April 18, 2015

Superego Saturday: Top 10 Trends in Hip-hop Over the Last Decade

 

 1. Auto-tune: Over the past 10 years we've seen hardcore rappers transform into high-pitched soloists.  We've seen well constructed hooks transform into pitch perfect yelling on the track.  Auto-tune has definitely been a major trend in Hip-hop over the past decade. 

2. Melodic Raps: Some may say 50 Cent is the front runner of melodic raps, which may be the case (on his Get Rich or Die Trying album).  Also, Drake has played a major part into bringing melodies into the verses of rap songs; either way this has been a major trend lately.

3. Rapper/Producers- From Kanye, J. Cole, all the way down to Soulja Boy, rappers have been doing it all themselves now a days.

4. Strip Club Anthems- The rise of the Atlanta rap scene gave way to artists recording songs and bringing them straight to the strip club.  Strip Club anthems have taken over hip-hop with artists from Tyga, French, 2 Chainz, and even Drake putting out soundtracks for strippers to shake their booty to.

5. 808's- Strip Club anthems would be nowhere without 808's.  In the past 10 years we have saw songs get bombarded with ridiculous amount of bass to the point you can't hear the lyrics.

6. Backpack Rappers- We've seen our share of super gangster rappers, but in the past decade we also have seen the generation of Backpack Rappers rise to the forefront.  

7. Druggy/Weed Rap- There a lot of rappers that co-sign marijuana and express their love for it.  There are others that dedicate their whole rap career to it (along with other drugs).  I'm not going to name drop, you know who they are.

8. Back to the Roots- Although in the past decade, many have been upside by the ignorant turn rap has taken; there are a select few artists that have gone back to the roots of Hip-hop and kept it real.  (Kendrick, Joey Bada$$, and more)

9. Subliminals- Remember the days when rappers would call each others names out on tracks with total disregard for the persons feelings? Well, those days are over; now you have to listen very carefully to catch the subtle disses and shots that Rappers throw at each other.

10. Collab Albums- From Watch the Throne to Fan of Fan, collab albums have been on the rise in the past decade with great success. If two artists can come together and make a great piece of work, while expanding both of their fan bases, then why not?