The Creativity of Hip Hop Music Today
The Creativity of Hip Hop Music Today
Hip hop music today, like so many genres before it, is beginning to suffer in popularity. The advent of instant music downloads courtesy of the internet has made listeners more picky about their choices, craving quality over quantity. No longer can an artist bank on a single style over and over to boost sales. These days, they need to put a little more creativity to their work to gain the support of the fans.
Back in the days, a proper beat is all you need to have a hit. Unlike before, hip hop music can no longer depend on beats alone. To draw the audiences of today, one needs something distinct, without completely straying from the fundamentals of the hip hop genre. You now need lyrics that are not like anyone else's songs.
Things, as history, is bound to be repeated. Like an epidemic, artists who believe that there is no need to write their own material and just use mixed beats and other people's words are widespread. Remixes were big during the late 70s up till the early 80s, when hardcore disco fans mixed in some disco beats onto older recordings, creating hits in an attempt to revive disco. Confronted with the necessity for creative effort, some hip hop artists resorted in this old trick to improve their market sales.
For a while, it worked. But fan mood is erratic, artists riding on other's popular creations soon found a drop on their sales. Then new artists, Ludicris, TI and many others of their like discovered that, instead of copying, writing original is the way to go. A new phase of hip hop music today began: themed albums. Following the footsteps of early 80s' groups, new artists reexplore the art of making albums revolving around a central theme and pursued writing original lyrics. It was very effective.
Now, hip hop is flowing with good quality sounds, written and composed by the artists themselves. Having a range of themes from love to living a good life, hip hop artists break new grounds, achieving popularity that is hard to earn in the digital age. Digital downloads run today's music world, and giving die hard fans special and exclusive tracks keep the albums selling, and the competition scrambling for more ways to come out on top. As the drive for more creative works continues, those who cannot handle it are falling by the wayside, making room for the true poets of hip hop today to rise above the rest, forging the next chapter of hip hop music today.
