The Decline of Hip Hop: How Producers Are The Problem

[elijahchesterthomas]

When cash rules everything... Commerce beats art and quantity beats quality. Sad but true

[jmangga]

I have a few different hypotheses:

1. In the past, the main way to get discovered was to have a unique sound. You had to be different for labels to even think about meeting with you. Today, young artists can have a song go viral even if it sounds like lots of other music out there. You don’t need a ‘different’ sound to be discovered.

2. The current generation of producers/artists has grown up listening to the same music. Streaming services have made it possible for producers in LA and Toronto to listen to the same music and have the same musical influences. In the past, your exposure to music was heavily influenced by where you lived. Music is global now. Shared experiences/influences = shared sound.

3. Technology was changing faster in the past. A lot of “signature” sounds were based off of whatever physical synth or technology came out (think sample chopping, distortion, 808s, etc). Innovation in technology doesn’t evolve as much year over year like it did before.

[mr.mangaming]

I feel like part of it is that people REFUSE to listen to underground or less popular artists. Producers ARE advancing and experimenting, but a fair amount of popular one's aren't.

[idesel]

Since I am a producer now, I hear the same beat over and over again in today's Hip Hop. I think the antidote to this is like what you mentioned i.e smaller producers working with smaller artists and developing their own unique sounds together or just rap/sing on your own beats or both. The E-Collab system is just watering down the end product.

[MrCrash]

As a producer I think that a major problem is also the type beat system. A lot of internet people say that to be discovered you should run a YT channel where you post consistently (so 1 beat a day) and to exploit the algorithm you should keep the same style of beat. So that's why small producers make the every day the same beat over and over again without tring to develop new styles.

[Special_T]

Producers aren't the problem. The dynamics of the music industry has placed so much emphasis on the bottom line it encourages artists and producers to make safe music via musical formulas that have been proven to work like trap that has been consumed for almost 20 years. Producers and artists that are innovative and that create music that's rooted in authenticity exist but don't always get the backing because it's riskier. Especially hiphop that's conscious and socially aware. It starts with the audience demanding more than just the mediocrity that's force fed to them.

[OfficialVarsityDropout]

I've gotta say just even browsing youtube and beatstars, a lot of beats sound the same. But when you find a unique, well produced beat now a days, it feels like finding gold! Underground producers are the best! They're willing to take more risks and remain unique!

[succanproduce]

I first started rapping, then learned production, now do the artwork. Its a dope feeling when you can flesh out a concept urself start to finish, and that individual process/style cant be duplicated. 💯

[angelsantana]

Two main problems with producers today:
1. 90% of producers couldn’t tell you where the F key is on a piano, let alone what a chord is or what a progression should resolve to. Basic music knowledge is sorely lacking.
2. Technology today allows for anyone who can click a mouse to grab a bunch of premade loops, which are being used by 1000 other producers, throw them in a DAW and call it a beat. No music knowledge or skill needed.

[dangusto]

I believe the same can be said for R&B. The production has been watered down to sound and fit like Drake’s style of singing. There are very few artists who are truly singing with passion and not just carrying a note with a song while cussing every two lines lol.

[benkendall]

Hip-hop has fully become pop now so this was inevitable unfortunately. Even in the 00s it wasn't at the very top of the music "food chain", now that it is, artists I think just want what works for their 15 minutes of fame. A producer/artist relationship is key though, all the greats had 1 producer (or 1 producer group)

[PuffinPass]

This is a part of why I listen to a lot of triphop and experimental. it is interesting and textured, it holds nuance and isn't afraid to break convention because essentially it is just a more modern take on jazz in many ways.

[GodfreyShourav]

This is why you need to support your local artists, cause those people produce, records and mixes all of their tracks by themselves. And keep their tracks 100% original.

[michaelcooke]

this video has kicked off a great conversation in the replies, loving what I'm reading here. It's great to see so many people are still passionate about this. I do struggle severely with burnout and haven't composed anything for over a decade, swamped with other commitments and numbing myself with drugs in the limited time I have to myself. I do want to get back into making music again one day and seeing the love for the craft in places like this video and this comment section inspires me to get back into it again.

[yo_yo]

the biggest problem i’ve noticed is producers who ONLY use loops. I am by no means against chopping samples, but i’ve seen way too many producers just drag loops into FL and throw in a drum loop and call it their beat

[keejay]

Some artists are to blame too. Why do I say that? Because recently I heard an interview from Producergrind (shout-out to them) and they were interviewing Turbo who produces for Young Thug, Lil Baby, Gunna, etc. His biggest record is Drip Too Hard (which went diamond). He said on his interview when he was working with Young Thug that everytime he saw him which was maybe everyday he wanted a new beat pack. So when you got artists like Thug who want a new batch of beats as much as possible, how can a producer that want placements take time and be creative? I agree totally with this video tho. You got super producers like Southside that makes 50 trap beats a night. So what is that telling new producers trying to make it? That I gotta make microwave beats to keep up. It's crazy

[ayyrazza]

We’re ignoring the fact that artists are requesting the same beats. When the artist aren’t choosing the different beats we have no choice but to make what they’re requesting. I believe it’s also on the artists to choose the next sound. We only making what’s being requested. That’s business 101.

[YoungKanu]

I’ve been really fond of these collaborative albums that an artist and producer unify to create, without outside producers. Examples jpegmafia/Danny brown, Kaytramine, Gibbs/madlib. I feel these collaborations not only bring back previous attempts of innovation, but also encourage nuance to hip hop

[rafailg]

Well said ! An other big issue is the beats vlog that keep popping up on YouTube. I see industry producers making 5 beats in an hour or even less and basically every beat is the same. These beats have zero "personality", there are just oversaturated sounds that producers know that work in the industry. I think that harms a lot the community as newer producers think they should do the same to succeed, apart from the vlogs interviews of producers saying how to get placements and build your connections is very bad as well. All of them say the same things, but I haven't seen any them say how to be creative and follow your own path to success. This why I don't like the industry, everything is about money and zero risk is taken

[nickgilday]

Agreed. I think technology and internet have made things so easy that mass production of beats and lyrics has become the focal point vs innovative creation. The genius of a producer or rapper used to be celebrated by stories of how they perfected their craft - whether it be the producer who spent 3 full days finding the perfect snare for one single part of a song, or the rapper who took a full week on one verse. Seems like now mass production and speed are celebrated more - how fast someone can make a beat and how quickly the artist turns it in to a song, which leads to everything sounding the same.