Hip-Hop is dead, in the mainstream at least (and that’s a good thing?): The genre saw chart lows unfamiliar to this century and an overall shift away from it in popular music. This hasn’t been taken as an overall negative though, as it may mark a shift from commercialization to artistic freedom.

Gatekeeping is (somewhat) back: Not referring to ignoring people’s requests to put them on a niche artist you discovered, but gatekeeping of the culture seems to be making a return. There have been a number of artists and personalities whose archetypes we have seen in the past grab a strong hold in the industry, simply fade with minimal fanfare. It appears rap fans have become more selective with who gets their energy this year, mostly.

Expansion is inevitable: The meteoric rises of artists from Britain and Nigeria in the underground rap sphere attest to the new wave of international rappers who are more openly embracing American hip hop styles. It remains to be seen how these different cultures learn to coexist, but the music we’ve gotten out of it has been brilliant.

The transition is (almost) complete: A lot of legacy projects dropped this year. And while there was a fair share of gems from the stalwarts of the genre, the public kept their focus on newer acts who brought something fresh to the table, and every subgenre had a good amount of innovation coming out of it this year. It may finally be time for the new school.

There’s been myriad discourse, arguments, hot takes and analyses about hip-hop, its present and its future. There’s also been the most good music released in possibly a decade. It’s definitely too much to cover in one article, but hopefully this can be a springboard for someone doing a deeper exploration of rap music’s second-wind.

Written By IdkYoungJ: www.idkyoungj.com/