I like some of Jay Z's stuff but I will be one of the first to say he has more that I don't like. IMO, in the past, these cats purposely put their all into a few tracks and the rest was done to meet the obligation of completing the album.
I feel like that mentality has changed. I feel like they still put their all into a few joints but then venture into more crossover stuff to fulfill their obligations. The benefits of doing that are clear...they will appeal to a wider audience. Instead of putting out an album under the sole brand of "hip hop" with only 2 bangers and pissing off the true heads, lets put 2 for hip pop fans, 2 for our smoked out fans, and fill in the rest with different flavors of dirty, swag, trap or whatever just to get them into the equation. It all translates into more album sales.
As for hip hop being dead...I just can't say that. I can say it's pretty much dead in the mainstream. I kinda view it as with anything else in life...with any venture that you take, you leave home when everything is right, if you come to a closed road then you bypass it, if someone cuts in front of you, then you cuss them out and give them the finger or whatever...you don't just turn around, give up and go back. Especially after a certain point. At the end of that venture, you reflect back on what it took to complete your journey, your sense of accomplishment is really determined by how hard the test was. If you didn't have any problems, then you didn't accomplish anything more than making the trip.
