Why Hip Hop is the biggest genre in the world
For the first time in music history, Hip Hop has become mainstream and is therefore now considered to be popular music A.K.A Pop. This means that a lot of the music that you are listening to right now probably has bits & pieces of rap in it. Truth is the youth are the ones that dictate popular culture such as fashion and trends thus Hip Hop is now where it is because of young people.
What is Pop
Growing up, a lot of the pop music that was playing on radio & TV were artists like Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Beyonce and the Black Eyed Peas just to name a few. These were the type of artists that would regularly go to number 1 on the charts between the late 1990’s and 2000’s.
At the same time rock music, Pop rock to be specific had artists like GreenDay, Linken Park and the Red Hot Chili Peppers who were on a roll. They reached their prominence within the Pop era but then slowly started taking a backseat from 2010 due to the rise of Hip Hop. And just like Hip Hop right now, pop rock was a product of the youth. That included the most expressive & disruptive artists you could come across in music (e.g. Eminem & Marilyn Manson).
When Hip Hop Turned Pop
The way that I see it, the tipping point for Hip Hop music was in 2016 when Drake released one of his biggest songs to date: “Hotline Bling”, which went on to be an anthem that year. I remember when the video dropped it went instantly viral, people were creating memes and dances within a day or two.
Then a year later Migos released Bad & Boujee, which also went on to be one the biggest songs of the year.
Before that, rappers like 50 cent, Kanye West and Lil Wayne were running the game, although they weren’t considered Pop at the time.
From 2003, 50 cent was tearing the rap game with Gangsta rap, besides who can forget his hit songs like In Da Club and 21 Questions. 50’s main appeal was the fact that he was raw, real and gangsta. At the time rap was still considered to be a bad influence on the youth with it’s violent culture, degrading lyrics and nude women in music videos.
However he managed to translate his gangsta lyrics into commercial hits. He made gangsta rap the type of music you could listen to in the club and actually dance to, with singles like P.I.M.P and Candy Shop. More importantly during that time 50 cent’s hooks were straight fire, as he sang all if not most of G-Unit’s hooks and you couldn’t help but sing along. Whereas the non-commercial songs that were on his albums, were most definitely not for the faint hearted cause the shit was raw.
Then from about 2007, Kanye West was that guy especially because he started having a more mainstream appeal. In other words he became more relatable than 50 cent in his music and lyrics. The difference with Kanye in my opinion was that he made the kind of music that would really touch you emotionally or it would get you in the mood to turn up. Through the wire and Jesus Walks from his debut album College Dropout are the kind of songs that would have you in your feels. Whereas classic songs like All of the Lights and Power had you feeling like you have no fucks to give!
Furthermore Kanye had 2 distinguishing traits about him as a Hip Hop artist. First he was considered to be ‘artistic’ particularly in his production as well as music videos, which would influence the stereotypical way in which rappers shot videos back then e.g. naked women, cars and money.
Secondly, he started becoming somewhat of a fashion icon. Who can forget the Louis Vuitton scarf (We obviously couldn’t afford these) and the shutter shades swag, that had every teenager in the world copying him. This also shredded the ‘thug’ image that people associated with rap, making him more easy on the eye in terms of styling.
In between that time Weezy F Baby aka Lil Wayne released Tha Carter III in 2008 and created a major buzz everywhere. In fact between 2004–2010 he had over ±80 features under his belt, the man was literally every where.
In fact Lil Wayne did something that no other artists did at the time which is to not stop releasing music and he did that in form of mixtapes. He released so much music that it made the anticipation of Tha Carter III electrifying resulting in a million album sales in the first week. Weezy was also a different calibre of rapper because of his wordplay and witty punchlines, a real master at making anything sound cool. Here’s what I mean, a line from Dr Carter on Tha Carter III:
“Arthritis in my hand from writing/ But I’m a doctor they don’t understand my writing.”
…..dude, fire!
He then went to have to have features with anybody and everybody you could think of: Beyonce, Usher, Drake, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj, 2 Chainz, Eminem, Rick Ross, DJ Khaled, Kelly Rowland, Chris Brown, Keri Wilson, Kanye West, Akon, Bruno Mars, Chance The Rapper, T-Pain etc.
Weezy F baby was and is still a rap legend in my books.
“Young Moola baby!”
Hip Hop’s influence on the culture.
Hip Hop has come a long way to influence modern day pop culture the way it does now. One of the biggest influences it has had so far is on fashion. And if you play close attention street fashion is being fused with high end fashion to create a more modern look. Now in 2018, high end brands like Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Saint Laurent, Tom Ford and Versace, believe it or not, are designing clothes similar to Adidas and Reebok, who would have thought?
These are the kind of brands most of us can only hope to afford because as black people, who support Hip Hop, we generally are not the target market at least that was not the case in the past.
Hip Hop culture has transcended to a point where you cannot ignore the fashion trends. I remember when Kanye West released Yeezy Season 1 and everybody was mocking the line saying that it looked like clothing for homeless people. (To be honest I was thinking the same thing).
Now the tables have turned because after that criticism that is how most people started dressing: the bomber jacket with the hoodie look, ripped jeans and the Yeezy Boost sneakers (or knock-offs if you couldn’t afford them).
It’s crazy how far Hip Hop has come considering in its infancy only a handful of brands would support the culture. Like how LL Cool J used to dress in the Kangol bucket hats which became a trend during the late 80’s and early 90’s, then Nike started collaborating with Michael Jordan to make Jordan’s, which to this day are the most iconic sneakers worldwide.
Over the years we’ve witnessed a number of brand collaborations which would shape the way we view fashion, who can forget 50 cent’s collab with Reebok & Pharell with G-Star Raw. However one of the biggest fashion news that came out in 2018 is Louis Vuitton naming Virgil Abloh, a streetwear designer, as their new artistic director for the men’s line.
In the black community this is huge, especially from a representation standpoint because he’s the first African American to be in charge of the men’s fashion line.
Streaming
A huge part of Hip Hop’s ascendence has to be attributed to streaming. We now live in a culture whereby artists drop music everyday and in some ways it forces us to consume music quicker. For instance rappers releasing diss tracks can now respond in a day and put it out for free whereas before streaming you could have waited a few months for an album, just to hear the diss track alone. Plus streaming reaches consumers quicker than it would on the radio or in stores.
A big reason why I believe Drake has a lot to do with Hip Hop becoming pop is also attributed to streaming. Drake has done what no other artist has done which is to be on the charts consistently every year for at least the past 6 or 7 years. Even when he doesn’t release an album he would still be doing features with a lot of other artists and many of those features would be hits, that would stay on the charts for a while.
Since 2016 Drake has had 6 number 1 songs on the Billboard 100: Nice for what, God’s Plan, In my feelings, One Dance as well as Rihanna’s Work and What’s my name, both of which he featured on. To add to that he’s also had 31 songs in the top 10 hit songs list. In other words if you are a fan of Hip Hop, it’s pretty hard to not take note of Drake on the radio or in someone’s else playlist.
It’s exciting times for all Hip hop fans right now and I believe that it’s only going to get better. It’s pretty clear that Hip Hop is in somewhat of a renaissance period and will go on to run the culture similar to how Rock ‘n Roll did, for at least the next decade or two before a new buzz comes through and changes everything.
