Lyricism Isn’t Dead — But Artistry May Be
If you’re a fan of complex wordplay, wit and storytelling, there is no shortage of those kind of rhymers out today. From mainstream artists like Drake and Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole, to not-quite-houeshold names like Joey Bada$$ and Action Bronson — there are rappers out who are serious about rapping.
But the problem is many of them lack vision.
Spouting clever rhymes is only part of the battle. An artist still has to be an artist, and many contemporary hip-hop artists seem incapable of crafting music that sustains fans’ attentions for more than a few weeks. Whether that’s the fault of social media and YouTube, or maybe mixtape culture has stretched the creative cloth too thin, it’s obvious that artists need to work on developing a real voice and musical direction that doesn’t come off as an assembly line approach to music-making.
