Is the "LORE"!

Some genres do have deep lore with certain acts but no genre is as upfront and INTERWEAVING as Hip-hop

It is literally its own "universe" but also real

And not only do we have historical ish, but we have our own constant seemingly to be "myths" as well. 2Pac was successfully predicting the future, Jay Z can write in his head and put it together without paper or saying it out loud like a computer, Nas started Illmatic at barely 18, 50 Cent survived getting shot 9 times that would certainly kill anyone else, Lil Wayne was a superstar when barely starting High School, the ultimate underdog with Kanye, the "prophecy" of Kendrick evolving Rap from Nas, Dr Dre, Eminem etc. Or the "prophecy" of Drake taking Rap to heights its never been from Kanye, The Dream, Birdman etc.

• Other genres have some of these too but not to this extent, this extreme and constant - from things that seem to be make believe like Jay Z and 50 Cent, to highly unlikely like Nas and Kanye, to the crazy like Lil Wayne and to the outright supernatural like 2Pac or the media and older peers prophetical "foretelling" of Kendrick and Drake Etc.

And we are also living so close to the start of it all during an age where national media exists. No genre before Rap had the type of historical record, real life capturing and being born close, with or even before the literal genesis of it all that a lot of the literal founders and their own OGs are still alive today. There are even hole in some stuff like Disco and House that popped up 10 years or less before HipHops fateful party just die to how fast tech and record collecting was evolving. And no genre since has been as impactful.

• Then Raps own "regular" year to year events and history thus far is so interwoven with so many pieces and people that also pop in other people's journeys and the cascading outcomes of an event to the next etc. Like all the intricate details of artists and their home scene, to how labels shake out, behind the scenes people, the street element that has its own spider web n to how even collabs work and it's resulting event changing - and the biggest of it all, BEEF eras. It is ALL A THROUGH LINE. It is ALL CONNECTED and develops a bigger picture with many smaller paintings that continues to spin the tale this very day that has many shoot offs that eventually comes back to the main pipeline.

Lot of the music ITSELF is giving pages of the entire genre book. It's just not something you have to really look for, find signs about or hear of background knowledge and "supplemental material" or tabloid drama researching like a MJ VS Prince or Motown drama or Jazz scene politics etc. It is all right there in your face and part of the genre itself

It's literally like some Star Wars, Marvel, Games of Throne, Mass Effect, Elder Scrolls, Lord of the Rings type s*** that hits biblical type feelings n event IN REAL LIFE.

This is a major part of the success and attachment to the genre of Rap and the culture of HipHop I think people don't talk about or realize enough.

It is more than just the music. Its the whole thing. There are codes, there are what ifs, there is fanfic and fan debate, here are factions, there are many events that affect literally everyone, there are stories passed down, there are prophecies, there are wishes, there is origins, there's drama, there's success, there's risks, there's reward, there's evolution, there are battles and rules and culture and so much more.

It is its own reality!

So much of this is what makes it feel pro wrestling esque at times

But while exaggerated and mythologized it’s also happening in real life in real time with connections to the actual socioeconomical history of this country

Fire post

telling a story

Damn my comment “telling a story” is in reference to pro wrestling

Sometimes I think do people be this deep about country or rock. Like are they on rock or country SoundCloud digging up 10 play gems trying to put their forum on

Good post per usual @op the older we get the more engrained we become because we have lived through so many special moments in hip hop

Fire post @op

Hip-hop really is the best genre in the world

The most impactful, the most malleable, and the most evolving

As much as I love hip hop R&B may be even better

R&B is pretty well-defined in what it can be thematically though

Hip-hop can literally be about anything and sound like anything

op don't miss

@op You on to something

It's one of the reasons why it's one of my favorite genres. We keep forgetting, although it has been made clear time and time again, Hip Hop is a culture.

The slang, the customs, the politics, the labels, etc. There is so much within it that matches the experience of what we know as Hip Hop.

In Addition, I feel that black people breathe music like no other, per say. Compared to different races, I feel the music reflects on who we are and where we going as a group of people.

Jazz, R&B, and Rock are genre who used to have an aura/presence similar to what you praised Hip Hop. However, it's lost considering those genres have either fallen off or lived long enough to become corporatized or rather a shell of it's former self.

Amidst all these doom and gloomy threads, I think it is needed to reflect on how prolific and storied of a genre Hip Hop is. Yet, it is only 53 years old