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Last year may have been marred by devastating tragedy and hip-hop’s frustrating personality shift, but it stood out by some of the most emotional, vulnerable, and honest songwriting to date. and may have lost a few heroes to their own maddening intolerance, but the music they got this year was top notch.
Whether underground favorites like Denzel Curry and Saba or top-line hitmakers like Kendrick Lamar and Megan Thee Stallion, rappers are no different than club bangers and street anthems. Dive deep with a release that resembles a therapeutic breakthrough. That said, he’s gotten a lot out of it, especially from his rap heavyweights like Lil Baby and he’s 21 Savage.
It’s hard to pinpoint how trends ebbed and flowed throughout the year. The main reason is that TikTok has remained a dominant force in music discovery (for example, the algorithm offers artists and songs that users tend to like). already). But this year’s breakout artist is definitely he’s GloRilla.
The reason her rise to stardom is that it started relatively late in the year. “FNF (Let’s Go)” with Hitkidd was released in April but did not reach number one. billboard Hot 100 until August. But once there, a deal with the Hometown Hero label led to streaming-era premier breakout star Cardi B.
Unfortunately, 2022 was yet another year Cardi bet on releasing a follow-up to her Grammy-winning debut. ), he was quick to admit that he had understandable apprehensions about the potential acceptance of his sophomore album.
And similar fears seemed to prevent the debut of one of hip-hop’s other marquee women, Saweetie, resulting in fewer high-profile releases from women overall. The previous years have not yet washed into the sea.
Megan Thee Stallion led the way with her soul-baring sophomore album. Trauma Zine, which falls naturally within the scope of this year’s therapeutic releases. But she was not alone. 2022 also saw a number of well-received releases from Armani Caesar, Latto, Leikeli47, Little Simz, Rico Nasty, Sampa The Great and more. Sure, there have been plenty of frictions related to Cardi and Nicki, but rap her girly is getting along just fine.
Unfortunately, a story that may be difficult to end is one that rap fans have pointed out to what appears to be a marked increase in rap-related murders. After losing celebrities such as Ruler, 2022 saw many deaths that rocked the hip-hop community, including Lil Keed, PnB Rock, and Takeoff, who died of kidney failure. Both were shot dead, and Coolio suffered a heart attack.
But even after losing all those names, an even more maddening loss might be that of Kanye West, who finally went deep down. , after years of tinkering with controversial topics such as sudden attacks on everyone. college dropout Decided to share his anti-Semitic conspiracy theory with anyone who would listen and wear a full tinfoil hat. Unfortunately, there seem to have been enough shows to entertain him and too many engagement-hungry outlets to indulge his madness.
To be clear, hip-hop has always had conspiracy theorists and ugly, seemingly deep-rooted beliefs about certain people. Rap is too violent, too misogynistic, and a casual denial of racial indifference. But what Kanye West accomplished this year is more than pale. that he was “cancelled”, [shudder] Also about the content of his hateful remarks.
But perhaps there was enough good this year to offset his bad. Streaming, after all, offers more opportunities for self-selection. Perhaps enough fans could help tip the scales from self-destructive themes to more creative and fulfilling ones.
If not, one thing we’ve learned in 2022 is that the genre still has so much diversity and variety that it still amazes us 50 years after its inception. You can unearth new perspectives and inspirations to entertain and enlighten your fans. With the highs and lows of 2022 in the background, it’s easy to look forward to what 2023 has in store.
Some of the artists featured here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
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