![]() In reality, rap's influence has never been stronger, and its selection has rarely been more compelling. That's an industry concern, not an artistic one. Some observers have been looking at the tea leaves (streaming metrics) and wondering if the genre's dominance is waning. ![]() What does a genre built on words do when those words can, and almost certainly will, be held against its artists in court?īest Music of 2022 The Best Music of 2022īut hip-hop's story is one of surviving adversity, of creating under disadvantageous circumstances, and so the culture has persisted, as it always does, and rappers continued to raise the bar for bars. Thug's lyrics are being weaponized against him. ![]() Its reverberations have been quietly felt throughout the rap world. 26 YSL associates were arrested on criminal conspiracy charges in May, and 25 remain in jail, despite the absurdity of those charges. It feels like the Atlanta rap scene, the epicenter of hip-hop, is still recovering. There has been no shortage of abuses, including New York City getting drill rappers removed from the Rolling Loud bill, but one in particular has reverberated across the rap landscape: Young Thug, Gunna, and the members of YSL record label being rounded up and charged in a RICO case. The genre has faced over-policing and sensationalism before, dating back to the NYPD's rap intelligence unit in 1999, but the scope of the crusade has expanded: lyrics continue to be treated like transcripts by the law, rappers are painted as crime lords and their imprints are characterized as mob outfits. Photo Illustration: Jackie Lay/NPR/Derek White/Getty Images for The Recording AcademyĪ pall has been hanging over hip-hop this year: the ongoing criminalization of being a rapper looms large. Pusha T's It's Almost Dry is one of NPR Music's top 20 hip-hop albums of 2022.
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