Is it just me, or do most people think that hip-hop has been in decline since about 2008? ???

It doesn't seem that lyrics like Flo Rida's "Low" are being written anymore.  :P

Shawty had them apple bottom jeans (jeans)
Boots with the fur (with the fur)
The whole club was looking at her
She hit the floor
Next thing you know
Shawty got low, low, low, low, low, low, low, low
Them baggy sweat pants
And the Reebok's with the straps (with the straps)
She turned around and gave that big booty a smack (hey)
She hit the floor
Next thing you know
Shawty got low, low, low, low, low, low, low, low

No. It's been declining even earlier, since like 2002. Maybe it's just me, but I don't like the hip-hop of 2002 onwards as much as that of 2001 and earlier. Also, what happened to rappers? Now all they talk about is intercourse and cars. Rappers used to be scary. I want that back.

Also, how old are you? Studying your posts, I've come to the conclusion that you were born in 1986.

2008 was a pretty good year for hip-hop.  I really liked the sound it had that year with more emphasis placed on synthesizers yet still keeping it urban and not going full pop like it did in the early '10s.  The same sound persisted through 2009 as well even though it started to take a back seat to electropop by that point.  I liked a long of songs that were coming out through about 2011.  I think since 2011 it has been in decline.

Hip-hop has gone through different eras and every time the style changes, some will say that's when it began to decline.  A lot of people didn't like the shift away from the early '00s sound to the mid-late '00s sound that occurred around 2003.

No. It's been declining even earlier, since like 2002. Maybe it's just me, but I don't like the hip-hop of 2002 onwards as much as that of 2001 and earlier. Also, what happened to rappers? Now all they talk about is intercourse and cars. Rappers used to be scary. I want that back.

Also, how old are you? Studying your posts, I've come to the conclusion that you were born in 1986.


1986?  Pretty close. What are the telltale signs?

I remember when rap was all about big screen TV's, blunts, forties, and bimbos.

The beginning of the end for hip hop really came during the 1996-1997 school year, when 2Pac and Biggie got respectively shot and Puffy released Can't Nobody Hold Me Down.  This was the point when hip hop went from an outlet for raw rebellion into a true vehicle of capitalism.  As much as Can't Nobody Hold Me Down and the rest of Bad Boy's late 90s output are actually quite catchy, they did represent a major tonal shift for hip hop that has been standard ever since.  Artists like Lauryn Hill, Eminem, Blueprint-era Jay-Z, and OutKast kept the genre's creative juices flowing as the years went by, but once snap became huge in the mid-2000s, even the lingering rhythmic originality of millennial-era hip hop started to die out.  Ever since about 2005, there have only been very few mainstream hip hop acts with significant artistic appeal, like Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar.  Otherwise, all that's left now is repetitive, bland synthesized beats, uninteresting hooks, and lyrics that, while not as unpleasant or misogynistic as in the past, still aren't as charming as what emcees of the past spit into the mic.

1986?  Pretty close. What are the telltale signs?

I remember when rap was all about big screen TV's, blunts, forties, and bimbos.


I remember when rap was all about partying and just having fun.

The beginning of the end for hip hop really came during the 1996-1997 school year, when 2Pac and Biggie got respectively shot and Puffy released Can't Nobody Hold Me Down.  This was the point when hip hop went from an outlet for raw rebellion into a true vehicle of capitalism.  As much as Can't Nobody Hold Me Down and the rest of Bad Boy's late 90s output are actually quite catchy, they did represent a major tonal shift for hip hop that has been standard ever since.


I agree about there being a big shift in hip-hop around 1997, particularly after Biggie Smalls was killed just a few months after Tupac. I would also add a word about Master P here. It might be hard to image for those that weren't into music back in the late '90s, since the guy is essentially a has-been these days, but Master P and No Limit Records were HUGE back around the turn of the millennium. In hindsight, I think that his popularity (along with that of his labelmates like Slikk the Shocker, Mystikal, etc.) played a big role in popularizing the Southern Rap sound that would eventually morph into "Ringtone Rap" or "Snap Rap" later in the '00s.

I think Hip-Hop has declined after the late 90's.