Huh?  :D

There's an audience for it but it's hardly mainstream anymore

Fairly popular but doesn't dominate everything anymore. In 2003-2004 rap/hip-hop was pretty much the only genre on the charts.

About as popular as rock and roll

Fairly popular but doesn't dominate everything anymore. In 2003-2004 rap/hip-hop was pretty much the only genre on the charts.


Right? I was looking at the 2004 list of number one hits on Wikipedia the other day and there's no other way to put it than "dominated"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hot_100_number-one_singles_of_2004_(U.S.)

Fairly popular but doesn't dominate everything anymore. In 2003-2004 rap/hip-hop was pretty much the only genre on the charts.


It was EVERYWHERE in 2003/2004. And continued to dominate until 2008 or 2009, when it started to wane.

Rap was popular during the early 80's.

Yes, there will always be an audience for rap, but it definitely isn't the dominant genre right now. It's dominance faded once electro-pop started moving into the spotlight in the late 00's.

Rap has made somewhat of a resurgence in 2013.  It's not the dominant genre by any means, but it has probably been the best year for the genre since 2008.  The Gaga era seems to be ending.

Rap was popular during the early 80's.


Not really on the pop charts. 'Rapper's Delight' was a top 40 hit in 1980 but rap didn't really start to cross over to mainstream pop radio until 'Walk This Way' came out in 1986 and even then it took a few more years to truly get going. 

Rap was huge through the 90s and 00s, much less so since 2009. You still have people like Macklemore topping the charts though, so it's not like rap has completely fallen off the mainstream.

Not really on the pop charts. 'Rapper's Delight' was a top 40 hit in 1980 but rap didn't really start to cross over to mainstream pop radio until 'Walk This Way' came out in 1986 and even then it took a few more years to truly get going.


and don't forget Grandmaster Flash And the Furious Five.

I would say rap wasn't really mainstream until about ~1988 (a decent number of platinum rap albums in 1988-89) and not really a monster genre that rivaled rock until the second half of 1990 when MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice got big. From 1979-87 rap certainly existed but it wasn't the global phenomenon it is today and has been for the past 25 years.

I think hip hop currently at the start of it's "grunge" era.......think of it this way......not saying the genre's themselves are equal, but I think the parallel in terms of phases are eerily similar


60s Rock = 80s Hip Hop (Somewhat new, groundbreaking)
70s Rock = 90s Hip Hop (Golden Era)
80s Rock = 00s Hip Hop (watered down, formulac, flashy......think "hair metal" for rock and "bling bling/swag" era for hip hop)
90s Rock = 10s Hip Hop (Top 40 moves on to the next craze, core fans get fed up with formulaic artists being the face of the genre and start demanding music with substance)

I've never been a huge rock fan, so this may not be entirely accurate.....but this is how I see it. Kendrick Lamar (and the rest of TDE), J. Cole, Big KRIT, Chance The Rapper, Joey Bada$$, even guys like ASAP Rocky and the rest of the ASAP Mob are bringing a "raw" element back to Hip Hop in a similar way the grunge movement did for Rock. Of course with this, the artists focus less on crossing over and more on catering to core fans, which pretty much alienates them from the Top 40 crowd, which is why you don't see much Hip Hop on the Pop charts nowadays.

Personally, I think it's the best thing that's happened in this genre in at least 10 years

I'll try my best not to do decadeology. Here goes!

My guess is that rap genre started in the 70s, but didn't start to get attention as a genre until circa 1979.

During most of the 80s until like 1988, rap was getting its name out there even more but didn't really become a mainstream thing until 1988.

Then the late 80s and early 90s is considered the first batch of 'golden era' rap.

Then gangsta rap came circa 1993 and lasted until 1997?

Then 1997 to 2002 was another rap era.

Eminem became famous in 1999 and also the rap genre became REALLY dominant in 2002/2003. It's peak during the mid-00s, then waning starting late 00s.

I'll try my best not to do decadeology. Here goes!

My guess is that rap genre started in the 70s, but didn't start to get attention as a genre until circa 1979.

During most of the 80s until like 1988, rap was getting its name out there even more but didn't really become a mainstream thing until 1988.

Then the late 80s and early 90s is considered the first batch of 'golden era' rap.

Then gangsta rap came circa 1993 and lasted until 1997?

Then 1997 to 2002 was another rap era.

Eminem became famous in 1999 and also the rap genre became REALLY dominant in 2002/2003. It's peak during the mid-00s, then waning starting late 00s.


Pretty much

I think most hip hop fans will tell you that the golden was from 1988 until 1996....even with all the gangsta rap during the mid 90s (most of which wasn't all that bad in retrospect).

1997-2002 was the "bling bling" era....but you still had a good batch of talented rappers in the mainstream (Jay-Z, Nas, DMX, Big Pun, Eminem, etc...). But each year got progressively worse, and finally started free falling around 2003 all with the crunk/snap/ringtone/trap/swag crap.

2003-2008 was the commercial peak, but musically, in my opinion, was the worst 5 year stretch the genre has ever seen.....2008 was pretty much rock bottom.

Musically, things have been gradually improving since 2009 and I think were at the beginning  of a "renaissance era" that started toward the end of last year. I think "good kid, m.A.A.D city" recently going platinum is going to have a big impact on these next 5-10 years

My guess is that rap genre started in the 70s, but didn't start to get attention as a genre until circa 1979.

and the first rap song was I think before 1979 and it was by Fatback Band:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tPz2cBuOnw

I think hip hop currently at the start of it's "grunge" era.......think of it this way......not saying the genre's themselves are equal, but I think the parallel in terms of phases are eerily similar


60s Rock = 80s Hip Hop (Somewhat new, groundbreaking)
70s Rock = 90s Hip Hop (Golden Era)
80s Rock = 00s Hip Hop (watered down, formulac, flashy......think "hair metal" for rock and "bling bling/swag" era for hip hop)
90s Rock = 10s Hip Hop (Top 40 moves on to the next craze, core fans get fed up with formulaic artists being the face of the genre and start demanding music with substance)

I've never been a huge rock fan, so this may not be entirely accurate.....but this is how I see it. Kendrick Lamar (and the rest of TDE), J. Cole, Big KRIT, Chance The Rapper, Joey Bada$$, even guys like ASAP Rocky and the rest of the ASAP Mob are bringing a "raw" element back to Hip Hop in a similar way the grunge movement did for Rock. Of course with this, the artists focus less on crossing over and more on catering to core fans, which pretty much alienates them from the Top 40 crowd, which is why you don't see much Hip Hop on the Pop charts nowadays.

Personally, I think it's the best thing that's happened in this genre in at least 10 years


This.

Personally I think rap hit rock bottom in 2010 but is coming back nicely since.  It's just not getting the attention in Top 40 it had in the '00s.  There were times in the '00s it was almost impossible to distinguish a Top 40 radio station from an urban station.  The fact the Top 40 station would play a post-grunge song every so often was about the only distinguishing factor.

This.

Personally I think rap hit rock bottom in 2010 but is coming back nicely since.  It's just not getting the attention in Top 40 it had in the '00s.  There were times in the '00s it was almost impossible to distinguish a Top 40 radio station from an urban station.  The fact the Top 40 station would play a post-grunge song every so often was about the only distinguishing factor.


Yeah, and back during the mid to late 90s at times it was hard to distinguish Top 40 from Hot AC......and later on in this decade I think the same will be true for EDM.

BTW, 2010 was a very good year if you knew where to look....J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa, Wale....they were all rising underground stars at the time making some of their best music to date....veterans like Kanye, Big Boi, Bun B and Eminem all put out solid albums that year

Kendrick Lamar and A$AP Rocky are the two big names in rap in 2013. In 2008-2012 it seemed that Lil Wayne was the only rapper that was popular, and Drake. Speaking of Drake, and can't wait until his new album comes out in September.

Yeah, and back during the mid to late 90s at times it was hard to distinguish Top 40 from Hot AC......and later on in this decade I think the same will be true for EDM.

BTW, 2010 was a very good year if you knew where to look....J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa, Wale....they were all rising underground stars at the time making some of their best music to date....veterans like Kanye, Big Boi, Bun B and Eminem all put out solid albums that year


I wouldn't be so sure.  I think EDM hit its peak in 2009-2011.  There seems to be more balance coming back to Top 40.  Ke$ha hasn't been near the sensation with her latest album as she was in 2009 and Lady Gaga is nowhere to be found.  Owl City, who many in 2009 were saying would be a major defining artist of the '10s has been barely more than a one-hit wonder.  If Gaga hits a home run for this next album and revives the EDM craze, then you may be right.  If not, I think it has seen its peak.

I think you're thing of "electro-pop" or whatever it's called.....I'm talking about the stuff more along the lines of Zedd - Clarity, Lana Del Rey - Summertime Sadness, Tiesto, Avicii etc.....

What if rap wasn't so popular then what would be the popular genre of now?

I think you're thing of "electro-pop" or whatever it's called.....I'm talking about the stuff more along the lines of Zedd - Clarity, Lana Del Rey - Summertime Sadness, Tiesto, Avicii etc.....


Yeah that's EDM, it has been the dominant trend for the past 2-3 years.

Yeah that's EDM, it has been the dominant trend for the past 2-3 years.


4-5 now if you want to say it still dominates.  Lady Gaga came on the scene in fall 2008.

Today is The 25th Anniversary of Yo! MTV Raps back when Rap was still cool.

Rap spent alot of its credibility on that Dirty South/crunk/ATL sheesh in the mid to late 2000s.  I like Nelly, but that's about it.

Rap probably wouldn't exist if it hadn't been for guys like The Sugarhill Gang, Fab Five Freddy And Grandmaster Flash

Rap probably wouldn't exist if it hadn't been for guys like The Sugarhill Gang, Fab Five Freddy And Grandmaster Flash


I need to build a time machine and go back and change the course of history so that rap was never invented and it would be safer and less torturing to listen to the radio today. :D

I need to build a time machine and go back and change the course of history so that rap was never invented and it would be safer and less torturing to listen to the radio today. :D


;D