50 years of Hip Hop- How Come?


Having been a music fan for over 50 years, it’s been fun to see all the different musical genres that have come and gone in popular music.

In the the 50s it was Rock n Roll. Then in the 60s we had Psychedelia, in the 70s Punk, in the 80s New Wave, in the 90s Grunge. It was always interesting to see how music changed into the next new thing.

At the latest Grammy awards, which I did not see, there was a segment called 50 years of hip hop.

I’ve personally never been a big fan of the genre, there are some songs I have liked, but that’s ok. Everyone has their tastes. What I am surprised about is Hip Hops longevity. It just seems like for the last 25 years a lot of music hasn’t really changed much. There has been no " next new thing"as far as I can tell.

How Come? Anyone feel the same way or care to comment. Am I just getting old??

 

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Showing 1 response by rettrussell

Lot to unpack.

In this day of instant music availability no one has to mow lawns and save up to agonize over which album to buy.

The Temptations "Ball of Confusion", 1970, sure sounds like hip-hop to me.

Every time I think "new" music is a total dead end something I've never heard before comes along to re-awaken that manic pop thrill.

Hip-Hop/ Rap didn't sound good in the big arenas; couldn't make out the rapid-fire diction, but the energy and commitment was undeniable.

The way to get noticed and $$ell something is by offering something new....so that's going to always happen, and followers will call it their own...not their parents, not the "in crowd", nor the establishment.

My streaming service (YT Music) is set to auto-play and I pick one song I feel like hearing, cue it up, and the algorithm gods do the rest......literally hours go by and I (almost) never even think of skipping a song. 

Hard to argue against the notion that entertainment = money, but at some point you've just gotta lay your burden down and get out of your seat.