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4 Magazines Delivered to Your Door

Kendrick Lamar Once Broke Down Hip-Hop’s Evolution and How the Genre ‘Is a Little More Grown up Now’ Back in 2012

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Hip-hop has changed a lot over the 50 years since its inception. The reach widened drastically from the mecca in New York to the rest of the world. Gradually, the essence shifted, especially when it folded itself more into mainstream audiences. The bigger hip-hop got, the more it lavished in its riches. The game didn’t reward artists who weren’t tough or good at flexing or both. But when rappers like Kendrick Lamar burst onto the scene, there was a significant shift.

Let Lamar tell it, it’s just another extension in the growth of hip-hop. In a 2012 interview with The Guardian, he argued that “hip-hop is a little more grown up now.”

“[In the past] you wouldn’t have hardcore rappers attempting to........

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