Conversation

@hippieNdisguise Hip hop has always been music for people without the sophistication to appreciate music.

Along the way, high forms evolved (Blackalicious, later Beastie Boys, Massive Attack,) but there are limits to rhyming along with samples of other peoples' music.

Pop music lyrics have been on an overall decline in IQ, which has probably been pulling rap's single strength (lyrical form) down with it:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/19/new-study-reveals-lyric-intelligence-getting-lower

https://consequenceofsound.net/2015/05/the-lyrics-of-recent-no-1-singles-average-at-a-third-grade-reading-level/

and musically:

https://pudding.cool/2018/05/similarity/