Being as involved as I have been since Sophomore year in High School, (2006) the year 2016 has transitioned musically for me more than ever before. That’s a solid 10 years starting from making mixtapes in High School, to creating websites big and small, to curating content in literally over 13,500 blog posts. This is my opinion, this is just a perspective.
I’ve listened to less Hip-Hop/Rap this year than ever before…
Go back the last couple years: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, I would say that my personal pie chart of genres I listen to would fit to something like: 80% Hip-Hop/Rap, 15% Pop Top 40 and 5% of other filling in the gaps of a couple country songs, EDM, classical mixes for studying, etc. It’s been like that for a long time now.
Fast forward to the end of 2016 I would say the opposite: 60% EDM, Pop Top 40, 25% Hip-Hop/Rap, 15% filling in the gaps everywhere else. Why? because every f#@king thing sounds the same in Hip-Hop/Rap right now. Listening to a Top 20 on Sirius XM or any other music service is beyond, even getting to the point, annoying because it’s continuous and it’s the same. Some of these songs (by different artists) could blend into each other they are so alike. I feel like there is a status quo right now where if you dress a certain way and rap a certain way you can have a Top 20 hit because “f#@k it,” there’s little to no talent involved.
Saying that sounds ignorant, but if I’m wrong, I’m not off by much. Inside that 25% there’s a large amount of artists that I listen too inside the Bay Area and West Coast affiliated, (that will NEVER change, the West Coast is home and the West Coast has the best sound) but, more and more I’m shutting everything else out. Now, this doesn’t include the artists at the top of their game in their own zone, making their own music, they’re cool. Plus, you have to add in new artists that explode with a new sound that bring change to the game, that’s always good. There are at least a dozen “TOP of the ladder” artists (at least personally to me) in the game that create their own music that I will always pay attention to. I’m sure there are certain names popping into your head right now that would make that list, I’m assuming we would share thoughts on a lot of them. Everyone’s has their own list when it comes to that.
I can’t imagine (according to my pie chart) my percentiles changing much in 2017 when it comes to what I listen to, but since things have drastically changed maybe it will make a comeback? So… here’s to 2017, will it get worse?
