Migos to be at Signing of the Stars

it only gets worse.

Difference is, in the 90s, they didn't play rap on the radio (at least outside of NYC and some other local urban spots).  And then when they finally did around the turn of the millenium, what got the airplay/mass media attention was stuff like Puff Daddy and Mase -- the very simple, glossy, catchy stuff, since that's at the level they like to promote.  If you recall, that's when so many 90s-style rappers generally started shifting their focus from making albums that got high mic ratings in The Source (or high local street cred for non-east coast sounds) to albums that had some radio hits.

This eventually led to the "hip-hop is dead" era of last decade, when a lot of golden era heads (spoiled by an amazing 10-15 year stretch) gave up and shifted to focusing on whatever: their careers, family, depression-induced alcohol abuse, or, in the worst cases, joining the rockist college rock Pitchfork disciples to conform and try to feel hip about themselves (I know, how very sad for them, but those types were never really down in the first place; they mostly came on board when acts like Lauryn and the Fugees and Outkast made a traditionally black art form feel acceptable to the mainstream listeners, flirted with "conscious hip-hop" for a minute, and then jumped ship when it wasn't the trendy thing to follow anymore).  There's a parallel with what's happened with an earlier genre of music that was likewise initially an ethnic minority art form, disco.

So, if you stopped paying attention last decade, Migos is part of what's been a continuing evolution from the industry/media-backed Puff Daddy/Mase strain of rap music.  If you weren't into that stuff then, you probably wouldn't be into Migos.  I mean, it's alright for what it is, but it's definitely disposable with a short shelf-life.  Although it beats turning on the radio and hearing the Spice Girls and boy bands or whatever, it's anything but timeless music.

It's funny, back then I used to think KRS was too preachy with his perceived rap/hip-hop divide.  I mean, yeah, an MC Hammer, a Vanilla Ice, a Puff Daddy slipping through every few years didn't seem like that big of a concern. But he was just prophesizing (obligatory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE8XJEeOpyA).

Oh great, you've killed the invisible swordsman...