Exploring the evolution of rap with diverging perspectives

Robbie Lloyd Howard IV

Rap Journalist

A couple of weeks ago, I took an Uber to see some family members for the weekend. My Uber driver seemed like a much older gentleman. When I entered his car, I heard rock music through the speakers, and he apologized to me for his choice of music, to which I responded saying I didn’t mind the rock music. We then talked about our music taste for a bit. 

There was a divide when we discussed our preferences in rap music. Being an old head, he loved the old school rap and the New York scene rap. In contrast, I am a younger generation rap consumer who enjoys the new sound, experimental and online meme rap I grew up with. We talked until we reached my destination, but because of the conversation, I started to think about how different generations view rap and what might be the causes for an older person to not enjoy the current rap scene. 

So for a little history lesson, the birth of hip-hop began on August 11, 1973. DJ Kool Herc was hosting a back-to-school party and tried a new musical technique on a turntable, where he extended an instrumental beat to let people dance longer and began rapping during the breakdancing. Then, six years later, on July 12, 1979, we saw “Disco Demolition Night,” this is an interesting event I’d recommend you look into. Many call it [Disco Demolition] the transitional period from mainstream disco to old-school hip-hop.

If we put time into perspective, rap is a fairly new genre of music. It’s [rap] only 50 years old yet the genre is changing, so frequently. From “Rappers Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang the first widespread mainstream Hip-Hop record our parents were probably enjoying, to today’s “Sky” by Playboi Carti, which many of the younger generations enjoy. What is scary and cool to think about is that the year difference between those two songs is only 41 years. Truly, rap is a fast-changing genre and will continue to offer new innovative sounds. 

When I look at Rap albums and the years they were released, I often see a trend approximately every four years, there is a new innovative sound –  the sound is either good or flops. A good example is Playboi Carti’s release of Whole Lotta Red in 2020. That album was getting a lot of hate for the hardcore-punk rap style, yet as time passed, the younger generation started to draw toward this style of rap music. 

This album was the catalyst for the rise of Ken Carson, Destroy Lonely and many other rappers who fit the “Opium” style. The same could be said about 2016 rap. For us growing up in 2016, we consider this the greatest year ever culturally. Rap music-wise, we saw the rise of a new era called Soundcloud rap or if you’re older, you call this style mumble rap. Artists such as Kodak Black, Lil Uzi Vert, Playboi Carti, Migos and many more would lead the scene for a while. However, there was major criticism for this style of music, from mainstream rappers to normal people, specifically the older generation who didn’t understand the appeal.

I’ve collected personal testimonies from friends and family representing diverse backgrounds to better understand the varying perspectives on rap across different generations. They’ve shared their insights on the differences between old-gen and new-gen rap, offering valuable perspectives on how each generation perceives the genre.

Older Generation Testimonies

“Rap when it [the genre] first came out had a message about the social injustices. Also pioneering a new fashion style along with a new DANCE style. When rap first came out it [the genre] was the beginning of a whole new identity that was forcing America to see ‘US.’ Today, rap I feel does not have that same connection I sometimes see today’s rap as highlighting the bad and glamorizing it [the bad]. I simply can’t connect at all to it [today’s rap]. Especially from a woman’s perspective of female rappers.” 

“Our songs consisted of easily understood words and showing love for the opposite sex. A lot of rap music seems to be brash, especially when it [the song] comes to singing about the opposite sex. Now a lot of the rap songs are degrading toward women. In my day, when men sang they put women on a pedestal. They respected us and it [the lyrics] made us swoon over them and their songs!” 

“The big difference between rap of today and soul music of the 50s, 60s,] and 70s is that rappers tried to rap about what was happening from their perspective, but to me, they were talking to kids, and all their raps mostly sounded alike. Some tried to rap very fast, where you had to listen very carefully to understand.”

“I feel like older rap & hip hop had a message or told a story, whereas now a lot of new rap is just random words put together that flow and sound catchy but do not make sense together, it’s [the songs] missing meaning.“ 

“I think rap from ‘my era’ tended to borrow more from even older music to kinda make it [the rap] more appealing to lots of different ages. Newer rap tends to have a lot of digital and electronic sounds that kind of turn me off.” 

“I miss the feeling of when a new song comes out and you know it [the song] will stick around, the feeling that you could show your kids that song someday, older rap even recent rap, ‘stuff made in and around 2016,’ gave me that feeling that they felt unique and everyone listened to it [the songs]. There weren’t so many niches with rap back then as there is today. Nothing feels unique or anything I wanna show my kids someday it [the rap] all sounds too much the same. Don’t listen to newer rap much though, so this is just an opinion”

Younger Generation Testimonies

“A revolutionary way of music that had a big impact on the rap scene forever”

“Rap, although back then was a lot more pure like rap and lyricism, I do like more modern rap better as it’s [the songs] more versatile. More the 2000s and 2010s rap.” 

“Old-school rap, in my opinion, had way more meaning and respectability. They kept it [old-school rap] real because they were rapping about struggles they went through. And a lot of people could relate at the time so that’s what made it [old-school rap] so iconic. Nowadays you could pick up a mic spit some random bars and add auto-tune and you are considered a rapper. ”

“Old school rap was similar in some ways to new rap, the difference tho is that rap now has had time to popularize and evolve into many different subgenres so there’s still rap now that was like old school rap but there’s also a lot more which is a good thing.”

“Rap back then paved the way for rappers now I feel lowkey. to me old school is the best thing to ever happen without it we would not have the rappers we have today such as Kanye, Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole because they all took the influence of artists like Tupac, Biggie, Eminem, Nas, etc.”

Overall, music preference is subjective, especially when we come from different generations. As we saw in the testimonies, many of the older generations don’t feel like they can connect with rap music today. To them, rap means something deeper. They don’t like misogyny or objectifying women and don’t like the sound of new rap. In contrast, the younger generation praises old-school rap while also loving the new subgenres of rap presented to us online. And I can get both sides. Rap back then was a huge cultural shift for a small minority to get their voices heard. Now, rap is a different game. It still means something to us in the younger generation, but now many different subgenres are being offered to us so we can find what we truly love. Since much of the content material is today more personal and some are just for jokes. If there’s something I could tell both, the older and younger generations, is that rap is a new genre of music relative to time, always evolving. Rap is a genre forcing artists to step out of their boundaries and make something unique for us. That’s why one sound will not be the same. From old hip-hop to mumble rap, rap will continue to be a fast-changing genre of music and bring many unique sounds for us to hear and enjoy in years to come.