How Kanye West Killed Rap and Rock Music

Trigger Warning: If you hate hip-hop in all its forms, you’re not going to like the rest of this post. Kindly close the tab now and walk away.

I’m what the kids would call an oldtroon when it comes to hip-hop. I know the history more than I’m willing to post about on X. The audience just isn’t there.

The Golden Era of hip-hop was 1994-1996. Nas’ Illmatic, Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt, and Notorious B.I.G.’s Ready to Die are timeless classics from that era. But nearly 30 years have passed. There hasn’t been a timeless classic since Kanye’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. That was 15 years ago.

Nas released an album titled Hip Hop is Dead in 2016. A man ahead of his time. But now hip-hop is actually dead. It’s really dead. It’s officially dead.

Who was the last big hip-hop artist? Can you name any rising stars? That’s because there aren’t any. The most listened to hip-hop artists on Spotify are Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and Post Malone. They’re ancient.

What about new rock music? Remember bands? Can you name any new rockstars? The most listened to rock artists on Spotify are Imagine Dragons, Linkin Park, and Arctic Monkeys. Rock music is just nostalgiafuel for millennials now.

So what happened? Why don’t people go to rock shows anymore? Why are hip-hop artists rapping about going to therapy? What happened to rock bands? What happened to rap?

Kanye West happened.