I would have to say it goes like this:

1999-2000: Teen Pop: Britney, N'Sync

2001-2002: in between years but the fued between rappers Nas and Jay-Z is huge news.

2003: Rap music explodes in popularity with 50 Cent, A/C becomes big with Maroon 5.

2004: Crunk becomes big with rapper Lil Jon's hit "Get Low". This leads R&B singer Usher to incorporate Crunk into his music with his own hit that called "Yeah" in 2004. R&b singer Ciarra is declared the "princess of Crunk" in 2005 by Lil Jon I think. 80's New Wave/synth-pop makes a little of a comeback with Franz Ferdinand and The Killers.

late 2005/mid 2006: snap rap explodes in popularity with DL4 and Dem Franchise Boyz and paves the way for snap-rap one hit wonders and combining dance music with hip-hop becomes with producer Timbiland, and singers like Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake.

Yeah, I'd say you're right with all that.

I'll also add that some time in 2003 was a big change. That seemed to be when "oldies"-type pop songs seemed to noticeably die out, and there were less songs without a hip hop influence. Something like Uncle Kracker's cover of "Drift Away", Michelle Branch and Santana's "The Game of Love" or even Avril's first songs probably wouldn't chart nearly as high today.

I think overall, early 1997 (when the Spice Girls got big) to 2002 or early '03 was the transitional period. Although 1999 is the first year at all you could say included "Zeroes music". Even though it sounds quite dated, Britney's early stuff and Blink 182 kind of fit the '00s image in a developmental way.

Speaking of AC, I do think it's made a slight comeback (although the songs could be better, lol) with, say James Blunt, Snow Patrol and "Bad Day" type songs. 2003-2005 seemed to be the most hip hop-oriented time of all.

Yeah, I'd say you're right with all that.

Even though it sounds quite dated, Britney's early stuff and Blink 182 kind of fit the '00s image in a developmental way.

I think Britney stuff like "Crazy" and "Baby One More Time" has that catchiness lyrically and a catchy beat to it that the alot of 00's songs have. Think: Yeah by Usher, or Drop Like Its Hot by Snoop Dogg and Pharell.

Very much the same here too, but with our own trends added in to mix. Like the entire "Dub" scene of the early-00s, the garage rock scene of the early-00s which kinda tied in with the White Stripes-esque bands popular then (although The White Stripes are still popular), then the electronic music scene mostly mid-00s and the "indie rock-revival" scene of later years.

Of course not as popular as the trends shown in post #1.

Here's what I came up with, and some of the timeframes overlap each other:

2000-2002: Teen pop (Britney, NSYNC), Latin pop (Ricky Martin, Enrique, Mark Antony, Shakirah, J-Lo), Rap/pop artists like Ja Rule (J-Lo was with him too), DMX, and Nelly were popular. Destiny's Child and Eminem were huge. This period was pretty much same as the late 90's.

2000-2004: STL based artists like Nelly, Chingy, and J-Kwon

2003-2007: Emo (The Killerz, Maroon 5, All-American Rejects, Plain White-T's)

2003-2007: G-Unit artists (50 Cent, The Game), and Kanye West

2003-2005: Crunk (Lil' Jon)

2005-2007: Snap (Dem Franchise Boyz, D4L, Shop Boyz, Mims, Unk, Soldier Boy)

2005-2007: Chopped & Screwed (Mike Jones, Paul Wall)

2005-2007: Blend of hip-hip and r&b (Pretty Ricky, Omarion, Lloyd, Akon, T-Pain)

2004/5-2007: A/C (James Blunt, Daniel Powter)

2004-2007: Electro dance-pop (Gwen Stefani, Nelly Furtado, J. T-Lake, Timberland, Fergie)

2004 and 2005: Reggaetons (Daddy Yankee)

2000-2007: Artists that have been around since the 90's like Snoop Dogg, R. Kelly, Usher, and Outkast. Beyonce pretty much has the entire 00's as well.


I may have left some things out. If I think of anything else I'll post it later. When you look at it this way, the 00's do have a wide variety of music.

Here's what I came up with, and some of the timeframes overlap each other:

2000-2002: Teen pop (Britney, NSYNC), Latin pop (Ricky Martin, Enrique, Mark Antony, Shakirah, J-Lo), Rap/pop artists like Ja Rule (J-Lo was with him too), DMX, and Nelly were popular. Destiny's Child and Eminem were huge. This period was pretty much same as the late 90's.

2000-2004: STL based artists like Nelly, Chingy, and J-Kwon

2003-2007: Emo (The Killerz, Maroon 5, All-American Rejects, Plain White-T's)

2003-2007: G-Unit artists (50 Cent, The Game), and Kanye West

2003-2005: Crunk (Lil' Jon)

2005-2007: Snap (Dem Franchise Boyz, D4L, Shop Boyz, Mims, Unk, Soldier Boy)

2005-2007: Chopped & Screwed (Mike Jones, Paul Wall)

2005-2007: Blend of hip-hip and r&b (Pretty Ricky, Omarion, Lloyd, Akon, T-Pain)

2004/5-2007: A/C (James Blunt, Daniel Powter)

2004-2007: Electro dance-pop (Gwen Stefani, Nelly Furtado, J. T-Lake, Timberland, Fergie)

2004 and 2005: Reggaetons (Daddy Yankee)

2000-2007: Artists that have been around since the 90's like Snoop Dogg, R. Kelly, Usher, and Outkast. Beyonce pretty much has the entire 00's as well.


I may have left some things out. If I think of anything else I'll post it later. When you look at it this way, the 00's do have a wide variety of music.


Maroon 5 is emo?  ???

Here's what I came up with, and some of the timeframes overlap each other:


2003-2007: Emo (The Killerz, Maroon 5, All-American Rejects, Plain White-T's)

I may have left some things out. If I think of anything else I'll post it later. When you look at it this way, the 00's do have a wide variety of music.
The Killers are EMO?

Here's what I came up with, and some of the timeframes overlap each other:

2000-2002: Teen pop (Britney, NSYNC), Latin pop (Ricky Martin, Enrique, Mark Antony, Shakirah, J-Lo), Rap/pop artists like Ja Rule (J-Lo was with him too), DMX, and Nelly were popular. Destiny's Child and Eminem were huge. This period was pretty much same as the late 90's.

2004 and 2005: Reggaetons(Daddy Yankee.)


I would have to diagree with you that the early 00's and the late 90's are the same I mean 1997-1998 seemed different to me than 1999-2001/2002. I mean of the artists you named Ricky Martin, Enrique, Mark Anthony, J-Lo, and Eminem all came out in 1999. Britney came out like a 1-2 weeks before Christmas time in 1998 I think and Ja Rule maybe came out early in December of 1998 I think because he was one of the artists that had rap verses in Jay-Z's hit "Can I Get A....?" Destiny;s Child came out in mid 1998 and scored big with their  hit "No, No, No" featuring Wycleff Jean.

I think Shakira came out in 2000 or 2001. Nelky came out in mid 2000 I think, and your right about DMX though he does fit  the late 90's/early 00's era.

As far as reggae goes don;t forget about Sean Paul.

1999-2001- Boy bands, Britney, Christina, etc. early material. Latin pop (which pretty much fit in with the whole boy band image anyway). Girl groups like Destiny's Child rise to prominence.
2001-2003- hip-hop/r&b takes over more and more but it's a more listenable and r&b slanted hip-hop style that dominates (Ashanti, Nelly, Eve, Ja Rule, City high, Alicia Keys, Shaggy, etc.) Pop-rock artists like Michelle Branch, Avril Lavigne, Vanessa Carlton, Shakira along with typical post-grunge bands like Puddle of Mudd, Nickelback, Lifehouse, Fuel are prominent. This is probably the best part of the decade. Christina, Britney, J. Lo broaden their styles away from bubblegum pop.
2003-2005- Crunk/dance takes eventually takes over the hip-hop world and the pop music world in a lot of ways as well, hip-hop music still has a lot of r&b/soul style songs as well like "Burn", "If I Ain't Got You", "My Boo", etc. This timeperiod was decent, not great though.
2006-now- This is the low point and most disgusting part of the decade (at least looking at our music charts here in the US). Snap music comes up and officially ruins hip-hop. Snap/dance hip-hop/gimmick songs are what's prominent on the charts right now. The r&b/soul influence in most urban music is at a terrible low. Rock is filled with whiny emo bands and Nickelback has gone from mediocre to just plain terrible. I don't even want to look at the charts anymore because I get a sick feeling in my stomach (Soulja Boy hitting number 1 recently for example). There's decent stuff still but the bad stuff is just sooo damn bad that it makes the overall scene look like crap.

All in all I don't care that much since nowadays I spend most of my time listening to '90s and 1st half '00s music.

Alot of you are forgetting that 2001 and 2002 were big years for A/C as well, along with Rock/Soft Rock and Contemporary R&B

In 2001, we had alot of hits such as...

"Fallin'" by Alicia Keys
"Drops of Jupiter" by Train
"Hanging By A Moment" by Lifehouse
"Thank You" by Dido
"Jaded" by Aerosmith
"It's Been Awhile" by Staind
"Drive" by Incubus
"Hemorrhage" by Fuel
"Crazy" by K-Ci & JoJo
"Beautiful Day" by U2
"When It's Over" by Sugar Ray
"Southside" by Moby & Gwen Stefani
"Butterfly" by Crazy Town
"Again" by Lenny Kravitz
"I'm Like A Bird" by Nelly Furtado
"Everywhere" by Michelle Branch
"Here's To The Night" by Eve 6
"What Would You Do?' by City High
"Be Like That" by 3 Doors Down
"Only Time" by Enya
"Breathless" by The Corrs
"Yellow" by Coldplay
"Best I Ever Had" by Vertical Horizon
"Differences" by Ginuwine
"Hero" by Enrique Iglesias
"Clint Eastwood" by Gorillaz

I could go on forever.  That 2001 to 2002 era wasn't all filled with bubblegum pop like 1999 and 2000 were.  I consider 2001 more like a 1998 throwback with alot of A/C Hits and R&B

1999-2001- Boy bands, Britney, Christina, etc. early material. Latin pop (which pretty much fit in with the whole boy band image anyway). Girl groups like Destiny's Child rise to prominence.
2001-2003- hip-hop/r&b takes over more and more but it's a more listenable and r&b slanted hip-hop style that dominates (Ashanti, Nelly, Eve, Ja Rule, City high, Alicia Keys, Shaggy, etc.) Pop-rock artists like Michelle Branch, Avril Lavigne, Vanessa Carlton, Shakira along with typical post-grunge bands like Puddle of Mudd, Nickelback, Lifehouse, Fuel are prominent. This is probably the best part of the decade. Christina, Britney, J. Lo broaden their styles away from bubblegum pop.
2003-2005- Crunk/dance takes eventually takes over the hip-hop world and the pop music world in a lot of ways as well, hip-hop music still has a lot of r&b/soul style songs as well like "Burn", "If I Ain't Got You", "My Boo", etc. This timeperiod was decent, not great though.
2006-now- This is the low point and most disgusting part of the decade (at least looking at our music charts here in the US). Snap music comes up and officially ruins hip-hop. Snap/dance hip-hop/gimmick songs are what's prominent on the charts right now. The r&b/soul influence in most urban music is at a terrible low. Rock is filled with whiny emo bands and Nickelback has gone from mediocre to just plain terrible. I don't even want to look at the charts anymore because I get a sick feeling in my stomach (Soulja Boy hitting number 1 recently for example). There's decent stuff still but the bad stuff is just sooo damn bad that it makes the overall scene look like crap.

All in all I don't care that much since nowadays I spend most of my time listening to '90s and 1st half '00s music.



I totally agree. Music has been beyond horrible since about the middle of 2005.

I'd just like to butt in and say that I think people, both here and elsewhere, really overestimate Emo's dominance on the Rock charts.  Is Emo one of the most influential styles of music this decade?  Why, yes it is, no one can doubt that.  Is Emo one of the most popular styles of Rock music this decade?  Yes it is.  Does it completely dominate the charts and saturate the airwaves like some people say?  Not in the least.

To prove my point, I'll will use the most recent Modern Rock Tracks chart.

1.  Foo Fighters - The Pretender (Not Emo.  Post-Grunge more than anything.)
2.  Linkin Park - Bleet It Out (Not Emo.  One of Linkin Park's two Rap-Rock songs on their new album.)
3.  Finger Eleven - Paralyzer (Not Emo.  Awesome song btw.)
4.  Three Days Grace - Never Too Late (Not Emo, but they do have a lot of angst and they do suck)
5.  The White Stripes - Icky Thump (Not Emo.  Garage Rock influenced.)
6.  Muse - Supermassive Black Hole (Not Emo.)
7.  Paramore - Misery Business (Emo with a female singer)
8.  Linkin Park - What I've Done (Its filled with angst, but its not Emo.)
9.  Incubus - Oil and Water (Not Emo.  They were around long before Emo became popular.)
10.  Sick Puppies - All The Same (Doesn't appear to be Emo, but I'd have to hear the rest of their stuff.  Interestingly enough, this video was recorded in 2004 and was on youtube by 2006, but it hasn't appeared on the rock charts until now.)

Okay, 1 out of 10.  I wouldn't exactly call that saturating the airwaves.  I even noticed this with the Emo kids at school.  The Emo kids among teenagers are definitely a large amount and you can easily get the impression that Emo is the dominant style of rock music.  However, one look at the charts says differently.

I'd just like to butt in and say that I think people, both here and elsewhere, really overestimate Emo's dominance on the Rock charts.  Is Emo one of the most influential styles of music this decade?  Why, yes it is, no one can doubt that.  Is Emo one of the most popular styles of Rock music this decade?  Yes it is.  Does it completely dominate the charts and saturate the airwaves like some people say?  Not in the least.

To prove my point, I'll will use the most recent Modern Rock Tracks chart.

1.  Foo Fighters - The Pretender (Not Emo.  Post-Grunge more than anything.)
2.  Linkin Park - Bleet It Out (Not Emo.  One of Linkin Park's two Rap-Rock songs on their new album.)
3.  Finger Eleven - Paralyzer (Not Emo.  Awesome song btw.)
4.  Three Days Grace - Never Too Late (Not Emo, but they do have a lot of angst and they do suck)
5.  The White Stripes - Icky Thump (Not Emo.  Garage Rock influenced.)
6.  Muse - Supermassive Black Hole (Not Emo.)
7.  Paramore - Misery Business (Emo with a female singer)
8.  Linkin Park - What I've Done (Its filled with angst, but its not Emo.)
9.  Incubus - Oil and Water (Not Emo.  They were around long before Emo became popular.)
10.  Sick Puppies - All The Same (Doesn't appear to be Emo, but I'd have to hear the rest of their stuff.  Interestingly enough, this video was recorded in 2004 and was on youtube by 2006, but it hasn't appeared on the rock charts until now.)

Okay, 1 out of 10.  I wouldn't exactly call that saturating the airwaves.  I even noticed this with the Emo kids at school.  The Emo kids among teenagers are definitely a large amount and you can easily get the impression that Emo is the dominant style of rock music.  However, one look at the charts says differently.


Emo is probably more popular on the pop charts than the rock charts. Emo is really more of a style/trend/look than it is music. The music is just a little thing really.

I'd just like to butt in and say that I think people, both here and elsewhere, really overestimate Emo's dominance on the Rock charts.  Is Emo one of the most influential styles of music this decade?  Why, yes it is, no one can doubt that.  Is Emo one of the most popular styles of Rock music this decade?  Yes it is.  Does it completely dominate the charts and saturate the airwaves like some people say?  Not in the least.

To prove my point, I'll will use the most recent Modern Rock Tracks chart.

1.  Foo Fighters - The Pretender (Not Emo.  Post-Grunge more than anything.)
2.  Linkin Park - Bleet It Out (Not Emo.  One of Linkin Park's two Rap-Rock songs on their new album.)
3.  Finger Eleven - Paralyzer (Not Emo.  Awesome song btw.)
4.  Three Days Grace - Never Too Late (Not Emo, but they do have a lot of angst and they do suck)
5.  The White Stripes - Icky Thump (Not Emo.  Garage Rock influenced.)
6.  Muse - Supermassive Black Hole (Not Emo.)
7.  Paramore - Misery Business (Emo with a female singer)
8.  Linkin Park - What I've Done (Its filled with angst, but its not Emo.)
9.  Incubus - Oil and Water (Not Emo.  They were around long before Emo became popular.)
10.  Sick Puppies - All The Same (Doesn't appear to be Emo, but I'd have to hear the rest of their stuff.  Interestingly enough, this video was recorded in 2004 and was on youtube by 2006, but it hasn't appeared on the rock charts until now.)

Okay, 1 out of 10.  I wouldn't exactly call that saturating the airwaves.  I even noticed this with the Emo kids at school.  The Emo kids among teenagers are definitely a large amount and you can easily get the impression that Emo is the dominant style of rock music.  However, one look at the charts says differently.



I like most of those songs. I hate Emo, but I do agree that it isn't nearly as dominant now as some think it is, in fact I think it may actually be past it's peak a little bit.

I'd just like to butt in and say that I think people, both here and elsewhere, really overestimate Emo's dominance on the Rock charts.  Is Emo one of the most influential styles of music this decade?  Why, yes it is, no one can doubt that.  Is Emo one of the most popular styles of Rock music this decade?  Yes it is.  Does it completely dominate the charts and saturate the airwaves like some people say?  Not in the least.

To prove my point, I'll will use the most recent Modern Rock Tracks chart.

1.  Foo Fighters - The Pretender (Not Emo.  Post-Grunge more than anything.)
2.  Linkin Park - Bleet It Out (Not Emo.  One of Linkin Park's two Rap-Rock songs on their new album.)
3.  Finger Eleven - Paralyzer (Not Emo.  Awesome song btw.)
4.  Three Days Grace - Never Too Late (Not Emo, but they do have a lot of angst and they do suck)
5.  The White Stripes - Icky Thump (Not Emo.  Garage Rock influenced.)
6.  Muse - Supermassive Black Hole (Not Emo.)
7.  Paramore - Misery Business (Emo with a female singer)
8.  Linkin Park - What I've Done (Its filled with angst, but its not Emo.)
9.  Incubus - Oil and Water (Not Emo.  They were around long before Emo became popular.)
10.  Sick Puppies - All The Same (Doesn't appear to be Emo, but I'd have to hear the rest of their stuff.  Interestingly enough, this video was recorded in 2004 and was on youtube by 2006, but it hasn't appeared on the rock charts until now.)

Okay, 1 out of 10.  I wouldn't exactly call that saturating the airwaves.  I even noticed this with the Emo kids at school.  The Emo kids among teenagers are definitely a large amount and you can easily get the impression that Emo is the dominant style of rock music.  However, one look at the charts says differently.


Most of those songs are good especially the foo fighters, incubus, muse, finger eleven.

I have to agree with Brian and Machine Head even though I;m about 9 years older than Machine Head and I don;t know how much I I am older than Brian but music has sucked since mid 2005. I mean 2001-2005 were decent but not as good as the 90's. I mean shoot some of the hip-hop R&b songs from 2004 were listenable like "Karma"  by Avant and Lloyd Bank(I liked that song), Sunshine By Lil Flip and Lea, I Don't Wanna Know by Mario Winans. I remember people who were saying music sucked in 2002 but it wasn;t that bad.

The thing I can't stand about is all those gimmicky one-hit wonder flash in the pan snap rap acts nowadays the snap acts are just rap's version of rocks hair-metal era but at least the hair metal era had some good songs I can't say the same thing about the snap rap acts songs. I donlt reallt understand how these snap rap acts got to #1 on the Billboard charts.

1999-2001- Boy bands, Britney, Christina, etc. early material. Latin pop (which pretty much fit in with the whole boy band image anyway). Girl groups like Destiny's Child rise to prominence.
2001-2003- hip-hop/r&b takes over more and more but it's a more listenable and r&b slanted hip-hop style that dominates (Ashanti, Nelly, Eve, Ja Rule, City high, Alicia Keys, Shaggy, etc.) Pop-rock artists like Michelle Branch, Avril Lavigne, Vanessa Carlton, Shakira along with typical post-grunge bands like Puddle of Mudd, Nickelback, Lifehouse, Fuel are prominent. This is probably the best part of the decade. Christina, Britney, J. Lo broaden their styles away from bubblegum pop.
Like where in 2001 in your opinion did the teen-pop era die in your opinion?

I have to agree with Brian and Machine Head even though I;m about 9 years older than Machine Head and I don;t know how much I I am older than Brian but music has sucked since mid 2005. I mean 2001-2005 were decent but not as good as the 90's. I mean shoot some of the hip-hop R&b songs from 2004 were listenable like "Karma"  by Avant and Lloyd Bank(I liked that song), Sunshine By Lil Flip and Lea, I Don't Wanna Know by Mario Winans. I remember people who were saying music sucked in 2002 but it wasn;t that bad.

The thing I can't stand about is all those gimmicky one-hit wonder flash in the pan snap rap acts nowadays the snap acts are just rap's version of rocks hair-metal era but at least the hair metal era had some good songs I can't say the same thing about the snap rap acts songs. I donlt reallt understand how these snap rap acts got to #1 on the Billboard charts.



I'm pretty sure Brian and me were both born in 1987. But I totally agree with you. I haven't really cared much for music since the middle of 2005. Other than rock, there's been maybe 5 or 6 songs that have come out over the last 2 years that I like.

Like where in 2001 in your opinion did the teen-pop era die in your opinion?


Around the spring.

I have to agree with Brian and Machine Head even though I;m about 9 years older than Machine Head and I don;t know how much I I am older than Brian but music has sucked since mid 2005. I mean 2001-2005 were decent but not as good as the 90's. I mean shoot some of the hip-hop R&b songs from 2004 were listenable like "Karma"  by Avant and Lloyd Bank(I liked that song), Sunshine By Lil Flip and Lea, I Don't Wanna Know by Mario Winans. I remember people who were saying music sucked in 2002 but it wasn;t that bad.

The thing I can't stand about is all those gimmicky one-hit wonder flash in the pan snap rap acts nowadays the snap acts are just rap's version of rocks hair-metal era but at least the hair metal era had some good songs I can't say the same thing about the snap rap acts songs. I donlt reallt understand how these snap rap acts got to #1 on the Billboard charts.


I was born in May 87. Laffy Taffy (I know I keep mentioning this song but it was sadly a trend setter) started the whole "gimmicky songs getting straight to number 1" thing and it just doesn't seem to be going away. I wish I could understand the appeal of songs like "Buy U A Drank" but I can't, lol.

"I Don't Wanna Know" was definitely a good song, songs like that are like what I was saying about 2004 still having good r&b songs that were really popular, now while these types of songs are still there on the charts they always take the backseat to the snappin crap.

I'm pretty sure Brian and me were both born in 1987. But I totally agree with you. I haven't really cared much for music since the middle of 2005. Other than rock, there's been maybe 5 or 6 songs that have come out over the last 2 years that I like.
Hmmm songs from 2006/2-007 that I like:

Can;t Tell Me Nothing-Kanye West
The People-Common
Ice Box-Omarion
Get It Shawty-Lloyd
Anonomyous-Bobby Valentiono featuring Timbaland
Be With You-Elisabeth Withers
Do It, Say It Right, Promiscouis-Nelly Furtado
You-Lloyd featuring Lil Wayne
If Hip Hop Is Dead-Nas
Last Nite-P. Diddy featuring Keyshia Cole
Lets Ride-The Game
How To Save a Life-The Fray(Ok good song but way overplayed)
Stickwitu-Pussycatt Dolls(I cant help but like this song.)
Slap-Ludicras

I was born in May 87. Laffy Taffy (I know I keep mentioning this song but it was sadly a trend setter) started the whole "gimmicky songs getting straight to number 1" thing and it just doesn't seem to be going away. I wish I could understand the appeal of songs like "Buy U A Drank" but I can't, lol.

Yeah Laffy Taffy was a trendsetter no doubt.

^As far as gimmicky trendsetters go, another one from early 2006 or so, might be "My Humps". I mean, "Let's Get it Started" was a good dance/hip hop song by them in '04, but it's like how could anyone take My Humps seriously? ;D

Yeah, Rap has been going down the drain for years.  The only truly good rappers out now are non-mainstream rappers like Lupe Fiasco, Talib Kweli, and Common (okay, hes semi-mainstream because he had a song nominated at the 2005 VMAs and is performing at this year's VMAs, but hes never been a big chart topper).  All the mainstream stuff sucks.  Though I must admit that the music videos crack me up.  Watch Soulja Boy with the music turned off and its just plain funny for all the wrong reasons.  Grillz and My Humps were when rap videos became truly, truly laughable for me.

I honestly hope we get some form of "Alternative Rap" soon.  I notice that starting in 2006, some of the non-mainstream rappers I mentioned started to get some small followings at my school.  Very, very small followings, but they were existent.  And what with Jay-Z coming out of retirement to be "hip hop's savior" (as stated in his song "Kingdom Come") and with Nas making an album and single called "Hip Hop Is Dead", I think there is a certain feeling of dissatisfaction with today's rap that is starting to grow.  Similar to how Alternative Rock started to gain a following in the late 80s with stuff like REM, but was by no means a popular, mainstream form of music.  This ultimately resulted in Billboard debuting its Modern Rock Tracks (which has ALWAYS been an alternative rock chart) in 1988 and with MTV issuing a "Best Post-Modern Video Award" in 1989 that would later morph into "Best Alternative Video."  Maybe we'll see something like that, but with Rap.

At least, thats what I'd like to think will happen.

Yeah, Rap has been going down the drain for years.  The only truly good rappers out now are non-mainstream rappers like Lupe Fiasco, Talib Kweli, and Common (okay, hes semi-mainstream because he had a song nominated at the 2005 VMAs and is performing at this year's VMAs, but hes never been a big chart topper).   All the mainstream stuff sucks.  Though I must admit that the music videos crack me up.  Watch Soulja Boy with the music turned off and its just plain funny for all the wrong reasons.  Grillz and My Humps were when rap videos became truly, truly laughable for me.

I honestly hope we get some form of "Alternative Rap" soon.  I notice that starting in 2006, some of the non-mainstream rappers I mentioned started to get some small followings at my school.  Very, very small followings, but they were existent.  And what with Jay-Z coming out of retirement to be "hip hop's savior" (as stated in his song "Kingdom Come") and with Nas making an album and single called "Hip Hop Is Dead", I think there is a certain feeling of dissatisfaction with today's rap that is starting to grow.  Similar to how Alternative Rock started to gain a following in the late 80s with stuff like REM, but was by no means a popular, mainstream form of music.  This ultimately resulted in Billboard debuting its Modern Rock Tracks (which has ALWAYS been an alternative rock chart) in 1988 and with MTV issuing a "Best Post-Modern Video Award" in 1989 that would later morph into "Best Alternative Video."  Maybe we'll see something like that, but with Rap.

At least, thats what I'd like to think will happen.
Ah, Talib Kweli looks like he's going commercial too hate to say with that new song "Hot Thing" that he has currently just like the Black Eyed Peas did when they put Fergie into their line-up. Black Eyed Peas before Fergie were pretty non-mainstream. As a matter fact I think Will.iam from the Black Eyed produced Talib Kweli's song "Hot Thing".

I think the South ruined hip-hop except for Ludicras's latest stuff and Outkasts early material. The rap group "Arrested Development" that was popular in 1991-1992 was the first hip-hop act from the South and Arrested Development was a pretty good rap act in their won right too. There is not much good rap from the East Coast(NY) and West Coast(LA) right now like there was in the 90's and mainly in the 80's all the rappers mainly came  from NY. All the good rap that there is right now is coming from rappers that are from Chicago like Common and Kanye West. I think Lupe Fiasco is from Chicago too.