I was going through my ipod and realized I barely have and/or barely like any hip hop from these years. Looking back, was this a really bad 5 year period (give or take a few months) for hip hop music or was I just not paying attention?
It seems like, on the pop side, a lot of formerly dependable artists had stopped making music (Jay-Z, Outkast) or they were putting out some of the worst music of their careers (Kingdom Come, Encore, Relapse, Street Disciple, Hip Hop is Dead, 808's and Heartbreak). Whatever excitement 50 Cent had was already fading. Dipset had basically disappeared. In indy music, the Def Jux era was winding down. MF Doom's best work was already behind him. I'm not saying I love all these artist, but shit just seemed stale.
That is also the era that gave us snap music from the South and jerk music from the West and Soulja Boy from wherever the fuck he's from. Lil Wayne rose to prominence, becoming a mega-star, but I can't really think of too many new artists that came to my attention or made a big splash back then.
Since the last half 2009, there's been a deluge of new artists who have broken through who are generally considered talented/interesting (Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Action Bronson, Minaj, Danny Brown, ASAP, Yelawolf, Big Krit, Odd Future -- again, not saying I check for all these artists, just saying there's been an injection of new.)
Am I wrong about this? If so, what are some highlights I missed?
