Are there any scholarly essays on these topics?

1. PERSONA

I've been thinking about a few things regarding rap music and the way its changed through the years

like

Ok, so lets say with fine art there are several archetypes the artist has occupied.

For example, at one time the artist was seen as prophet and shaman, other times as skilled labor and in other times high educated creator of culture

So, with rap and hip hop I've been thinking about the set of rap archetypes (the playboy, the lyricist, the drug boy, the street observer, etc) and how they have evolved.

When I listen to 80s drug rap the character is different from 90s era drug rap characters. When I compare 90's characters to 00s and 10s characters the difference is also clear.

What is the dope boy in a post crack era landscape?

So, is there writing about the shifting perspective/character?

What new if any archetypes have emerged through the years?

Is someone like Future presenting a new character or is he the son of other drug using rappers like say Cyprus Hill?


2. LYRICAL CONTENT

listening to 80s/90s rap feels strangely very analogous or plain in comparison to the complex layering that is present in todays rap. The content may be very simple but the execution is seemingly more complex.

I'm not a rap historian but I have been trying to put my finger on what has changed and the best answer I can come up with is that it seems that story telling and descriptive content (i.e. this is what has happened or what is.) has been set aside for speculative (i.e. this is the persona and lifestyle I am projecting or desire to have and present) and boastful content.

If the content is descriptive then it is about consumption of goods, people or drugs

The latter has always been a part of rap I believe but it seems like its taken a backseat.

OR

perhaps another way of going at it are the lyrical patterns and styles that have emerged





I'm not down on contemporary rap in this context, I'm merely curious about the way its changed and the patterns that have emerged now that we have a ton of data on hand.

Is anybody writing about this stuff?

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