In the last few years, there have been several discussions and quarrels about the decline of rap and the current state of the genre. The 2020s have marked a very weird transitional period in rap, with the rise of the underground scene and subgenres, but a massive decline in the mainstream perception of rap while other genres flourish.
The main complaint about hip-hop being at such a low point is the genre’s inability to produce superstars. The youth has entirely transitioned to the underground, leaving mainstream artists in this awkward position where they have no successors and don’t have as much influence because the youth isn’t consuming their music.
Ultimately, influence goes wherever the youth goes, and if the youth isn’t interacting and engaging with mainstream culture, then the mainstream itself becomes unimportant for the advancement of the genre.
“Hip-hop has fallen off, but I’m hip-hop, so we gotta get this sh*t together.”
– Lil Baby
The most shocking fact is that some of these underground-level artists making abrasive, niche music are outstreaming huge mainstream artists. Lil Baby’s new album FRESH earned around 6.1 million first-day streams, while Nettspend’s Early Life Crisis earned roughly 7.2 million on its first day. Even the newest collaborative song with Travis Scott, Drake, Future, Loe Shimmy, and Sexyy Red earned 1.03 million first-day streams, which is what OsamaSon earned on the first day with his song “off that!,” which has no mainstream-level features and is just a solo track.
Numbers don’t lie, and these statistics specifically show that artists within this underground scene currently carry more influence than the leaders of the rap genre itself, which can be telling of where this genre is headed.
A good stepping stone for rap to regain its mainstream momentum and influence is for a new superstar to emerge, carrying both the innovative, abrasive sound of the underground while also being able to reach millions.
Otherwise, the same continuous loop of underground vs. mainstream will go on for years until mainstream artists lose their cultural influence, and the only thing left to hold up the genre will be the underground. However, the underground itself depends on the mainstream, and if there isn’t a mainstream to push back against, then the entire genre will collapse.