It isn't evolving, it is devolving. It has been turned into a money making machine and nothing more. The body still lives, but the soul is long gone. To put it in Rock and Roll terms, Hip Hop today is at the hair band stage, and there isn't a Nirvana in sight.
My wife sent me this a few days ago - had me dying! The Onion still kills it!
http://www.theonion.com/articles/there-are-people-in-world-who-are-concerned-about,32162/
i agree with that. The cookie cutter album direction for artist kill me.
intro
single
mixtape song
club song
single 2
song for chicks
song with your artist label mates
song with other establish artist song
weed song
outro
maybe that nirvana will come when artist ditch record labels all together like mannie was talking about
Honestly, a lot of the album break downs of the "golden era" LPs were quite formulaic as well. And, I don't think it's label vs. non-label. Most artists - especially younger artists - don't really know how to make an album vs. a mixtape, and going indy is not going to help them. What would help would be going back toward few producers per project, and aiming for a cohesive sound.
Get real,man. If he had it hard, then so did this 90s rapper/child actor:
Yo, my dude J posted "The Carnival" album up in here.
/dead
That episode when there's the drive-by shooting after the football game and they don't know if they are going to have the dance and then David Silver is on the mic in the gym with the dudes from Crenshaw. ...Oh, that show was epic - 90210 knowledge was necessary for making the small talk needed to bang white girls in the early - mid 90s,
I knew you'd know what I was talking about. Those ads were OD up in The Source. ...Almost as much as Almighty RSO album promos.
Mj before he started dressing like that old uncle that still smokes weed
This line made me literally LOL.