the artists started copying that style.
Are you talking about trap-rap?

That's because those terrible sub-genres most likely didn't hit Canada like it did here. Throughout the mid 00s, they were everywhere!
Depends on the particular track. I've heard some Crunk songs that did sound pretty ok even back then.
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Lyrics weren't much, but there was at least a sense of progression in the beats that kept them from getting too monotonous. And they made decent sports tunes.

From what I've heard of snap on the other hand. It really is terrible. Most hip hop sub-genres emphasize the beats and flow, but snap is very boring and anti-climactic to listen to above every other criticism, imo. It doesn't even have the energy-filled hardcore dirty south vibe that crunk does. It's like the line-dancing of Hip-hop.

I completely disagree with this topic now. Hahaha Crunk was fun and the mid 2000s has Carter 1-2 Wayne, G-Unit, peak Bow Wow and debut of Young Jeezy.

They really overshadowed the minority.

None of this is true.

Waht's considered "the dark ages" were Biggie, Tupac, Snoop, Shuga Shug, Raydawg, and Iced Tea. 

R&B on the other hand was still good. You had Fantashia, Beyonce in her prime, Kelis Bossy, Ne-yo debut, Mary J Blige still going strong, Ciara, Cherish, Chris Brown in his youth,  Keysha Cole, Rhiana debut. 2006 still was good from a r&b perspective.

r&b was good in 2000s

I am going to need folks to stop the Southern Rap slander. There are plenty of Southern rappers who have contributed massively to Hip-Hop. Southern rappers help give Hip-Hop, is flavor and are a major reason why it's as big as it is today. People have been saying Hip-Hop was being dumbed down since the Bling era, which many East & West Coast rappers contributed to. Many East Coast rappers don't like trying new sounds, flows of rapping, etc. If Hip-Hop stayed in the lane it's been since East Coast rappers were dominate, the genre would be dead. Don't try to blame the South for everything.


Its a bandwagon effect. Haha I know its difficult not to respond to them. They need somewhere to put the blame when really, their ruining the genre for themselves.
R&B on the other hand was still good. You had Fantashia, Beyonce in her prime, Kelis Bossy, Ne-yo debut, Mary J Blige still going strong, Ciara, Cherish, Chris Brown in his youth,  Keysha Cole, Rhiana debut. 2006 still was good from a r&b perspective.


I believe the 2000s will have the best R&B of all time.

Its a bandwagon effect. Haha I know its difficult not to respond to them. They need somewhere to put the blame when really, their ruining the genre for themselves.
I believe the 2000s will have the best R&B of all time.
I agree it's crazy nowadays how kids don't know what rnb is. Not too long ago every black kid listen to rnb along with hip hop. Music changed a lot since finishing high school.

I agree it's crazy nowadays how kids don't know what rnb is. Not too long ago every black kid listen to rnb along with hip hop. Music changed a lot since finishing high school.
R&B reached its indie/alternative phase in the 2010s and it's better than ever  8)

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I remember kind of being in my own little music world between 2003 and 06 but I remember Kanye being the only MAINSTREAM rapper who stood out at that time.


We can't forget 50 Cent. T-Pain and Chris Brown became big between 2005 and 2007.

We can't forget 50 Cent. T-Pain and Chris Brown became big between 2005 and 2007.


And Kanye