Hip-hop has been around for more than 30 years. It has evolved tremendously in that time, as it continues to grow in popularity and help shape popular culture and society as a whole.

As is the case with most every genre of music, hip-hop has passed through many phases throughout its development to become what it is today. That being said, there is always a golden age of hip-hop that every fan considers the period of time when the genre was at its greatest, a time when the best of the best were releasing their most prolific and influential works.

My golden age of hip-hop spans from 1990-2000, a decade that encompasses the release of what I consider to be the most original albums and collaborations in all of hip-hop history.

Following the turn of the millennium, however, there was a sharp influx of Scarface-inspired artists whose songs were predominantly about gang-banging, selling drugs and the size of the rims on their car. Hip-hop has always possessed these attributes. Some of the best hip-hop songs of all time depict lives of violence and crime, but after the turn of the century it seemed that hip-hop had lost the feel-good vibes that had initially made it so popular decades ago.

This new wave of artists turned hip-hop into a grand contest to see who was the hardest, who made the most money and who kept it “trill” (true and real, for those unfamiliar with the work of UGK). Rapping about skills on the mike and what everyday hip-hoppers really do took a backseat to rappers’ tales of Bentleys and yachts, mansions and “making it rain.”

Young hip-hop fans became eager to get a taste of the lavish life they saw in the music videos. As a result, this “new school” hip-hop perpetuated itself with new artists seeking the millionaire lifestyle by creating the same brand of hip-hop while rapping about the same things: Drugs, money and maintaining a hardcore reputation.

Recently, hip-hop has begun to turn a corner as a conscious, more modest brand of the music has started to gain momentum with fans across the nation.

This alternative brand of hip-hop has laid dormant for years as far as the national stage is concerned. It is now beginning to flourish as a refreshing break from the repetitive formula followed by so many rappers in recent years.

Self-proclaimed indie artists such as Little Brother, Kid Cudi and Wale have begun to make names for themselves on the commercial hip-hop scene. They have been receiving extensive support from popular, established artists such as Drake, Jay-Z and Lil Wayne, respectively.

These artists and their music are becoming more accepted by national and corporate entities that dictate what music is played on television and promoted on the radio. Wale, for example, will perform at the MTV Video Music Awards Sept. 13, his first appearance on such a big stage.

As this new brand of hip-hop continues to rise in popularity, the sales and popularity of southern, gangster rap has dwindled in the past couple of years. I consider this to be a testament to the direction hip-hop will be taking in the near future, as fans become increasingly receptive to the more intelligent and conscious side of hip-hop than ever before in this millennium.

— Coldham is a Chicago senior in journalism