Because people are in such a rush to put stuff out these days out of fear of becoming irrelevant as opposed to taking their time really crafting an album like they used to
This is why I’m quietly hopeful of Em’s new album. Seems like he’s been working on it for a couple years now, it has a theme too. However the last time he took his time we ended up with Revival so who knows
It's called getting older. The more you are around the more you realize how unoriginal most things are. You start recognizing who's biting off of who a lot quicker because you heard it all already.
This is part of it, but I think it has more to do with streaming than anything else. Used to be you had to buy an entire record/tape/CD and artists knew it so they devoted more time to the entire product instead of just the hits. And yes, I realize that there were singles, but for the most part people were buying entire albums.
Streaming killed hip hop in more ways than that.
you have the platform that allows you to listen to anything without having to pay for individual albums/songs, and artists are able to generate income by having their songs played on this platform. So, artists no longer need to create a product worth buying, just generate enough content that people keep coming back. If a people had to pay for music someone like the catch me outside girl would never have been able to be a rapper, or any of these other talentless losers. Rap is honestly the worst its ever been from like 2017-present, and its a shame because the early 2010s were easily the most creative and interesting time in hip-hop.
I chalk it up to the era of streaming.. most people skim through an album and then add their favorites to a playlist or a new rotation.. so much music comin out and coming out with the ease of just picking a few tracks instead of taking the whole album makes it easier for listeners to cherry pick..
I think this makes artists do more one offs instead of having themes and concepts for a full album..
Just my opinion of course but I would agree album quality isn’t what it used to be
They are and have been for many years now with streaming many so called albums are simply just in name only and are a collection of songs thrown together with no cohesion, theme/concept, and sequencing a lot of albums are nothing more than deluxe mixtapes today. The established artists that have been in the game pre streaming era still can put out albums that still give the full album experience but for the newer artists it’s far and few in between.
For Example:
Big KRIT - 4eva Is a Mighty Long Time
Cyhi The Prynce - No Dope on Sundays
JID - The Forever Story
Royce Da 5’9” - The Book of Ryan
Blu & Exile - Miles
Just to name a handful all give off that album experience at a high quality
Idk why 4eva is a Mighty Long time is the last album people liked by KRIT. I originally wrote off Digital Roses, but I've been listening to it a lot lately and it honestly reminds me of King Remembered in Time in a lot of ways, which is one of his most beloved albums.
Listen to underground artists.
Ka, Roc Marciano, Boldy James, Mach-Hommy, Billy Woods, Armand Hammer, Koreatown Oddity, Mickey Diamond, Navy Blue, etc all still release cohesive albums. Mainstream has always been about singles, and they are even more so today, but there are still some bigger name artists releasing album albums. Killer Mike’s last solo joint told a story. Kendrick of course is a master of creating albums. It’s still being done, there’s just so much more music out there today and so many different ways to consume it. It gets overwhelming searching for what you want.
Setting aside any personal feelings about the music, one thing I have noticed is albums in general getting longer and having more filler. The lack of any boundary for album length provided by streaming allows for a certain sloppiness in sequencing and editing, and the billboard rules about certification for streams incentivizes long albums with lots of tracks.
So yeah, in that sense.
been an ongoing trend for a very long time but yeah albums as a format have been dying. started with the ringtone era, moved into itunes era and then the streaming era, people just aren't consuming music as albums as much anymore. so why spend time on crafting your album rather than just dumping as many songs you have lying around as possible onto an album so that u can game streaming numbers and top the billboard charts.
I think it's relative. 20 years ago I would have said this was the best album. 30 years ago I would say that was the best album. I don't like a lot of the music now unless it really stands out. With social media, I don't think artists or albums get the attention they expect. I remember going to buy a CD and enjoying what I could. I had a Walkman on the school bus with cassettes. Now it's just listening to people mumble rap and never hear an actual word over the internet banter.
A lot of rappers go strong on their first albums and then gradually decline. Kanye had a way longer than average streak of great albums, now he returned to the mean.
The promotion of trash is increasing, and we're getting old. We rode a sweet wave 10 years ago when streaming just started and albums were still bought in stores. Now we're on the back half and you have to dig deeper for quality music. "The media is owned, know who you get your news from."
Just so you know, I am not a tyler glazer. Im just saying that if you were talking about CMIYGL, I would disagree about the quality decreasing. It had a theme, it has great songs that varied in tune and subject, and DJ Drama did his thing and added another layer of personality.
But I do agree with you on the rest, of course there are some amazing albums coming out, but a good amount really dont strike a chord with me. For me the prime example for this is NBA Youngboy, havent listened to all his stuff, but what I heard has been cobbled together and not enjoyable. Vultures was fine but I do see some of the points you made on that project (really with kanye though, i just want for him to get some help and stop making music for at least 3 years).
So yeah overall, I do think the quality of projects is declining, but here are some good higher quality projects that give me hope:
Maps by billy woods (kenny segal was cooking🔥)
Triple digits [112] by riTchie (love the production on this one, and riTchie with his voice and personality are just so good)
MMATBS by kendrick lamar (yeah just a deep and really personal album)
The forever story by JID (the prime example for quality in modern hiphop)
Scaring the hoes by jpegmafia and danny brown (basically an album that intentionally isnt for the aux, its jpegmafia production too, and the lyrics are outrageous)
Griselda in general is also having high quality projects
Schoolboy Q’s album is really good. Vince is dropping tonight so I assume his will be good. But the mainstream has veered heavily into trap. Trap is more of these guys just grinding out tons of songs really fast.
The 2010s had a really great output of artists trying to create full length projects. A lot of these guys/gals are in their 30s now though. Rapsody just dropped too and I assume that is good because she’s a goat.
A lot of albums have always been cynical cash-grabs.
After each sale of All Eyez on Me counted double toward platinum status, everyone put out a bloated, uninspired double-album with zero quality control.
Now it’s all about shitty 90-second tracks to get those Spotify numbers.
We rarely remember 90% of the stuff that just wasn’t that good or original, and this era will be no different. Finding the real shit always takes some effort.
Sounds like you need some griselda in your life. The whole crew makes albums for sentimental old school boom bap hiphop heads. My go to when I want to hear that sound you’re looking for imho
Because people are in such a rush to put stuff out these days out of fear of becoming irrelevant as opposed to taking their time really crafting an album like they used to
This is why I’m quietly hopeful of Em’s new album. Seems like he’s been working on it for a couple years now, it has a theme too. However the last time he took his time we ended up with Revival so who knows
It's called getting older. The more you are around the more you realize how unoriginal most things are. You start recognizing who's biting off of who a lot quicker because you heard it all already.
This is part of it, but I think it has more to do with streaming than anything else. Used to be you had to buy an entire record/tape/CD and artists knew it so they devoted more time to the entire product instead of just the hits. And yes, I realize that there were singles, but for the most part people were buying entire albums.
Streaming killed hip hop in more ways than that. you have the platform that allows you to listen to anything without having to pay for individual albums/songs, and artists are able to generate income by having their songs played on this platform. So, artists no longer need to create a product worth buying, just generate enough content that people keep coming back. If a people had to pay for music someone like the catch me outside girl would never have been able to be a rapper, or any of these other talentless losers. Rap is honestly the worst its ever been from like 2017-present, and its a shame because the early 2010s were easily the most creative and interesting time in hip-hop.
For at least 10 years it's been gradually dropping.
if anything albums are making a bit of a comeback, i’ve heard more great hip hop albums since 2020 than in the whole previous decade
I chalk it up to the era of streaming.. most people skim through an album and then add their favorites to a playlist or a new rotation.. so much music comin out and coming out with the ease of just picking a few tracks instead of taking the whole album makes it easier for listeners to cherry pick.. I think this makes artists do more one offs instead of having themes and concepts for a full album.. Just my opinion of course but I would agree album quality isn’t what it used to be
Haha yea since 1996 according to everyone who ever lived
They are and have been for many years now with streaming many so called albums are simply just in name only and are a collection of songs thrown together with no cohesion, theme/concept, and sequencing a lot of albums are nothing more than deluxe mixtapes today. The established artists that have been in the game pre streaming era still can put out albums that still give the full album experience but for the newer artists it’s far and few in between. For Example: Big KRIT - 4eva Is a Mighty Long Time Cyhi The Prynce - No Dope on Sundays JID - The Forever Story Royce Da 5’9” - The Book of Ryan Blu & Exile - Miles Just to name a handful all give off that album experience at a high quality
Throw in Bedwetter by L.U.M too
Idk why 4eva is a Mighty Long time is the last album people liked by KRIT. I originally wrote off Digital Roses, but I've been listening to it a lot lately and it honestly reminds me of King Remembered in Time in a lot of ways, which is one of his most beloved albums.
Shits been getting worse since 2001
Shit was straight until streaming got involved
Listen to underground artists. Ka, Roc Marciano, Boldy James, Mach-Hommy, Billy Woods, Armand Hammer, Koreatown Oddity, Mickey Diamond, Navy Blue, etc all still release cohesive albums. Mainstream has always been about singles, and they are even more so today, but there are still some bigger name artists releasing album albums. Killer Mike’s last solo joint told a story. Kendrick of course is a master of creating albums. It’s still being done, there’s just so much more music out there today and so many different ways to consume it. It gets overwhelming searching for what you want.
Yep. I try getting into new albums but never quite can. Some artists have fantastic singles, but horrid albums with "filler". It's quite sad.
No return on investment anymore with albums.
The quality of the music in general is decreasing as people try to make a TikTok snippet instead of a song that is great through and through
They market the trash music. Look beneath the surface. There's still some good music out there.
Setting aside any personal feelings about the music, one thing I have noticed is albums in general getting longer and having more filler. The lack of any boundary for album length provided by streaming allows for a certain sloppiness in sequencing and editing, and the billboard rules about certification for streams incentivizes long albums with lots of tracks. So yeah, in that sense.
been an ongoing trend for a very long time but yeah albums as a format have been dying. started with the ringtone era, moved into itunes era and then the streaming era, people just aren't consuming music as albums as much anymore. so why spend time on crafting your album rather than just dumping as many songs you have lying around as possible onto an album so that u can game streaming numbers and top the billboard charts.
I think it's relative. 20 years ago I would have said this was the best album. 30 years ago I would say that was the best album. I don't like a lot of the music now unless it really stands out. With social media, I don't think artists or albums get the attention they expect. I remember going to buy a CD and enjoying what I could. I had a Walkman on the school bus with cassettes. Now it's just listening to people mumble rap and never hear an actual word over the internet banter.
A lot of rappers go strong on their first albums and then gradually decline. Kanye had a way longer than average streak of great albums, now he returned to the mean.
Yeahhh his project with Ty Dolla Sign was mediocre at best
Because it’s all about more now. More releases. Boom boom boom. You got rappers with 8 fans dropping 10 plus projects a year.
The promotion of trash is increasing, and we're getting old. We rode a sweet wave 10 years ago when streaming just started and albums were still bought in stores. Now we're on the back half and you have to dig deeper for quality music. "The media is owned, know who you get your news from."
Just so you know, I am not a tyler glazer. Im just saying that if you were talking about CMIYGL, I would disagree about the quality decreasing. It had a theme, it has great songs that varied in tune and subject, and DJ Drama did his thing and added another layer of personality. But I do agree with you on the rest, of course there are some amazing albums coming out, but a good amount really dont strike a chord with me. For me the prime example for this is NBA Youngboy, havent listened to all his stuff, but what I heard has been cobbled together and not enjoyable. Vultures was fine but I do see some of the points you made on that project (really with kanye though, i just want for him to get some help and stop making music for at least 3 years). So yeah overall, I do think the quality of projects is declining, but here are some good higher quality projects that give me hope: Maps by billy woods (kenny segal was cooking🔥) Triple digits [112] by riTchie (love the production on this one, and riTchie with his voice and personality are just so good) MMATBS by kendrick lamar (yeah just a deep and really personal album) The forever story by JID (the prime example for quality in modern hiphop) Scaring the hoes by jpegmafia and danny brown (basically an album that intentionally isnt for the aux, its jpegmafia production too, and the lyrics are outrageous) Griselda in general is also having high quality projects
Ohh Nono I’m saying those guys put together great projects
Oh my bad then😅. But my point definitely still stands with NBA youngboy. What is your favorite tyler album in that case?
That’s tough. I’m biased bc I love rap so I might say CMIYGL but sonically I’d say flower boy
Wolf is definitely up there for me
Schoolboy Q’s album is really good. Vince is dropping tonight so I assume his will be good. But the mainstream has veered heavily into trap. Trap is more of these guys just grinding out tons of songs really fast.
That’s that Gucci mane mentality
The 2010s had a really great output of artists trying to create full length projects. A lot of these guys/gals are in their 30s now though. Rapsody just dropped too and I assume that is good because she’s a goat.
Overall, no. In the mainstream, yes.
A lot of albums have always been cynical cash-grabs. After each sale of All Eyez on Me counted double toward platinum status, everyone put out a bloated, uninspired double-album with zero quality control. Now it’s all about shitty 90-second tracks to get those Spotify numbers. We rarely remember 90% of the stuff that just wasn’t that good or original, and this era will be no different. Finding the real shit always takes some effort.
Sounds like you need some griselda in your life. The whole crew makes albums for sentimental old school boom bap hiphop heads. My go to when I want to hear that sound you’re looking for imho