10 in 2010: reasons to be cautiously optimistic about rap in the new year

Since Nas called the coroner on 2006’s “Hip Hop is Dead,” critics and consumers alike have launched alternately spirited and sputtering defenses of his thesis. Of course, the 30-year-old genre has myriad issues to grapple with: a lack of adequate filters, nonexistent artist development and a veritable Clear Channel and major label monopoly that snatches up gifted talents and forces them to the injured reserve until they’re willing to offer more pop concessions than a movie theater.

But very quietly, 2009 marked the genre’s best year in the last half-decade. The difference is that you have to dig harder for your diamonds amid all the din and distraction. Still, the quantity and quality of the music remains strong enough to warrant a cautious optimism going into 2010. Here are 10 of the best reasons why.

• The Price is Right

Early on in the Internet age, journalists and rappers made the similarly ill-advised decision to give away their product for free. With audience expectations already set, both industries have been forced to wrestle with age-old cliches involving cows, milk and how much it costs you to read this sentence. The result is that those talented enough to emerge from the miasma can be heard by vast amounts of people in very little time. In the last week alone, good-to-great mixtapes were released from nascent talents such as The Knux, The Cool Kids, Kendrick Lamar, Yelawolf and XO and long-time all-stars such as Chef Raekwon and Reflection Eternal. And that’s not even including the steady stream of MP3s dropped every day on Nah Right, The Smoking Section, 2 Dope Boyz, et al.

• Best Coast

As Unkut.com pointed out in its look ahead, “The West is The Best,” outside the mainstream, Blu, Bishop Lamont, Co$$, TiRon, Pac Div, U-N-I, Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Glasses Malone, Nocando, Nipsey Hussle and the Jerkin' movement have the left coast buzzing more than at any point in a decade. Transplants The Knux (Louisiana), Freddie Gibbs (Gary, Ind.), Fashawn (Fresno) and Shawn Jackson (Providence) have further enriched the talent pool. And then there's the crop of top-flight Stones Throw artists, Murs, Busdriver, People Under the Stairs, The Game, DJ Quik and the Death Row diaspora.

• Madlib

The passing of J Dilla rightly brought a flood of tributes to his greatness, but not enough people have taken note that his frequent collaborator, Madlib, is in the midst of an epic run cementing him as one of the greatest producers of all time. In 2010, Otis Jackson Jr. is releasing one album a month under his Madlib Medicine Show moniker, in addition to albums from Yesterday’s New Quintet and his collaboration with Strong Arm Steady. He’s rapidly becoming the Frank Zappa of rap -- except more consistent.

• The Stars Align

Other than Eminem and Jay-Z, most of hip-hop’s biggest stars stayed on the sidelines in 2009, with Kanye West, Nas, Outkast, T.I., Lupe Fiasco and Lil Wayne all largely silent. All are expected to release albums in the calendar year.

• The Electronica Effect

In the two years since he released “Act 1: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge),” New Orleans’ Jay Electronica has created a level of anticipation for his debut unseen since 50 Cent’s “Get Rich or Die Trying.” Collaborating with everyone from Mos Def, The Roots and Nas, Electronica has bucked fast-food rap trends to release a slow trickle of singles full of vivid self-mythologizing, dense five-percent knowledge and byzantine pop-culture riddled slang, In the polarized blog era, Electronica is so good that he’s probably the only rapper alive that almost everyone can agree on.

• The D

Imbued with a steel-wind cold weather wisdom, Detroit rappers (Guilty Simpson, Royce Da 5’9, Slum Village and Elzhi, Buff 1, Black Milk, Phat Kat, Finale and Danny Brown) have spent the last several years regularly releasing hard-headed and hard-knocking rap music sans compromise. Though the former automotive capital of the world might be saddled with massive unemployment rates, its rap scene continues to be as vital as ever.

• The New South

While Gucci Mane, Waka Flocka, Soulja Boy and OJ Da Juiceman owned sub-Mason Dixon radio for most of last year, an introspective and world-weary bunch of Atlanta and Alabama rappers including Bobby Ray (B.o.B), Playboy Tre, Yelawolf, G-Side, Sean Falyon and Pill have offered a necessary alternative, balancing the glitz with grit and offering a sober look at unpleasant realities.

• The Sort-Of Super Group

The entropy of the major label system has led to ad hoc rap groups ostensibly formed at rap nerd fantasy camp. Last year, Del tha Funkee Homosapien and Tame One, Kurupt and DJ Quik and Slaughterhouse (Joe Budden, Royce Da 5’9, Crooked I and Joell Ortiz) emerged as new outfits, while this year Nas and Damian Marley are collaborating on a Distant Relatives project and Chef Raekwon, Method Man and Ghostface are all joining forces. Less money in the pot means that more rappers are willing to take creative risks and pursue passion projects.

• Weird Science

While some experiments were more successful than others, rappers such as Kid Cudi, Wale, Willie Isz, The Knux and the BlaKRoc effort combined hip-hop with rock and dance music with more satisfying results than ever before. Provided that we forget about Lil Wayne’s sausage-fingered attempts to play the guitar, the genre has come a long way since the days of Durst.

• The Slow Rebirth of Indie Culture

Though consolidation and a depressed record industry have partially destroyed hip-hop’s once-thriving independent culture, signs of regrowth are present. As outlined by Dart Adams of Bloggerhouse, labels such as A-Side, High Water, Interdependent Media, Mello Music Group and local imprint Tres Records have developed to give Stones Throw, Rhymesayers, Duck Down and Definitive Jux some company.

-- Jeff Weiss

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Photos, clockwise from left: The Knux (Jamie Rector / For The Times), Lupe Fiasco (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times), OutKast's Andre 3000 (Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times), Madlib (Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times) and Wale (Associated Press).

Comments

[Ricky Dominguez]

Give it up already. Rap is 30 years ago. It took about 5 years to hear every possible exploration of the genre and, since then, it's been hash, rehash, and rerehash of the same old crap. People only listen to rap now because it's still culturally "cool" to listen, NOT because there's a shred of originality or creativity to any of it any more.

[M Boogie]

Thanks for the article, our in house journalist Rebecca Haithcoat actually commented on that note too http://www.lastereo.tv/tlc_units/filter/2/98/1 . At LA Stereo (lastereo.tv) we started documenting the LA Hip hop scene a few months ago with a strong team of photographers, writer and filmmaker, spear headed amongst other by DJ Val the Vandle who holds a monthly event called The Spliff (spliffla.com) that features LA hip hop artists from all directions. On LA Stereo we have already featured many of the artists mentioned above and we keep our ears to the ground. We are just one small part of the overall movement, what distinguishes us from many other sites is that we produce our own content. The LA hip hop movement by the way also extends itself to fashion, design, photography, producers, DJ, music videos filmmakers, and user generated content. It's a very creative time and place to be, a place of unity and collaborations, worth all our efforts; therefore we couldn't agree with you more.

[brandi]

Wrong, Ricky.

Rap/hip hop is just like any other genre: it has its bad artists and its good artists. As if Britney Spears is any better? And rap has influenced many other genres as well; not including its international versions of the music. If you only listen to the radio, you're not getting the whole culture.

[Justin]

Great post. Definitely a lot to look forward to in 2010. Big Boi and Lupe are at the top of my list, but I'm glad to see Detroit's underground aligning for a solid year of hip-hop.

[TheFrogBlogg]

Ricky Dominguez is ignorant and delusional. Perhaps if you expanded your horizons you would understand just how wrong you are.

[Eric]

good looks on this Jeff!!

[Plug One Boss]

Nice article.

[tony blakely]

WELL STATED I'M SCARED TO SAY BUT YOU ARE CORRECT I CAME FROM OLD SCHOOL YES I'M 38 PUSHING 39 BUT WHAT HAPPEN TO THE VIBES OF THE LATER 80'S ALL OF THE 90'S EVEN THE 200-'09 IS THERE ANY THING NEW OR OUTSTANDING COMING OUT DO THESE NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK LOOK FOR ORIGINALITY OR IS IT MORE ALLOW ME TO TAKE FROM ONE ARTIST AND ADD A TWIST TO W/O ORIGINALITY ONCE AGAIN I LOVED THE OLD SCHOOL 93.5KDAY NOT SELLING ANYTHING BUT IT MAKES ME REMEMBER HOW I MISS THE SONGS OF MY AGE

[Gie Felton]

Producing relevant indie music since 2005... http://majorfactoronline.com

[Versis]

Well written, Jeff.

I'm a new addition to the "West is the BEST" movement;this article among other things has me feelin' pretty optimistic.

-Versis

[Mani]

Why isn't Anti-Pop in this list?