When will rap music be less mainstream?


First time I heard MC Hammer’s song many years ago, I like the rhythm and thought it is quite unique. After that, all kinds of rap music pop up. I never thought rap music would be mainstream for such a long time in US. If you look at the music award ceremonies, you will find it being flooded with rap music. Sometimes I am not even sure rap can be considered as song because you don’t sing but speak. Now you start to hear rap music in some other languages like Chinese, Japanese and Korean that don’t sound good in rap format. It would be interesting to hear rap music in Italian.

Time will tell if a song is good or not. A song is good if somebody want to play it for their loved ones on the radio 20 years later. I can’t imagine someone will play a rap for their beloved one 20 years later. Just curious if any A’gon member keep any rap collection?

Besides rap, I also have a feeling that the music industry in general is getting cheesy now. American Idol show gets huge attention while lots of singers perform at the bar or hotel can easily sing better than the idols. The show also asked Barbara Streisand if she watched the show and who was her favorite idol. What do you expect her to answer? People said Justin Timberlake is very talented singer/songwriter. I know him because I saw lots of headshot of him on commercials and magazines, but can you name any popular/well known song from him?
yxlei
Two words: Aesop Rock.

There is already non-mainstream rap, you just need to know where to find it.
TT: nachos and Two Buck Chuck and the exciting sounds of Seals and Croft, Bread, Al Stewart and the Osmonds. What really could be better? Finish it up with "Aretha Franklin and some fine Columbian" like Steely Dan.

Mjmch: thx. I like underground stuff, like the many side projects of Dan the Automator.
I was even watching "Austin City Limits", which generally features at least simitalented artists, and they had a bunch of hip hoppers with gold chains and teeth jumping around stage going "wo-wo-wo yo-yo-yo" on that, so it just shows how far "we" have fallen, and I guess it is here to stay.
I was driving yesterday listening to K-DAY LA and they had a little 1989 to 1991 thing going.

This is still a great jam - Hip Hop Hooray

And this one changed the game - Me Myself and I