I am all too well aware of the argument that I am "too old to understand the new music coming out" or " it is the natural progression of becoming middle aged." That is bullshit because the majority of the hip hop that comes out nowadays is straight garbage. There is no skill left in the majority of rap. Now, there are several MCs out there such as Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, J. Cole, Meek Mill, Joey Badass, and Big Krit who defy that notion but they seem to be the minority. At one point in hip hop almost every MC had skill and used their rapping abilities to add to the beats they were rapping over. I almost think of it as another instrument within the beat as long as they know how to flow over it. It seems at this stage of the game you need an intellectual disability to actually make it.
Exhibit A, B, and C
All three of these artists are on the Hot 100 Billboard charts. All 3 of these artists would have gotten beat up when I was younger just because they are just that corny. When I think of hip hop I can't help compare it to different styles of music. Yes our parents may have said Rage Against the Machine or Nine Inch Nails were not music to their ears but to other rock and roll legends they still respected them because they ALL had musical ability that one could only respect, even if they didn't care for the style of music. However, hip hop legends won't even pay any mind to this garbage because it is just that, garbage. The thing with rock music and most other styles of music is not everyone can master an instrument and put music together well but anyone can pick up a mic and rap over a mediocre beat. With the record labels mindlessly following what they think people want to hear and anyone getting their shit music out there with vessels such as Youtube, you can clearly see that this equation does not foster creativity. It only creates a bunch of ass clowns trying to get "hot" for the moment with a catchy song that the mindless will follow.
Due to the ease of entry into this type of music, I can only see this continuing. I also blame Cash Money Records. It's crazy how good that music sounds nowadays when you compare it to today's shit sandwich.