Every Era Of Rap Ranked
6. Mumble Rap/Soundcloud Rap Era
2015 - 2019
Artists that define this era:
XXXTentacion, Juice WRLD, Lil Uzi Vert, Playboi Carti and Lil Peep
Projects from this era:
Lil Uzi Vert vs The World (2016), Hellboy (2016), Playboi Carti (2017), 17 (2017), Goodbye & Good Riddance (2018)
The importance and legacy of this era is still yet to be determined, but one things for sure is that it did cause a divide. By the end of the 2010s Hip-Hop was in its 40s and the legends of the previous eras who were attached to the traditional traits of the genre were not seeing eye to eye with the teenage artists within the Soundcloud rap, mumble rap and emo rap scenes.
Taking elements from previous eras, the Soundcloud era was essentially putting Lil Wayne’s tattoos in a pot and mixing it with Kanye West’s “808s & Heartbreaks”. What came out was an array of rappers with face tattoos crooning and sharing lyrics that touched upon topics such as depression, drug addiction and suicide. Artists such as Lil Peep, XXXTentacion and Juice WRLD are some of the biggest names associated with pushing the sounds and trends related to this era.
Looking at this era in 2022, it suffered an abrupt and quick end. With the three artists mentioned prior, their untimely and unfortunate deaths simultaneously is a huge factor to the demise of the Soundcloud era. With Lil Peep passing away in 2017, X in 2018 and Juice WRLD in 2019 this era lost three of its most impactful stars in the space of two years. Looking back on it now I would call the Mumble Rap/Soundcloud era as the Punk Rock era of Rap music. An era that challenged and went against the norms of traditional rap music.
5. Mixtape Era
2003 - 2007
Artists that define this era:
50 Cent, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, T.I. and Jeezy
Projects from this era:
Get Rich Or Die Tryin (2003), Trap Muzik (2003), The College Dropout (2004), Madvillany (2004), Dedication 2 (2006)
During the late 90s the mixtape formula was different, it consisted of a DJ from the likes of DJ Clue, Kid Capri and Funkmaster Flex hosting the mixtape. The mixtape would also consist of rap’s biggest names and upcoming rappers dropping freestyles and verses or it would be the case of a compilation of rap songs from different rappers, similar to your Spotify playlist. One man however changed this formula and he goes by the name of Curtis Jackson, also known as 50 Cent. Instead of trying to have a verse on a DJ’s mixtape he chose to record a bunch of songs and put them together, use a DJ by the name of DJ Whoo Kid to host it and then released these mixtapes independently with his name on the tapes. He single hand idly changed the whole mixtape formula and built a big enough buzz that Eminem and Dr. Dre signed him; the rest is history. With this new formula other rappers followed from the likes of T.I., Jeezy and Lil Wayne and it helped them gain long lasting careers, with T.I. and Jeezy pushing trap music to the forefront and Lil Wayne becoming one of the biggest rappers in the world.
That is the biggest legacy that comes from this era the legendary mixtapes and the blueprint which is still used to this day; but on the 16th January 2007 the mixtape world would face a change that it wasn’t expecting. During the mixtape era there was one definitive host and that was DJ Drama, his Gangsta Grillz mixtape series is a part of some of the greatest mixtapes of all time, from Lil Wayne’s “Dedication” series to Jeezy’s “Trap Or Die”. However, Drama’s studio was raided by the police over accusations that he was bootlegging music. Though Drama never faced time it marked the end of an era, the days were you could go to a market and buy mixtapes were long gone. The raid on Drama’s studio ended the mixtape era, however it led to the beginning of a new era, the Blog era.
4. Mainstream Vs Underground Era
1997 - 2001
Mainstream and Underground artists that define this era:
Jay-Z, Eminem, DMX, OutKast and Missy Elliott
EL-P, Black Star, MF DOOM, Aesop Rock and Atmosphere
Mainstream and Underground projects from this era:
It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot (1998), The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998), The Slim Shady LP (1999), Stankonia (2000), The Blueprint (2001)
Funcrusher Plus (1997), Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star (1998), Deltron 3030 (2000), The Cold Vein (2001), Labor Days (2001)
In 1997 Diddy and his label Bad Boy had one of the most unprecedented runs, within one year they had three number one albums, Biggie’s “Life After Death”, Mase’s “Harlem World” and Diddy’s own album “No Way Out”. Along with Mase, Diddy started the shiny suit era, a short era that consisted of pop friendly rap records. With all of Bad Boy’s success it reflected that Hip-Hop had become a marketable, commercialised and popular music genre. Though this would seem fantastic and a massive feet since Hip-Hop was a genre that wasn’t taken seriously before, some viewed the genre becoming exploited. This exploitation caused a rift and a divide between the mainstream and the underground scene. By the 1990s Hip-Hop’s popularity was growing exponentially and many who loved the genre saw it become “pimped”, and by the late 90s the only thing that sold well was materialism and violence.
The divide between the mainstream and underground was so evident, mainstream platforms such as the radio ignored underground artists and the underground scene pointed middle fingers to the major labels, the radio and the artists involved with them. Diddy’s influence was immense as many artists tried to replicate his formula and sacrificed their own artistry to gain commercial success, for instance Nas’ 1999 single “You Owe Me” featuring Ginuwine from his disastrous fourth album “Nastradamus” or Jay-Z’s “(Always Be My) Sunshine” from his 1997 sophomore album “Vol.1… In My Lifetime” . Growing underground scenes were developing in different cities, especially in New York City, rap acts such as Black Star, MF Doom and EL-P were building underground buzzes and released some of the greatest underground Hip-Hop albums.
If I had to showcase my own opinion if you were a fan of either the mainstream or the underground scene and ignored the other, well then you missed out. Whilst there was fantastic projects released from underground artists, such as the artists mentioned prior, there were fantastic commercial releases. As I said before, the “shiny suit era” didn’t last that long and that was because of an aggressive and passionate rapper by the name of DMX, who brought it back to the streets and went on to release two fantastic number one albums in the same year. Missy Elliott and Lauryn Hill were two leading female rappers that released phenomenal debuts, with Missy’s 1997 “Supa Dupa Fly” and Lauryn’s 1998 debut “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill”. Atlanta’s OutKast continued their consistency of albums with 1998’s “Aquemini” and "2000’s “Stankonia”. Jay-Z finally gained commercial recognition and during this era he dropped his best singles such as “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)”, “Big Pimpin” and “I Just Wanna Luv U”. Lastly, there was the meteoric rise of Eminem, a white rapper with bleached blonde hair who shocked mainstream America with his content.
3. Blog Era
2009 - 2013
Artists that define this era:
Drake, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Odd Future and Kid Cudi
Projects from this era:
So Far Gone (2009), Man On The Moon: The End of Day (2009), Friday Night Lights (2010), Goblin (2011), Good Kid, m.A.A.d. city (2012)
As mentioned with the “Mixtape era” the days of going out and getting a mixtape in a market were done, but it didn’t stop mixtapes as a whole. By the mid to late 2000s the internet started to become a place to find new music and artists, similar to selling mixtapes in person, platforms such as MySpace was shown to to help up and coming artists to get their music out there to the masses. We have to thank Soulja Boy for starting this, as he built a buzz for himself on the internet and achieved a number one single in 2007 with “Crank That”. This helped other up and coming rappers to follow pursuit, whilst music centred blogs started gaining notoriety; blogs such as DatPiff, HotNewHipHop and 2DopeBoyz helped bring attention to underground artists.
The blog era is one of the most impactful eras in not just Hip-Hop, but for music in general. Prior to this era; record labels, radio and DJs were the ones who controlled and dictated what was good and what was popular, however with the rise of the internet the barriers to entry dropped and the tastemakers were the fans. Artists that were different to the norms were able to gain recognition, from the likes of Kid Cudi rapping about his mental health, Tyler, the Creator making shock value content or Drake an artist from Toronto who rapped and singed on his songs. Now over a decade on from this era we have seen artists from this era, for example the ones I just mentioned, go on to become highly influential artists.
As said before, the Blog era is by far one of the most impactful and important eras in recent memory. It shows the impact of the internet on the music industry as we soon after saw the rise in streaming and the influence of social media on the business aspect of music, such as marketing. However, the best part of this era is that it shook things up, because if the late 90s showcased the start of the exploitation of Hip-Hop by powerful corporations then we got to see the power shift back to the artists and the fans during this era.
2. Golden Era
1984 - 1988
Artists that define this era:
LL Cool J, Eric B. & Rakim, Run-DMC, N.W.A. and Public Enemy
Projects from this era:
Run-D.M.C. (1984), Radio (1985), Paid in Full (1987), It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988), Straight Outta Compton (1988)
It’s been argued when the “Golden age” of Hip-Hop started and when it ended, perhaps there is more than one “Golden age”. According to MSNBC they called the 1980s the “Golden era” and maybe they are right, after all it’s an era that saw the rise of huge amounts of talent and this was mostly seen during 1984 to 1988. During this time there was the rise of Def Jam, arguably the best Hip-Hop label of all time with acts such as LL Cool J, Beastie Boys and Run-D.M.C. Not to mention the string of phenomenal and impactful albums that came out this era, from the likes of Eric B. and Rakim’s “Paid In Full”, Public Enemy’s “It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back” and Big Daddy Kane’s “Long Live the Kane”.
Without this era Hip-Hop would not achieve what it has and the artists that came after this era would probably not exist. You can see direct influence from the rappers of the 1980s; from Rakim’s influence on Nas to Big Daddy Kane’s influence on Biggie and Jay-Z. It’s an era that had huge amounts of diversity and set the trends that dominated future generations. Take for instance “Gangsta Rap”, a subgenre that dominated the 1990s, which was spear headed by the release of N.W.A.’s 1988 debut album, “Straight Outta Compton”. Most importantly however, it’s Hip-Hop’s first era of dominance and saw it’s rise from the underground to attracting a mainstream audience, with acts such as Run-D.M.C. and LL Cool J producing hit singles.
East Vs West Era
1992 - 1996
Artists that define this era:
2Pac, Biggie, Nas, Snoop Dogg and Wu-Tang Clan
Projects from this era:
The Chronic (1992), Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers (1993), Illmatic (1994), Ready to Die (1994), All Eyez On Me (1996)
What beats the “golden era”, an era that set the tone? Well that would be the “second golden era”, an era that is more influential and out did the previous generation. There’s an array of artists that I could mention during this era and this is a period which saw even more influential albums come out; from The Chronic, to Ready to Die, to ATLiens. Every artist and producer was different from one another and they all tried to push Hip-Hop to new creative heights.
The 1990s saw Hip-Hop gain more commercial and mainstream heights. I would go as far as to say that 1992 to 1996 was the start of Hip-Hop showcasing its global power. Huge amounts of defining moments occurred during this era, with rise of the West Coast and their battle with the East for supremacy to OutKast and Scarface helping the South gain respect as a Hip-Hop region. It will be difficult to have an era that can be more impactful and more iconic than this era.
Similar to the Soundcloud era, this era came to an end due to tragedy. The unfortunate death of 2Pac marked the end of the so called “West Coast and East Coast rivalry”. Additionally, with the death of Biggie six months later it meant that there was a huge void to fill and there were a new crop of rappers willing to fill that void.