A New Golden Era?

Most folks in the rap world seem to be stuck in the past and can’t get over the “Golden Era” of Hip-Hop. This era, spanning from the early 90′s to the early 2000′s, featured the rise (and fall) of legendary Hip-Hop artits such as Biggie, Tupac, Big Pun, Big L, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Jay Z, Nas, 50 Cent, DMX etc. The mass sucess of these artists took this cultural art form, birthed in the Bronx in the 70′s, and turned it into a billion dollar global industry. Nostalgic rap fans can’t seem to move on from this illustrious era, but in their nostalgia are they missing the birth of a new golden era right before their eyes? Wildy successful artists such as Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Drake, J. Cole, Big Sean, Wale, Mac Miller, Kendrick Lamar, and A$AP Rocky are not only commercially sucessful but have received positive ratings from critics and Hip-Hop heads alike, and have also been applauded for their clever lyricism, which seemed to be missing from Hip-Hop for a number of years. Add to this the continued dominance of artists such as Jay Z and what’s come of it are record setting numbers. After the recent release of albums by Cole, Mac, Wale, and Kanye, Hip-Hop albums have been the top three selling albums on the Billboard Top 100 chart for three weeks in a row for the first time ever. If Hip-Hop was “dead” for the past 10 years, it’s finally been ressurected, and a new “Golden Era” is seemingly upon us.