Why is rap music declining in popularity ?

[Buck Broken Chimp]

So rap music is declining in terms of popularity and commercial success. I don't think anyone will argue this. I never liked rap music so I am curios why. Here is some market share with rap.

2020: 28.2%
2021: 27.7%
2022: 26.8%
2023: 25.8%

Rap did have a bump in 2024 but more context was needed. All of this can be attributed to Kendrick Lamar's new album and especially the success of not like us. To give some context really quickly because you are not familiar with this ( I wasn't either don't worry) Kendrick got in a rap beef with Drake and most people agreed fucking raped him in the feud. Drake was not only the biggest name in rap but the biggest name in music period. I am going to assume most people on this forum didn't listen to Drake but to normies he was Jesus. Now people either hate him or won't listen to him out of fear of ridicule. Kendrick's takedown might hurt Rap in the long run because now there will be less hype centered around Drake and Kendrick isn't really palatable to the same audience and doesn't drop that often.

Go on Youtube and search rap is dying or hiphop is dying and you see tons of results from rap channels lamenting their decline.

Not only that a lot of other genres are coming to prominence. In 2023 Morgan Wallen went straight to number one. The last time a country singer went straight to number one was in the 90s with Billy Ray Cyrus. The idea that a funking country singer could be the biggest name in music is insane. On top of that regional Latin music is having a renaissance in popularity. I think it saw a 60% increase in 2022.

Worst still is the indictments coming against P diddy. Even if no other rap stars get taken with him the loss of his connections and money to finance rap is going to be a huge loss and people will never see rap the same ever again.

So what could have caused this ? I have theories of my own centering around culture,politics,race and the factors that connect them.

 

[Dagoth AMOGUS]

Dear Lord I hope it is

 

[WhoBusTank69]

Mainstream decline is understandable, the underground scene has been getting more and more attention the past 10 or so years

 

[Buck Broken Chimp]

Mainstream decline is understandable, the underground scene has been getting more and more attention the past 10 or so years

I am sure that is true but that is true of any genre. Take the fall off of "cock rock" in the 80s and the rise of Grunge in the 90s. Guns and Roses was huge and signed to Nirvana's label, Aerosmith was bigger then ever, Kiss had a successful return tour,Metalica scored hits covering 80s songs. There will always be people making music and an audiance to listen to it.

But the era where rap music was the biggest thing and everyone just loved rappers is over.

 

[Toji Suzuhara]

Because american culture is no longer centered around niggers. They don't have holidays for niggers. They no longer kill hundreds of thousands of white men to free niggers. They don't listen to nigger music. They didn't elect a nigger as their president. They don't dress nor and act like niggers. They don't draw the entirety of their modern culture from niggers. They post sassy gifs about hating niggers. They watch sportsball in mockery of niggers. Their biggest event of the year involves throwing parties in mockery of niggers playing sports. They ridicule nigger slang like "bruh" and "thot". When you say "Martin Luther" they're not thinking of the father of protestantism. They're thinking of the nigger they killed. Their cities are completely devoid of niggers. They fight aganist their ZOGbot police force disproportionately filled with niggers and their global police force of soldiers filled with niggers. Their men sit around mocking nigger ball while their women sit around mocking nigger talk shows. They hate niggers like Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson and the late Eddie Murphy while cheerising the whites who actually built their country before niggers took over. Their movies are empty of niggers and their music charts are bottomed by niggers. They don't send niggers to the Olympics and laugh when the other niggers lose because those niggers will never be true red blooded american niggers. They ban nigger porn to a point where "BBC" does not make them think of an international media company but about losers who like niggers. They will tell you how much they love niggers and how the mutt's law is a good joke and they are just pretending to hate niggers but the evidence speaks for itself in that America has always been and will be a nation of nigger hating aryans

 

[Buck Broken Chimp]

Because american culture is no longer centered around niggers. They don't have holidays for niggers. They no longer kill hundreds of thousands of white men to free niggers. They don't listen to nigger music. They didn't elect a nigger as their president. They don't dress nor and act like niggers. They don't draw the entirety of their modern culture from niggers. They post sassy gifs about hating niggers. They watch sportsball in mockery of niggers. Their biggest event of the year involves throwing parties in mockery of niggers playing sports. They ridicule nigger slang like "bruh" and "thot". When you say "Martin Luther" they're not thinking of the father of protestantism. They're thinking of the nigger they killed. Their cities are completely devoid of niggers. They fight aganist their ZOGbot police force disproportionately filled with niggers and their global police force of soldiers filled with niggers. Their men sit around mocking nigger ball while their women sit around mocking nigger talk shows. They hate niggers like Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson and the late Eddie Murphy while cheerising the whites who actually built their country before niggers took over. Their movies are empty of niggers and their music charts are bottomed by niggers. They don't send niggers to the Olympics and laugh when the other niggers lose because those niggers will never be true red blooded american niggers. They ban nigger porn to a point where "BBC" does not make them think of an international media company but about losers who like niggers. They will tell you how much they love niggers and how the mutt's law is a true joke and they are just pretending to hate niggers but the evidence speaks for itself in that America has always been and will be a nation of nigger hating aryans

I love that copypasta to. There is growing nigger fatigue even if it isn't stated as such. A lot of apolitical Whites are getting sick of Black people's shit even if they don't realize it. I saw a post about America not having trains and a lot of the comments were White urabnites talking about how they wish there were better passenger rail systems but crime and people not paying boarding fees (and in turn not being punished) ruined it for everyone. We all know who is behind this.

 

[Nikes_JustDoIt]

So what could have caused this ? I have theories of my own centering around culture,politics,race and the factors that connect them.

It could be oversaturation with the boom of the trap/SoundCloud rappers in the mid 2010s-2020s and a lot of rappers trying to imitate those styles. As well, it could be just change in music taste with different kids growing up, in the general might like different music style than kids 5 years ago.

 

[Buck Broken Chimp]

It could be oversaturation with the boom of the trap/SoundCloud rappers in the mid 2010s-2020s and a lot of rappers trying to imitate those styles. As well, it could be just change in music taste with different kids growing up, in the general might like different music style than kids 5 years ago.

yeh, I have heard that it feels like rap hasn't evolved much. For example the concept of the "big 3" which started the recent beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake. Kendrick Lamar,Drake and another guy I haven't heard of named J Cole have been the big 3 of rap since like 2010, the "trap rap" sound has been the main sound of rap since around the same time.

Also growing up is another factor. I was never really into rap but I did pay more attention to it when I was in high school because that's what my friends liked and I wanted to be able to say something.

Another fact I have noticed is that rap music is mor prone to bandwagoning. I am not going to say other genres don't bandwagon (metal anti bandwagons where they like you less the more popular you get). I think this could have lead to people being afraid to experiment as social media has centralized culture and discussion more leading to even more bandwagoning.

 

[urr13 account]

Fantano and his kind killed it. Music that is popular is the music that is considered "cool", Fantano was able to successfully associate himself with rap music primarily (thought he does review other genres, he sucks rap dick the most) and so now when people think or rap they think of doofuses like this:

and no one wants to be associated with that, so its over.

 

[Beastie]

You can only mumble in so many different ways before you start repeating yourself.

 

[Super-Chevy454]

I love that copypasta to. There is growing nigger fatigue even if it isn't stated as such. A lot of apolitical Whites are getting sick of Black people's shit even if they don't realize it. I saw a post about America not having trains and a lot of the comments were White urabnites talking about how they wish there were better passenger rail systems but crime and people not paying boarding fees (and in turn not being punished) ruined it for everyone. We all know who is behind this.

Could be possible then the growth of the Hispanic population also played a role in the rap/hip-hop music decline as well since Hispanics isn't big on rap/hip-hop music?

 

[Toji Suzuhara]

Could be possible then the growth of the Hispanic population also played a role in the rap/hip-hop music decline as well since Hispanics isn't big on rap/hip-hop music?

There's trap (which is basically rap but made by puerto ricans and in spanglish, so it would make for an alternative that undermines traditional rap) but I honestly can't tell you if it's actually all that popular in the US

 

[HyperboreanRightsActivist]

Rap went from homosexual black people music to loser whiteboy music in the span of half a decade and decayed for a solid 15 years after that.

Rap's been dead for ages.

 

[REGENDarySumanai]

It's hard to make music when you fight and shoot each other a lot.

 

[AgendaPoster]

So rap music is declining in terms of popularity and commercial success. I don't think anyone will argue this. I never liked rap music so I am curios why. Here is some market share with rap.

Niggas gave up on being OGs and sing about feefees and shit, instead of just being proper niggas singing about hoes, weed, shootings and lootings.

 

[The Ugly One]

Because nigger music has gotten progressively more and more retarded since the 80s.

 

[Ultrapenguin]

Idk, probably for the same reason there's a conservative push in general.

Rap's sort of an interesting phenomenon, because realistically most rap sounds very similar. On its face rap isn't unlistenable most times, it's basically a rhythmic hook with some guy talking over it, but the music itself and the guys behind it are all fairly indistinguishable.

That makes rap unusual because I think culture plays a way heavier role in it.
More than any other genre (including pop), the lives/personalities/products/marketing behind it play a role in the success of any given musician (a term I'm using loosely here since it's rap), which is also why it's such a cash cow. It isn't just about rap, it's about the rap lifestyle and those involved in it.

As such, if the culture in general turns against rap values, rap itself is going to suffer. Which we're seeing now.

 

[OutInTheRain]

Just the decline of the genre, rap has been mainstream for around twenty years. Audiences are (thankfully) moving on. I'm not in tune enough with the music industry to know what's coming next, but it's probably already here and just beginning to get noticed by normies.

 

[Cemetery Support]

yeh, I have heard that it feels like rap hasn't evolved much. For example the concept of the "big 3" which started the recent beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake. Kendrick Lamar,Drake and another guy I haven't heard of named J Cole have been the big 3 of rap since like 2010, the "trap rap" sound has been the main sound of rap since around the same time.

Also growing up is another factor. I was never really into rap but I did pay more attention to it when I was in high school because that's what my friends liked and I wanted to be able to say something.

Another fact I have noticed is that rap music is mor prone to bandwagoning. I am not going to say other genres don't bandwagon (metal anti bandwagons where they like you less the more popular you get). I think this could have lead to people being afraid to experiment as social media has centralized culture and discussion more leading to even more bandwagoning.

More people are growing up and finding new stuff to listen to.

dk, probably for the same reason there's a conservative push in general.

I also agree. More and more people are listening to things like Morgan Wallen, Colter Wall and Tyler Childers these days. There isn't enough space for it.

Also, theres no space for the innovative stuff. What catches fire in the underground rarely makes it to the mainstream.

Fantano and his kind killed it. Music that is popular is the music that is considered "cool", Fantano was able to successfully associate himself with rap music primarily (thought he does review other genres, he sucks rap dick the most) and so now when people think or rap they think of doofuses like this:
View attachment 6731748
and no one wants to be associated with that, so its over.

Agreed. Another problem is that the people keeping up with and talking about the innovative stuff look and sound like this. People that look and sound like this only listen to other people that look and sound like this. Everyone else with a shred of common sense ignores them, therefore the innovative stuff gets ignored.

 

[Maurice Maine]

Because you can only take so much of white noise. No matter who you are. After the nogs ran out of 60s/70s music to 'sample' (read: plunder) from it just devolved into a death spiral.