I am so out of touch that I haven’t heard this mumble rap but I already know I agree with you. Hip hop and rap fought for its legitimacy in the early days and earned its standing as artistry. Mumbling feels like it delegitimizes that designation. I’ll go take a listen just to say I did, but I’m not sure I’ll change my mind.
Also, I’d add Tribe to your list of greats. I feel like they get left out of rap greatness lists a lot (I know your list wasn’t exhaustive, but the 50th year of hip hop articles often skipped over them, unfairly IMO).
I tend to prefer the rap of its nascent period during the 1980s. Once it started turning dark and gangsta in the '90s, I didn't feel comfortable with it, although I certainly do respect the ones who can use it artistically, as you noted.
Every time I hear this take, I have the same response:
1 - You're dramatically over-estimating the proportion of "good" rap - for every moving portrait of life, there are like 450 tracks about murder and bitches, and that's been the case since rap was created, certainly since gangsta rap became the mode. The good survives, the bad doesn't. You remember what you liked best 20 years ago, and are comparing it to literally everything made today. Not to mention that the rap that was popular 20 years ago was not uniformly Lyrical Miracles either.
3 - There is tons of great lyrical rap being made today. The thing is, there's a ton of *all kinds* of rap being made today, because the genre has exploded. There is more interesting, unique, innovative, and wild rap music being made today than at any point in history.
I am not a huge mumble rap fan, but I do get it. My theory is that, while every generation has had to adapt to new technologies, Gen Z is the first generation to grow up native to a world where they have access to the entire world of information at their fingertips, where they live online lives as much as IRL ones. They are constantly taking in tons of information, and my going theory is that they like aesthetically lazy* music because it feels like a break for them, which is enjoyable. (I'm not sure what you mean by not being "convinced" of people who listen to music for the vibes, but I certainly don't want to be challenged constantly by every piece of music I listen to. Music can be enjoyed in so many ways!)
(I do not actually believe that mumble rap is lazier than other kinds of rap, at least not uniformly, but i do believe it is intentionally aesthetically lazy, in part to prompt reactions like yours from The Olds)
I am not very well versed in rap and especially not mumble rap. But I’m definitely more from you generation of Eminem and MF Doom than whatever the new kids are doing. But what you post reminded me of is a quote from Abe Simpson - from the Simpsons - which I love:
“I used to be with it, and then they changed what it was. Now what I’m with isn’t it, and what’s it, seems weird and scary to me. It’ll happen to you”.
I am so out of touch that I haven’t heard this mumble rap but I already know I agree with you. Hip hop and rap fought for its legitimacy in the early days and earned its standing as artistry. Mumbling feels like it delegitimizes that designation. I’ll go take a listen just to say I did, but I’m not sure I’ll change my mind.
Also, I’d add Tribe to your list of greats. I feel like they get left out of rap greatness lists a lot (I know your list wasn’t exhaustive, but the 50th year of hip hop articles often skipped over them, unfairly IMO).
I tend to prefer the rap of its nascent period during the 1980s. Once it started turning dark and gangsta in the '90s, I didn't feel comfortable with it, although I certainly do respect the ones who can use it artistically, as you noted.
Every time I hear this take, I have the same response:
1 - You're dramatically over-estimating the proportion of "good" rap - for every moving portrait of life, there are like 450 tracks about murder and bitches, and that's been the case since rap was created, certainly since gangsta rap became the mode. The good survives, the bad doesn't. You remember what you liked best 20 years ago, and are comparing it to literally everything made today. Not to mention that the rap that was popular 20 years ago was not uniformly Lyrical Miracles either.
3 - There is tons of great lyrical rap being made today. The thing is, there's a ton of *all kinds* of rap being made today, because the genre has exploded. There is more interesting, unique, innovative, and wild rap music being made today than at any point in history.
I am not a huge mumble rap fan, but I do get it. My theory is that, while every generation has had to adapt to new technologies, Gen Z is the first generation to grow up native to a world where they have access to the entire world of information at their fingertips, where they live online lives as much as IRL ones. They are constantly taking in tons of information, and my going theory is that they like aesthetically lazy* music because it feels like a break for them, which is enjoyable. (I'm not sure what you mean by not being "convinced" of people who listen to music for the vibes, but I certainly don't want to be challenged constantly by every piece of music I listen to. Music can be enjoyed in so many ways!)
(I do not actually believe that mumble rap is lazier than other kinds of rap, at least not uniformly, but i do believe it is intentionally aesthetically lazy, in part to prompt reactions like yours from The Olds)
I am not very well versed in rap and especially not mumble rap. But I’m definitely more from you generation of Eminem and MF Doom than whatever the new kids are doing. But what you post reminded me of is a quote from Abe Simpson - from the Simpsons - which I love:
“I used to be with it, and then they changed what it was. Now what I’m with isn’t it, and what’s it, seems weird and scary to me. It’ll happen to you”.