8 thoughts on “No Country For Old (Rap) Men: Lies That Old Rap Fans Tell You”

  1. As a grumpy old man myself, I actually agree with a lot of these points. I look back on The Rapping Duke, and even The Fat Boys like “how did I ever think this was good. The only difference is one would have to admit, we evolved from the shenanigans, whereas today it seems dumber is better.

  2. Yep don’t disagree with any of that. The whole over the top purist thing is funny and pretentious.

    On the drug one. .. Just look at the names back then to support Paradise comments -even just the two mentioned in the article – Russell rush, Kurtis blow

  3. Materialistic, brandname-dropping rap aint “aspirational.” There’s nothing “aspirational” about avarice and gluttony. I’d argue there’s a qualitive difference between the fantasy wealth rap of the 80s and the Republican/Tory “I dumb down and double my dollars” venal mindset of latterday rap. Being “aspirational” is as much about the journey as the destination. More to the point, today’s rich man rap is just boring. Back in the 80s/90s you could sympathise (or even empathise) with rappers’ dreams. These days, Jay-Z/Kanye/whoever being blasé about their conspicuous wealth is simply tedious.

  5. @ Robbie: Me too – it’s just where I want to be and how I want to get there have changed over the past 30 years. I genuinely believe the tone and substance of materialistic/wealth rap is different now (as is the case with the tone/substance of drug and sex raps). Whether that’s for the better/worse is the question. As the craft/industry of rap has gotten bigger and slicker, it’s gotten a whole lot more cynical and calculated.

  6. THE SUGAR HILL = BAD BOY COMPARISON IS DEAD ON AND IN BOTH INSTANCES AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE MUSIC. I AM AS “BACKPACK” AS YOU CAN GET BUT IF YOU EVER WENT TO THE TUNNEL AND WATCHED FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE GO NUTS TO “ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS” IT WOULD BE PRETTY HARD TO ARGUE THAT THOSE SORTA SONGS WERENT COMPELLING. WOMEN ARE NEVER GONNA DANCE TO THE BUCKWILD REMIX OF BRING IT ON. JUST FACTS.

  7. I’d agree with both of the comments above by Dino and Slipmat but I often get the feeling modern rap is primarily aiming for the lowest common denominator. Decades ago there were less rappers and they often competed to be better than the their peers. Now anyone wanting attention can rap and I’ve seen rich kids destined for top banking careers and similar jobs playing low budget thug shit that arouses their lust for seeing (who they think are) poor people describe savage acts. It disturbs me and disgusts me at times. Rap in more ways than one is like a parallel of death metal or heavy metal. Mostly male musicians attracting weird fans.

  8. The abuse of bootleg luxury labels in the 80s was cool and interesting in a kind of subversive way but that shit was custom-made and super expensive anyway. The folks jocking Polo and Bally at the same time weren’t too different from what we have today. I don’t think hip-hop has shifted upscale any more than the rest of the culture. Which I hate, but it’s not like Boots Riley used to be the average rapper.

    I do think hip-hop hasn’t been as good since PCP went out of style.

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