Gangsta rap done RIGHT

[Tenebrae]

I don't like what Kanye West has done to rap music. Since 2007, this musical genre has undergone a profound mutation, discarding its edginess in favor of a much more boring, smoother image. Nowadays' rappers prefer to sing in autotuned as well as strangely unmanly voices about their holidays, their love stories and their aspirations to fame. Where have all the murders, tortures, rapes, abuse and drug trade typical of the likes of the Wu-Tang or NWA gone?

Just to be clear, I don't think music itself got too much worse than it used to be. DJ Khaled makes catchy beats, Jay-Z is still in top form, and even Kanye has made some sublime pieces like 2007's "Stronger". But it's not the same. I sort of miss the good times of gangsta rap, and it does not help that I have a more pronounced tendency to nostalgia than the average man of my generation.

Fortunately, it seems that I am not the only one. Meet Gzuz, a German rapper who has made the most badass video and rap song I've had the pleasure of discovering this year:

https://youtu.be/H2hGrsExuyc

And also, DJ Skandalous, who with his mashups does his best to keep 2Pac's memory alive. And I really like 2Pac. Check out this one where he mixed one of the late rapping legend's best songs with the Beverly Hills cop theme, using the very exciting videoclip of The Weeknd's otherwise terrible song False Alarm as the backdrop. It's super good:

https://youtu.be/k1uuCyxCcYc

Yeah, that's the spirit!

 

[chicago]

Kanye West is not gangsta rap. He himself has admitted such. He grew up in the suburbs, was never in a gang, his mom was a college professor and he himself went to university. And even with all that education and good influences, most of his hits were written by Rhymefest.

Gangsta rap is a genre that was mostly around in the 90s where folks from that type of background would rap about their experiences and it was given a stigma for promoting violence.

These days, most rap is trash but I still enjoy new stuff from Eminem, Dre, Ice Cube, Snoop, Luniz, and I really love Kendrick Lamar.

 

[Tenebrae]

Kanye West is not gangsta rap. He himself has admitted such. He grew up in the suburbs, was never in a gang, his mom was a college professor and he himself went to university. And even with all that education and good influences, most of his hits were written by Rhymefest.

Gangsta rap is a genre that was mostly around in the 90s where folks from that type of background would rap about their experiences and it was given a stigma for promoting violence.

These days, most rap is trash but I still enjoy new stuff from Eminem, Dre, Ice Cube, Snoop, Luniz, and I really love Kendrick Lamar.

Of course Kanye isn't a gangster 😛 That's exactly what I meant: his success has pushed many rappers to seek a different image. As a result, the genre has profoundly transformed. I agree that it had reached its peak in the 90's (see this hilarious joke in Family Guy: https://youtu.be/q8wQYK1tJUc) but it still continued to exist throughout the following decade (50 Cent comes to mind) until Kanye, Drake and others gave it the killing blow.

I absolutely love the singers you mentioned, especially Eminem

 

[cloudgazer2k]

Run the Jewels has improved my usual dislike for rap in general. Way too many people in the game with little talent that get way more recognition than they deserve. RTJ has definitely gotten my attention, and I've found other artists out there with better technique than the thugs who mumble their way through an overly used hook.

 

[chicago]

Yes Run the Jewels has one of my favorite songs of the last 20 years easy