The Importance Of Black Underground Artists

The Underground rap scene has always been something that is ever evolving and changing forging new sounds and breaking barriers on what hip hop can be. Artists like Lil Uzi Vert and Playboi Carti played major roles in changing how the underground was viewed when they were first coming up but now we the underground scene is arguably at the biggest it has ever seen. What was once considered a niche genre is now one of the biggest in hip hop and headlining Major Festivals like rolling loud and going on sold out tours. In a great video by underground music content creator dutie he talks about how the scene is no longer underground because these artist are bigger than the mainstream now. You cannot really call these guys underground cause they have evolved pass that at this point they are on the level of a mainstream artist like BigxthePlug or even bigger. Festivals will book Ken Carson as the headliner now before they book lil baby because people wanna see ken more. The music scene has shifted from the mainstream artist has the appeal while the undergound has the unappetizing sound it is more chaotic a lot messier the mix is not as good the sound as whole is a lot more raw unfiltered and for a while it was the niche thing until one event. I am talking about whole lotta red but more about the Carti's 2021 Lollapalooza performance this was the defining moment in changing the concert landscape to appeal more to Underground artist this one concert paved the way for Ken Carson to be a headliner, for che and osamason to have sold out tours and better crowds then a mainstream artist, to nine vicious having more views than Carti himself on Youtube for their rolling loud sets. The Underground has always had so much pull but never got the recognition it deserved but this performance single handedly changed the concert going experience forever. We see Rolling loud getting younger artist like nettspend, che, or diamond and tezzus singing the full song began to disappear while artist lean more into screaming and yelling the songs dreadlocks became a staple as they give off the metal headbanger energy. The songs began to lean more into heavy bass and heavy synths the aesthetic became darker leaning into more of a metal haunted house vibe like what we see with albums like A Great Chaos, Rest In Bass, and Psykotic and the number one thing above all is that these are black artist. It is these black artist that are pushing the genre forward with new sounds that were paved by another black artist. It is so easy to push these artists to the side and discredit their skin color because of the music they make but it is undeniable that the wave that they have whether you like them or not and instead of appealing to the mainstream sound they are carving out a lane for themselves. This should be celebrated we need more artist who are willing to push the boundaries of what can be done especially as black men.