New School Rap Isn’t As Bad As They Say 

Alicia Morales

“New Rap isn’t good!”

This is probably something you’ve heard older generations say millions of times. But
what is the difference in rap from today’s music, to the music they’ve grown up with?
Are there really some differences? Why don’t they like it? I’ve had many questions, and
it’s time to answer them.

One thing I’ve noticed is that old school rap can mostly have a really old beat. Their beat
is very jumpable, or very 90s-dance-move-able. Today’s rap music mostly all have near
the same beats with a trap sound. Most rappers today sing about one, or all of the
following; Money, drugs, sex, or clout. Old school rap has more experienced based lyrics.

But, just because rap seems to have all these differences a lot, that isn’t always the case
for either parties. There are many songs about experiences that are made by Today’s
artists. There were also some people who made songs in the 90s about the same things we
hear today!

A song from the 90s is “​I Can​” by Nas. This song is sending a message to kids to be the
best person they can be. He talks about how people went wrong, when they had potential
to be the best and have a good life. It sends a very positive message to kids to not do
drugs, or do anything they aren’t supposed to, because it can mess with their future. “​Be,
b-boys and girls, listen up- You can be anything in the world, in God we trust- An
architect, doctor, maybe an actress- But nothing comes easy, it takes much practice- Like,
I met a woman who's becoming a star- She was very beautiful, leaving people in awe-
Singing songs, Lena Horne, but the younger version- Hung with the wrong person, got
her strung on that heroin- Cocaine, sniffing up drugs, all in her nose- Could've died, so
young, now looks ugly and old”

A song from Today’s Age is “​Jocelyn Flores​” By the late artist xxxtentacion. X wrote
this song to explain how he felt about his friend, Jocelyn Flores’ suicide. A lot of adults
don’t realize it, because he is a “mumble rapper”. To be honest, he is, but if you really
listen, or look up the lyrics, you can see how much emotion is in this song. It talks about
how he felt, and a little about how it happened. “​I'm in pain, wanna put ten shots in my
brain- I've been tripping 'bout some things, can't change- Suicidal, same time I'm tame
Picture this, in bed, get a phone call- Girl that you f****d with killed herself- That was
this summer and nobody helped- And ever since then, man, I hate myself- Wanna
f*****g end it”

A song from the 90s is also “​Baby Got Back​” By Sir Mix-A-Lot. This song is basically
talking about a girls body. He talks about how big her features are. This was a very
popular song in the 90s. People still play this song to this day. This song reminds me of
something people would listen to today. It has a lot of qualities people associate with
today’s rap. “​I like big butts and I can not lie- You other brothers can't deny- That when a
girl walks in with an itty bitty waist- And a round thing in your face- You get sprung,
want to pull up tough- 'Cause you notice that butt was stuffed- Deep in the jeans she's
wearing- I'm hooked and I can't stop staring- Oh baby, I want to get wit'cha”

A song from Today’s age is “​Money​” by Cardi B. This song is basically about what she
has and what she loves. Which is, yep, you guessed it, money. There are also other things
in the song, but it’s mostly about her money and how she spends it. It’s one of those
songs where Adults say that it doesn’t make sense because the lyrics don’t always match.
I have to agree on this one, some of her lyrics make no sense. She talks about money
throughout the whole song but later on, it sounds like she just needed words to rhyme.
When she says, “​I gotta fly, I need a jet, sh*t- I need room for my legs- I got a baby, I
need some money, yeah- I need cheese for my egg”

I decided to ask some people on what they thought about this topic. I asked 2 Adults, who
grew up with the rap in the 90s, and 2 teenagers who listen to rap today. The question
was “Do you prefer New school rap, or old school rap, and why?” Here’s what they had
to say;

Daniel (42): “Old school rap is better. Old school Rap told a story, didn’t mumble, and
they made sense & made better music. I do like the newer rap, I just like old school
more.”

Jason (37): “Old school rap, because there was actually meaning behind what they were
saying in the music. Nowadays with the mumble rap, it doesn’t make no sense. I’ll jam to
my old school.”
Aimee (15): The rap from the 90s had more meaningful lyrics then than what there is
now. Even though a lot of current rappers do address current issues, the majority still talk
just about sex and drugs and stuff. And that’s what they’re mostly known for. But in the
90s, a rapper would have a certain style of music and occasionally create those songs
about wanting a woman with certain features. I prefer listening to new school rap
though.”

Nelson (16): “I think old school rap is better because in the 90s, they would always talk
about their problems and how they would solve them. They barely talked about
inappropriate things like new school does. New school they just talk bad about people
and talk about killing their oops and cursing randomly. But, I do listen to new school way
more.”

I would like to add my opinion on this matter also. Personally, I think that both Old and
new school rap have their pros and cons. I really like the messages that new school rap
can give out for some specific songs. I feel like some adults just shut kids down when
they try to explain why New school rap is better. But, what I think they don’t realize is
that they most likely did the exact same thing when they were little. When their parents
said it wasn’t good music, they may had tried to explain, and now they’re doing the exact
same things.

I’m not saying all adults do this, because I know many adults who don’t mind the new
school styles. I also know many kids who like the old school style, me included.
Whenever I show so of the adults in my life a new song, they sometimes shut it down and
say that it isn’t “real rap” or “It’s just mumble rap and you don’t even know what they’re
saying”. Man, have I heard that a lot. I just think that Adults, and anyone really, should
be more open minded when listening to any type of music. We need more open minded
people in this world.