Y2K Era Hip-Hop
Feb 25, 2020 22:15:52 GMT 10
Post by SharksFan99 on Feb 25, 2020 22:15:52 GMT 10
This is a topic which I've been thinking about on and off over the past couple of days and i'm interested to hear other people's opinions on it. The Y2K Era (1999-2001) has always struck me as something of a downturn for rap music in general. I say that of course as someone who was too young at the time to understand what was going on, however it has always given me that impression when studying the charts from the era and reading up on the history of music. Gangsta-rap had ran it's course by this point, the hip-hop world was still recovering from the deaths of 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G, while crunk/snap-rap had yet to emerge onto the scene, meaning that hip-hop was left in a state of perplex during the Y2K-Era. It's just something that I find intriguing.
R&B was still doing quite well during this period; artists such as Craig David, Aaliyah and TLC all achieved legitimately big hits. Heck, I would even argue that rock was doing better than rap in terms of overall popularity and chart success during the Y2K Era, as pop-punk, nu-metal and post-grunge were all doing well on the charts. As for rap, however, it just doesn't seem to have been as culturally relevant or successful as it had been in the years prior and since.
I genuinely struggle to think of rap songs which were released in my birth year. Will Smith's "Wild Wild West" comes to mind and I know Eminem also released his Slim Shady LP that year, but other than those releases, I can't think of anything else. When I think back to the music of 1999, I immediately think of teen-pop, bubblegum-pop, latino-pop and even residual releases of '90s alt-rock. Rap just doesn't fit into that picture. To me, it seems as though hip-hop in general made somewhat of a comeback around 2002 when Nelly, Eminem (with his "Lose Yourself" release), 50 Cent and Jay-Z had breakthrough releases. By 2003, rap was in a much stronger and influential position than it had been just a few years earlier.
Would you say that hip-hop was less commercially successful during the Y2K-Era? To people old enough to remember the era well, what artists would you say were the biggest rap artists at the time?
R&B was still doing quite well during this period; artists such as Craig David, Aaliyah and TLC all achieved legitimately big hits. Heck, I would even argue that rock was doing better than rap in terms of overall popularity and chart success during the Y2K Era, as pop-punk, nu-metal and post-grunge were all doing well on the charts. As for rap, however, it just doesn't seem to have been as culturally relevant or successful as it had been in the years prior and since.
I genuinely struggle to think of rap songs which were released in my birth year. Will Smith's "Wild Wild West" comes to mind and I know Eminem also released his Slim Shady LP that year, but other than those releases, I can't think of anything else. When I think back to the music of 1999, I immediately think of teen-pop, bubblegum-pop, latino-pop and even residual releases of '90s alt-rock. Rap just doesn't fit into that picture. To me, it seems as though hip-hop in general made somewhat of a comeback around 2002 when Nelly, Eminem (with his "Lose Yourself" release), 50 Cent and Jay-Z had breakthrough releases. By 2003, rap was in a much stronger and influential position than it had been just a few years earlier.
Would you say that hip-hop was less commercially successful during the Y2K-Era? To people old enough to remember the era well, what artists would you say were the biggest rap artists at the time?
