The Issue With The Grammys’ Best Melodic Rap Performance Category

The Issue With The Grammys’ Best Melodic Rap Performance Category

Nate Spurlin

The new interpretation of the Best Melodic Rap Performance category by the Grammys should’ve opened the door for artists who’ve been looked over because they lacked the traditional Hip-Hop sound. One would think the Grammys would find a newfound appreciation for artists who toe the line between Hip-Hop and genres such as R&B or Gospel while still maintaining both feet firmly in the Hip-Hop genre like Lil Durk or Rod Wave. Artists who don’t quite fit in any boxes but transcend genres in an act of music rebellion that combine Hip-Hop with outside genres to create beautiful music. However, artists who fit the profile of what I just described are still being looked over by the Grammys in favor of their interpretation of Hip-Hop that is littered with misconceptions.

The Future of Rage Culture

The Future of Rage Culture

RJ Levychin

Rage culture on a Hip-Hop front is fairly new, but it’s become one of the greatest attractions the community has to offer with Travis Scott being the face of that. While concerts with screaming, mindless fans are nothing new, rage culture takes this environment and encourages absolute chaos. But it may need to change. That requires the face of that culture to take accountability and make conscious changes. Now that lives have been lost because of it, the music community as a whole has begun to shift their attitude on rage culture and it might never change back. Everyone involved, the promoters, venues, and artists will need to consider changing the way they go about conducting live performances.

Astroworld Festival Tragedy Reaction

Astroworld Festival Tragedy Reaction

Nate Spurlin

Hopefully, these unfortunate events will sound the alarm for everyone. Promoters need to do their due diligence in preparing for the possibility of an emergency. Artists need to do a better job of understanding their influence and the impact their words will have on a crowd of thousands of people who share in a fandom of the artist that can be described as cult-like. Lastly, fans need to be more considerate of others, understanding that the concert experience is something that is shared and doesn’t excuse the dismissal of basic humanity. On all three phases, this was a complete failure of the festival system, however, it could be a much-needed wake-up call that cements a precedent of safety over everything.

Lil Uzi Vert’s Musical Punctiliousness Will Bolster The Pink Tape

Lil Uzi Vert’s Musical Punctiliousness Will Bolster The Pink Tape

Nate Spurlin

An additional aspect that lengthened his musical absence may go unnoticed by the casual fan, how much Lil Uzi Vert cares about the quality of his music. This is an easy takeaway if you’ve listened to any of his projects in full or catch clips of him discussing why he doesn’t meet the deadlines he sets for himself to release new music. The most recent example is Lil Uzi discussing with a fan why his upcoming project The Pink Tape wouldn’t be released before Halloween as he had claimed. “It drops next week and then it sells like s**t then I got to hear it from 100,000 people on the internet, ‘this sucks,’ so you got to let me take my time,” Uzi explained.

Why Stats Don’t Quantify Young Thug’s Legacy

Why Stats Don’t Quantify Young Thug’s Legacy

Nate Spurlin

The lack of sonic consistency is something that created a cult fanbase of Young Thug fans who will gladly open their minds to the latest concept the Atlanta rapper has put on a record. However, the lack of consistency would be enough to alienate borderline fans who may have expected Thugger’s projects to sound like fifteen versions of ‘Lifestyle’ back to back. One thing that helps to endear an artist to casual fans is consistently delivering on the expectation of what their music would sound like. The idea that fans will hear another version of their favorite track from a specific artist is what helps each artist keep the gravitational pull they have with their fanbase.

The Absurdity Of Comparing Drake To Michael Jackson

The Absurdity Of Comparing Drake To Michael Jackson

RJ Levychin

Michael Jackson’s life is one of the most insane lives ever lived. If you look at his career, he’s like NBA Legend Kobe Bryant, they’d have to retire two jerseys. MJ’s impact as the lead of The Jackson 5 alone could go toe to toe with Drake’s career. Michael Jackson was a global multi-generational superstar. He wasn’t an artist with crossover appeal, his music was universal. On the other side of the coin, Drake is one of the greatest of his era. However, his music is not universally loved around the world, in the way the numbers make it seem.

The pgLang Era Starts With Baby Keem

The pgLang Era Starts With Baby Keem

RJ Levychin

As we get deeper into the 20’s new stars are beginning to emerge in ways not many would have foreseen. With younger artists dominating the airwaves these days, an artist that’s becoming close to undeniable is Baby Keem. A young star from California, in just a few short years the 20-year-old rapper is already a collaborator with Kanye West, Travis Scott, and did we mention he’s Kendrick Lamar’s cousin? It’s clear Baby Keem is up next and Hip-Hop’s most powerful titans have already taken notice.

The Weekly Updating Album Album Rollout

The Weekly Updating Album Album Rollout

RJ Levychin

As music consumers in this digital generation, we love the journey and ignore the aftermath once the moment finally comes. So when considering Jack’s suggestion of a weekly updating album we need to ask would this work for all artists or just someone like Kanye? Someone like Kanye will always attract attention simply because he’s one of the most polarizing artists of modern American music. Between his outspoken nature and his prolific success in all things pop culture, the public is always keyed in on Kanye West’s next move. However, this is unique to Kanye and perhaps a few other artists in the world. Whether it be due to a genuine lack of interest in the artist, or music consumers just being a product of the fast pace “on to the next” mentality about new music it might be unlikely to expect the same level of success from lesser artists.

The Decline of The XXL Freshman List

The Decline of The XXL Freshman List

RJ Levychin

With the increasing selection of Hip-Hop artists who focus more on melodies and less on lyricism, you have to question the modern effectiveness of the cyphers on artists like Playboi Carti and most recently Coi Leray who lack freestyle rap skills. The lack of traditional rap skills set them up for failure and viral lowlights during the cover’s media cycle. One could easily argue the time it took for XXL to change its format is a sign of XXL’s mishandling and outdated format of promotion for the selections each year, forcing upcoming artists into unfamiliar situations with the expectation they execute styles that came and went before the artist’s career even began.

Why Hip-Hop Isn’t Fun Right Now

Why Hip-Hop Isn’t Fun Right Now

Nate Spurlin

The SoundCloud era was a beautiful concept especially for someone like me who doesn’t like the feeling of products being forced in front of my face in a sort of “you can be on this train or under it” hostage situation. I like for things to be organic. I’m a fan of organic growth, organic marketing, organic food, etc… That’s what the Soundcloud era was, organic music being allowed to grow because people actually enjoyed the music and wanted to listen to it on repeat instead of music “growing” because it’s being played on the radio ten times an hour. Additionally, because of the organic nature of Soundcloud, artists were able to take more risks with blending genres, case in point, the Emo-Rap subgenre that at times dominated Hip-Hop in the late 2010s.

The Maturation of Tyler, The Creator

The Maturation of Tyler, The Creator

RJ Levychin

Since the beginning, Tyler has written, produced, and mixed all of his projects, as well as designed his merchandise and directed his music videos, a level of elite self-dependency that only comes around every decade or so. Recently releasing his sixth studio album “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST” in June, Tyler has added to his lore as one of the most talented in Hip-Hop. Already getting AOTY buzz, Tyler’s latest album is a strong body of work, showing off his superior production skills as per usual. But what is starting to truly be solidified is the maturity of his lyrical ability, adding more complexity to his already superior storytelling, with his content becoming more refined especially on the topics of love and life.

Is the Home of Blues the Next Hip-Hop Hotbed?

Is the Home of Blues the Next Hip-Hop Hotbed?

RJ Levychin

Gotti’s focus has never been solely on his own career with his business savvy helping him stay alive in a cutthroat business with a short-term memory. Over the past several years Gotti has been dedicated to finding the platform to best elevate CMG to the upper echelon of Hip-Hop artist imprints. In partnering with LA Reid and Epic Records in 2013, before moving to Roc Nation in 2016 to be overseen by Jay-Z, Yo Gotti and his imprint’s roster has risen to great heights in the last 5 years.

The Return of the Soundtrack

The Return of the Soundtrack

RJ Levychin

With an opportunity to curate a soundtrack comes an opportunity to have more freedom making music. No need for artists to cater to fans' wants regarding an artist’s specific sound or content. Artists can dive into a universe and use it as inspiration for making a body of work that might not necessarily produce within the frame of their solo discography.

Expectations For a Lil Durk & Lil Baby Collab Album

Expectations For a Lil Durk & Lil Baby Collab Album

Nate Spurlin

In my view there a collab project can go one of two ways, the first being artists finding common ground with their contrasting styles and the second being artists with similar skillsets attempting to compliment each other on each track. There are multiple examples of successful collab projects using both techniques in recent history. Of course, there are examples of artists with limitless skillsets coming together to create great projects like Future’s collab discography with Young Thug, Juice WRLD, and Lil Uzi Vert. However, I don’t see Lil Baby and Lil Durk as artists with limitless skillsets to this point so, I’ll digress from that and focus on the two methods I previously illustrated.

A Cardi B Appreciation Article

A Cardi B Appreciation Article

RJ Levychin

In a cluttered community full of ambitious and often super competitive creatives, becoming relevant and staying relevant in Hip-Hop is not easy, and it's 100 times harder if you’re a woman. Women are often evaluated by everything but their talent, constantly attacked and berated for every single thing they do that the general public may not agree with. However, in the past decade, women have begun to get the attention they deserve, and when they have, they have not disappointed. Going forward I know women will continue creating their own lanes and legacies, but Cardi B has set the bar to an astronomical height.

Experimental Is The Way To Go For Hip-Hop's Future

Experimental Is The Way To Go For Hip-Hop's Future

Nate Spurlin

However, the answer to the question I posed earlier regarding what experimental rappers mean for Hip-Hop is simple, they are the most important rappers in the game right now. Generations after us, if not our very own may inevitably become bored with the current Atlanta trap boom, and with every day Trap is the most dominant subgenre in Hip-Hop comes an increased urgency to figure out what the next big thing is for the genre. Historically, the adaptability of the genre is one of the strengths of Hip-Hop, and the reason why the genre’s growth from 1979 to now has been exponential.

Hip-Hop is Moving Away From it’s Protest Roots

Hip-Hop is Moving Away From it’s Protest Roots

RJ Levychin

Here’s the reality of the situation: Hip-Hop hasn’t been as active in spreading awareness about the issues that the black community faces as the genre has been in the past. Many artists aren’t using social media’s amplifying power to speak up and push the movement forward at a time where exposure is at its highest. Without current artists taking on the storied responsibility, the people can never be confident that they are truly being heard, and Hip-Hop will have failed. Hip-Hop is changing for the worse, and it needs to return to its roots of protest music.

The Current Music Drought Can Benefit Bubbling Artists

The Current Music Drought Can Benefit Bubbling Artists

Nate Spurlin

It’s clear that there’s a negative correlation between how saturated a weekend is with new music to the probability of a song or album being launched to the top of every Hip-Hop lover’s thoughts. In other words, the more music released, the lesser the chance of standing out. With uniqueness in sound and aesthetic being one of the key catalysts for success, it is crucial that rising artists seek out every opportunity they can to increase their chances of separating themselves from their peers. Because of this, the music desert that has been 2021 thus far is concerning because with the clock ticking and the likelihood of hearing from tier A artists increasing, the next big Hip-Hop star is missing their window of opportunity to pop.

Hip-Hop’s Growth Isn’t Limited to Just Music

Hip-Hop’s Growth Isn’t Limited to Just Music

RJ Levychin

While many, including myself, have focused on Hip-Hop becoming the most consumed music genre in America, the Hip-Hop community has enjoyed growth in other areas as well. In the 2000s Hip-Hop artists first started becoming connected with big companies to be the faces of brands trying to appeal to the black community. It started out with rappers being in simple commercials like Wu-Tang Clan with St. Ides malt liquor and LL Cool J for GAP.

Music Leaks Only Lead to Heartbreak

Music Leaks Only Lead to Heartbreak

Nate Spurlin

The reasoning of the snippets and leaks heard before the release of the actual album being better is interesting because it shows the existence of unrealistically high expectations with the absence of any context. Adding in the damage leaks can do to an artist’s creative process, with their now leaked music becoming obsolete, many times forcing them to start from square one once again, it’s completely understandable for an artist to change direction with their officially released music.

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