Back when Hip Hop was starting out, it began a tradition that has now gone on for over 40 years. It had started in New York, where the DJ was the one who got the crowd going with an amazing beat and the Emcee (rapper) was more of a front man. Then the song Rapper's Delight by The Sugarhill Gang came out and it changed hip-hop forever. Rappers were starting to heavily come out of the east coast like Run DMC, The Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, and Rakim. But then a group called N.W.A came Straight Outta Compton and further elevated Hip Hop music with "Gangsta rap". Soon, the West Coast ran hip hop with rappers like N.W.A members Dr. Dre and Ice Cube and other west coast solo artists like Ice T and Snoop Dogg. This lead to a rivalry between the West Coast and East Coast and led to the famous feud between West Coast rapper Tupac Shakur, and East Coast Rapper Biggie Smalls, who are both regarded as the greatest rappers of all time. Both were fatally shot in drive-by shootings ending their careers as rappers which made people wonder if hip-hop would ever continue. In the end, both coasts resolved their differences and Hip Hop continued to prosper. More rappers were making their way like Jay-Z, Nas, Wu Tang Clan, Cypress Hill, The Fugees, etc. Then hip-hop started to come out all over the U.S. Rappers down south like Geto Boys and Outkast started to make a name for themselves and in Detroit, Michigan, Eminem was gaining an audience and broke many boundaries when he came into hip-hop. Hip-hop was starting to become a tradition that many people started to follow. But once the late 2000s came, hip-hop changed forever, which has made many people wonder if it is even considered hip-hop now. That is when questions started to rise about if hip-hop was now even more alive than it was before or is hip-hop dead?

It is safe to say that the new hip-hop started out around 2008. Around this time, we have had some interesting rappers come out who may regard themselves more as artists instead of being rappers. In particular, there were artists like Lil Wayne, Drake, and Kanye West. Believe me, these guys all make some great music. Kanye West has some great beats and Drake has a great voice to go along with his rapping skills. Here is a video showing these rappers at the start of the new Hip Hop with rap legend Eminem in their music video Forever:

Although they amaze us with their talents, some people still do not know if these guys are really considered rappers. For instance, no one can tell if Drake is a rapper who sings or a pop star that likes to rap. In light of his recent album "Views," most of the songs are of him singing like Hotline Bling, One Dance, and Too Good with his girlfriend Rihanna. Is this rap being different or is this rap at all? And Kanye West does produce some of the greatest beats I have ever heard and when it comes to rapping, I believe he is a savage, but people keep having to remind us about how much of an asshole he really is so they ignore his music and worry more about his personality. His raps are considered good because they are funny and we are feeding into his ego as an artist and just want him to keep attacking people like his wife Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift. Reasons like this make us wonder if hip-hop is even an art at all. But that is not the only reason that many people may think hip-hop is dead.There have been rappers who have come into rap who have changed their voices completely by using auto-tune or just sounding absolutely ridiculous. I feel like I would enjoy their music if I could understand what the hell they are trying to say. This includes rappers such as Future, Rich Homie Quan, Young Thug, and more recently Desiigner. This is where I feel that rap may be going in a direction that blows off previous traditions and where it does not even feel like Hip Hop is the music that is being played. Although, there are rappers out there that are like this, others have found ways to bring back the old school sound.

There are two rappers in particular who I feel go along with the more traditional style of rap and have made an impact on hip-hop today. Those two artists are Kendrick Lamar and J Cole. Kendrick Lamar raps about struggles that he faces with being black in America and also has amazing wordplay to go along with that. A Compton native, he has been following in the footsteps of his influences such as Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and many people have regarded him as the next Tupac. J Cole is also known to talk about his personal struggles, but many people find his music relatable and you can tell that his music has soul to it. He has also listed his influences as being Tupac, Eminem, and was a huge fan of Nas while growing up. They both collaborated on a song called Black Friday where Kendrick rapped over J Cole's A Tale of Two Cities and J Cole rapped over Kendrick's song Alright. They plan on coming out with a collaboration album soon, which many fans of hip-hop are looking forward too.

Although rappers have followed traditions, there are rappers who are under independent labels who have done a lot to change hip hop. Being Independent is almost the new way of making music these days. Rappers that are independent and different have started to gain some recognition over the past couple of years. This list includes Action Bronson, Danny Brown, Childish Gambino, Tech N9ne, Tyler the Creator, and more recently Chance the Rapper. As of right now, Chance has found a lot of success being independent. For one thing, he is not even on a rap label and his album Coloring Book just gained a lot of critical acclaim and many want to see his album get a Grammy nomination this year. This would be a big deal because it would open the doors for independent artists to get nominated and recognized for their work. What Chance has proven to us, is that there isn't only hope with being independent, but there is also hope with hip-hop. This is the one time where being different is interesting and new hip-hop has a chance at doing a lot in music.

It is hard to believe that hip-hop has been around for over 40 years. It is now 2016 and more rappers are coming out than ever before. Some rappers are very unique. Others, in my opinion, have just killed the sound of hip-hop and have either auto-tuned their voice or just make music that has no meaning. Rap has definitely changed over the years and I feel that more rappers are getting the opportunity to make music than ever before. I believe some traditions have died, but rap is different and more unique than it ever was before. I am leaving off with a video of the 2016 class of rappers coming out. But before I show this video I have one last question for everyone. Is hip-hop dead?