Summer 2019: The Verdict

Many Hip-Hop fans look to the summer of each year to define a year musically. The summer has proven to cement Hip-Hop careers as important amongst the Hip-Hop community. (Which is the reason you can’t dismiss Fetty Wap’s contribution to Hip-Hop) The memories of walking outside my house and hearing “Hot Nigga” by Bobby Shmurda or “Show Me” by Kid Ink featuring Chris Brown everywhere I went are still near and dear to my heart, emphasizing the importance of summer hits in the memories of myself and many other music buffs. Now with the summer of 2019 officially closed, what’s the verdict? Will it live on in the memories of music fans? Or will it simply be looked at as a bigger disappointment than asking your crush out to prom only to get rejected because your best friend asked her out first?

First, let’s take a moment to think about the song of the sum..”Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X. Wow, that wasn’t hard, but let me dig deeper to explore how I feel about this song of the summer debate this year. While Old Town Road was the undisputed song of the summer this year, breaking the record for most consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song isn’t all that great to me. While yes it does have parts where its catchy and Lil Nas X is simply one of the most likable people in music right now, “Old Town Road” doesn’t give me the same feeling I’ve gotten from previous songs of the summer. “Old Town Road” simply doesn’t compare to “In My Feelings” by Drake or “Hot Nigga” by Bobby Shmurda, or even “Trap Queen” by Fetty Wap in my eyes. This could be because the dominance of “Old Town Road” felt manufactured compared to the latter three songs I mentioned. The absence of a feeling of organic growth taints “Old Town Road” as a song of the summer that could be as memorable for me as songs of the summer in recent years.

The bigger point that I think illustrates my perceived disappointment in this summer’s Hip-Hop music releases is simply the lack of Tier A and Tier B rappers that chose to release music this summer. The biggest artist to release a solo album this summer was Young Thug who released “So Much Fun.” The album was great, and while I love Young Thug (Young Thug inspired your favorite new rapper to rap. I’m deadass, ask them) I think his presence as the biggest release this summer proves my point. Where was the music from artists like the Migos, Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, Lil Uzi Vert and other artists that occupy Hip-Hop’s tier A? My guess is they have all plotted to hold their vocal gems to gear up for what looks to be a crowded 2020 Hip-Hop field. With all these Tier A and Tier B Hip-Hop artists withholding their music from the summer of 2019, there was a void in the Hip-Hop summer for up and coming artists to try and fill. Many Hip-Hop artists like YBN Cordae and Pi’erre Bourne stepped up to the plate to deliver, while others like Chance the Rapper and Blueface fell flat in the eyes of many Hip-Hop fans.

So, what’s the verdict on Hip-Hop’s summer of 2019? Overall, I think a fair grade to give this summer is a C+ because of the absence of Hip-Hop smash hits and competition for the song of the summer title. However, the emergence of new artists who seem to be finding their sound was a nice surprise for many Hip-Hop fans. All I know is, if 2020’s summer isn’t lit I’m going to start rapping.