4 Hip Hop Artists Tragically Falling Off Their Game
By Matt Powers
1. Artist Who Thinks He’s Not Falling Off: Drake
Drizzy is in the process of falling off. He pops up every now and then with a single like The Motto or Believe Me, but his star burned too quickly, which wasn’t helped by his MTV documentary that was something like Lebron’s The Decision 2010.
The unfortunate problem is that Drake’s 2009 breakout mixtape So Far Gone is leaps and bounds better than anything he’s made since; it’s real and feels complete, with emotional songs telling the story of a struggling artist and radio hits like Best I Ever Had.
Everything since then has been an overproduced letdown, and he’s beating a dead horse with the themes of “I’m sensitive and other rappers think it’s lame,” and “Now that I’m famous, everyone’s fake.”
Get back in the studio with your producer and don’t come out until neither of you roll your eyes.
2. Artist who Wanted to Fall Off: Kid Cudi
Cudder’s Man on the Moon series and mixtape A Kid Named Cudi were massive breaths of fresh air for hip-hop, full of hits that didn’t feel the slightest bit generic. He broke some rules and inspired us with songs that spoke of a troubled soul determined to “get out his dreams” no matter what.
The praise went to his Cudi’s head and his most recent albums took a turn into Weirdsville when he insisted on producing them himself and split from Kanye’s G.O.O.D. Music as if he was too fringe to ever be in the spotlight.
I don’t hate that if that’s his thing, but he’s now miles away from the hip-hop scene when I thought he was a nice complement to the industry.
3. Artist With a Slow Fall Off: Lil’ Wayne
Weezy’s falling off and it makes me sad. The guy was heating up with Tha Carter 2, smoldering with Like Father, Like Son, and then burned like a supernova with his monumental album Tha Carter 3 which delivered hits and thoughtful, story telling lyrics that showed his maturity and diversity as an artist and landed him the #32 spot in Rolling Stone’s Top 100 Albums of the 2000s. [link: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-best-albums-of-the-2000s-20110718/lil-wayne-tha-carter-iii-20110715]
With the exception of his 2009 mixtape No Ceilings, his work has been less than impressive. It seems like he’s rushing to put out albums with a ridiculous amount of tracks and no continuity, which makes no sense because he’s earned an almost legendary status.
Slow down Weezy, we’ll wait.
4. Artist Who Immediately Fell Off: Wiz Khalifa
I hate even saying Wiz fell off because I really liked watching his come-up, his collaborations with Curren$y, and his settling into this relaxing, positive sound that put you in a euphoric trance.
He created a serious buzz through Twitter preceding his release of his best work, Kush and Orange Juice, then signed a record deal, waved goodbye to his fans, and made a cluttered attempt at radio hits called Rolling Papers. He admitted this in an apology to his fans. [link: http://www.complex.com/music/2012/02/wiz-khalifa-writes-a-letter-to-fans-admits-his-mistake-with-rolling-papers]
His most recent album Blacc Hollywood had a few scraps of what made Wiz unique, but again had one repetitive ‘party anthem’ and an embarrassing attempt at the ever-popular ‘ass song.’
It’s still early, and I sincerely hope Wiz will surprise us, but he needs to dive back into the niche-sound he made because there’s no way he can rely on his lyrics.
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