The State of Hip-Hop

So I know I'm a nerd and a nerd who likes hip-hop has not always been the norm. If you told me 10 years ago I would love hip-hop I would have laughed and turned Metallica back on. 10 years later and I can't stand Metallica but I love the current state of hip-hop. It's been in more recent years that I have gained an ear for hip-hop and have made it one of the main types of music I listen to. In the past I have gotten into Atmosphere and pretty much every other artist on the Rhymesayers label. Since then however I have heard a group of new mainstream rappers and everything about them screams indie but it's mainstream and I can't get enough.

I started going through mixtapes and that is how I found a chunk of new artists. Drake, KiD CuDi, Wale, and B.o.B. are my new faves. KiD CuDi has a small collection of mixtapes but then released The Man on the Moon which has become my favorite CD as of late and I will call it one of the best CD's of last year. His flow is very mellow and all his beats are amazingly performed. He by far is my favorite of this group.

Drake I have known about for a minute due to Degrassi re-runs. He has yet to release an actual album but still manages to be on every top 10 list I can think of just by being featured. He can transition between rap and r and b without any issue and he does a good job at it. He however can tear up a beat if needed and has a good flow and vocabulary. I am really looking forward to his first release based on the tracks featuring him and his growing collection of mixtapes.

Wale was one of the newer rappers I have started listening to but by going through his release Attention Deficit and by one of his mixtapes: The Mixtape About Nothing, I have determined he is right up there with CuDi is his flow and beats. He adds in a neat almost disco feel to a lot of his tracks and it gives all of his songs a unique energy behind them. He like most of the other rappers on this list are all "conscious" rappers, meaning they rap about problems and real down to earth things and try to stay positive.

The last of the group is B.o.B. He is the one I know least about due to him being relatively new...at least to me. I have heard one of his mixtapes and am very anxious about his first release. To me he gives off an Andre 3000 vibe and I don't mind that at all. He once is again has a very neat energy to him and I am very excited to see what more he has to show.

Hip-hop is in a great spot for me. Most of these artists make many pop culture references and it just feels right at home amongst the current state of tech with mentions of Twitter amongst other video game references. So if you like these artists give them support and if you haven't give them a go.