What happened to the quality of San Diego Rap??

[Mike Manson]

This is not limited to just SD. Seems the whole West Coast lost it's identity. To me rapping was always about being original. That's how the greats became greats back in the days. Now it's just a big blend out of everything. And I doubt that it actually gives the rappers a bigger chance of being successful.

How many of your fav rappers from back in the day still drop music that you buy without listening to it before. For me that number went from like 30-50 down to a handful in the last 10 years.

 

[OS209]

Yes that's always been an actual fact & Ive been seein it forever... It looks like Dago is one city that has the worst hip-hop audience... & in my perspective its the type of demographics we have here & the mentality we have here... SD Latino population is growing fast & the majority tend to stick to the radio-friendly shit & other genres... Same with the white population... Ive always been having a hard time convincing ppl here & all over to gave ya a listen but its always the small selectives & circles that will listen to this stuff as much as all the other deep underground from any city, state, region... As a full-blooded Mexican been living here for years Im perhaps the last one here left... Everyone else are followers & sheep on the hype... Im always been loyal to the underground ever since I was plugged......

damn bro i feel you on that. I try to show everyone good shit and they don't give it a chance and yet everyone's praising shitheads like rick ross wayne and tyga. Cali is the worst for this type of stuff, but it's not just here. Even new york is doing the swag stuff now. There are actually a lot of underground fans here in the central valley where im from but that's because we didn't grow up in the beachy areas or hollywood areas so it's mostly the kids here that listen to the bs. I know because i used to listen to the mainstream, then i completely stopped when i turned about 16-17. I started listening to all that horrorcore and 90's style rap and then i just couldnt go back haha. I say don't even trip on what others listen to. Ive tried giving people good music and if they want to bump shitty music then whatever. We know we got that good music and that's all that matters. Let the sheeps follow.

 

[OS209]

and this has been a problem in hip hop for a while now. This is from 93 and these guys were already talking bout how hip hop was getting wack.

 

[Mixerr]

To me San Diego still has its identity with the deep bass, funk, Latin guitars, G-Funk, and gangsta sounds unlike Austin where it's rap-rock, Deep South, mixtapes, soundtrack, and ugly crossover genres.

 

[DuceTheTruth]

damn my bad on the late response i'm just peeping this thread i kept seeing it but thought it was an old thread brought back. But to answer your question my opinion is what most have already said pages before. But i will say this west coast gangsta rap is now endangered 90s babies are on the move but to me its just a remix of hyphy amd everybody wanted the hyphy movement to blow and now it has evolved imo and now ppl are complaining. Gangsta rap imo is well and alive in other regions like chicago, and a few southern states like alabama, again just my opinion. But as far as dago goes i'm with cain its not the same but its still some good music here. Rather we like it or not. But me personally i'm sticking with what i came in on money hungry, bomb leery, wrongkind, etc. But i can't knock some of the founders for growing wiser not have only the music changed but so have the outlets and you have to take that into consideration. ppl want to go to kool shows not the shows they have to exit early cause so and so just walked in 30 deep and so and so is here with his goons and goblins. Just some of my 4cents since it was brought up...

^this!!!

 

[T.C]

This is not limited to just SD. Seems the whole West Coast lost it's identity. To me rapping was always about being original. That's how the greats became greats back in the days. Now it's just a big blend out of everything. And I doubt that it actually gives the rappers a bigger chance of being successful.

How many of your fav rappers from back in the day still drop music that you buy without listening to it before. For me that number went from like 30-50 down to a handful in the last 10 years.

I feel what you are saying on some levels...but you can't have originality without change. Everybody talks about how rap isn't poppin' like it was in the 90's or whatever mystical rap era was cool in their minds...but if you come up with something new, you get called wack. If you revisit the older shit, you get called out for lack of originality. You can't have both.

The reason why you can't buy an album before listening to it anymore has to do more with the way we consume music today and the technology we use versus 10-15 years ago than it does any type of decline in rapping ability.

 

[JACK DEE]

if you never spun crack in a jar or sat in a dope spot n went tit for tat then you probably cant identify,

 

[battle619]

The quality if SD rap has gone down because of what Mitchy says on that Strong Arm Robbery DVD, people in SD won't support you if you ain't authentic. But now a days fools do songs with Cals cuz he's giving up a lot of cash and it makes people back track on what they say. SD did have a different sound than LA but the artists went away from that cuz ATL has been calling shots for almost two decades now so now rappers make hooks like they do. I'm a older head and alot of these younger heads have a lot of potential, but don't talk about the struggle anymore

 

[DuceTheTruth]

I say the quality is still there but there are no "movements" that I see. As recently as 5 years ago my sights were set on Sidewayz, Bomb Leery, Wrongkind. Nowadays not so much.

 

[T.C]

ATL has been calling shots for almost two decades now so now rappers make hooks like they do. I'm a older head and alot of these younger heads have a lot of potential, but don't talk about the struggle anymore

ATL has been calling shots for a while because they network, while other regions argue among each other about bullshit like who's authentic or not. As far as hooks, the music industry is follow the leader. Whoever has the magic songwriting formula at the time sets the tone. When Ja had it, everybody put a bitch on the hook. When 50 had it, everybody started singing their own hooks. When Houston had it, we chopped and screwed it up etc....The younger generation has it better than we did, why talk about the struggle?...it wouldn't be "real" if they did.

 

[battle619]

You are talking about the industry, I'm talking about SD Music. And what part of SD are you from to think the younger generation has it better when more and more people are on EBT than ever before? SD had it's own sound, and no disrespect to Mitchy, but that's who I was referring to earlier on. I love his music, but when he switches up and does trendy shit, everyone else in SD that wants to be a rapper will follow his lead, yet ignore his core fans and thats why he got a negative reaction for "Crack in a Jar." He's doing what Dr. Cube did to him

 

[T.C]

Yeah I was talking about the industry in general, but SD music is part of the industry too so it is not exempt. I've heard some chopped and screwed songs from SD artists when that sound was hot, so I know you heard it too. I grew up in the North Park City Heights area. I say the younger generation have it better because they grew up with computers and are exposed to a lot more options. Even though there may be more people on public assistance, these kids are going to k-12 and learning on laptops and ipads. They are learning how to do graphic design, making spreadsheets and editing video. And when they come home from school, they put on a headset and talk to a video game console...and the console talks back. My Atari never talked to me and we were homies. And let's say one of these young cats wanna get into music, instead of saving up for a ASR-16 or an MPC, they can grab some software and be up and running in half the time and for a fraction of the cost.

 

[ThaG]

and this has been a problem in hip hop for a while now. This is from 93 and these guys were already talking bout how hip hop was getting wack.

And looking back, the period from 93 to 95 is the absolute peak of hip-hop historically. Also, Common did I Used To Love H.E.R. in 1994:

 

[Gas One]

IMO there's just a different group of ppl making music now.

if you're waiting on ppl who were on the scene 3-6 years ago at this point good luck w that

 

[battle619]

and here we are blaming artists when no one supported Cee Wee #'s album that came out last year and was one of the best SD albums to come out. We as fans have to go out there and buy this shit

 

[M.V.W.]

A lot of good points made above. I'm from GA and the problem I see with all regions/rappers, is there's no true originality. Even when you see rappers trying a new sound, it really isn't "new". They're just hopping on what other everybody else is doing. For example, some NY rappers started mimicking the South. Not to pigeonhole anybody, but many rappers aren't being true to themselves. You can tell when someone is truly experimenting and evolving versus just following formulas or trends.

 

[THE ACIDRAPTOR]

and here we are blaming artists when no one supported Cee Wee #'s album that came out last year and was one of the best SD albums to come out. We as fans have to go out there and buy this shit

Whats Cee Wee's album called???

 

[o_dowg]

Round of applause. I think young docc album was just as good imo

 

[T.C]

A lot of good points made above. I'm from GA and the problem I see with all regions/rappers, is there's no true originality. Even when you see rappers trying a new sound, it really isn't "new". They're just hopping on what other everybody else is doing. For example, some NY rappers started mimicking the South. Not to pigeonhole anybody, but many rappers aren't being true to themselves. You can tell when someone is truly experimenting and evolving versus just following formulas or trends.

With hip hop, damn near everything has been tried before, so creating a new sound (that people will respond to) that isn't somehow related to something already in existence is very difficult. I don't see anything wrong with artists from one region borrowing from another region. I don't see it as not being true to one's self, its more like adding another color to paint with. A lot of hip hop icons blended styles from different regions. Lil Wayne went from being the 3rd best member of the Hot Boys, to the "Best Rapper Alive" when he started rapping like a Philly cat over southern beats. Pac put his east coast accent and flow over westcoast beats and became a legend. Shit, even Master P took a little game from from the Bay Area before his label blew up.

 

[ChopShop]

Some artists are stuck on 90's gangsta rap, which usually doesn't even sound as good as the songs made back then, or they're trying to mimic what they heard on the radio... neither work well. People need to be themselves and develop their own lane which means not buying the beats from people that bite off every radio hit and also not a producer who makes "90's hits" and rap off fresh topics that are true to them.

I made one song on my album that had a Neptune beat in 2003 and to this day that is the one song I shake my head at when someone plays my album... my advice is to make something fresh and different with your own voice. I haven't checked for many SD acts and when I do it's usually something that sounds weak and unoriginal.

Who are 3 of the best rappers with product that are catching people's attention in SD now (naming yourself doesn't count)?