The Great Culture Shift

Things are changing. If you teleported someone from 10 years ago to today, their first impression would be that not much has changed. Phones got bigger, prices went higher, and GTA 6 still hasn't come out yet.

But us who have actually lived through that period, though, we know the truth. We know nothing is the same. A couple years ago, hip-hop was the biggest genre in the world.

Now it's dead. Just yesterday, everyone was holding their tongue and staying PC. Now, nobody cares.

Today, I want to answer the question on everyone's mind. What the [ __ ] happened? These are the five stages of a culture shift.

>> Stage one, beginning. Welcome to the year 2014. We're here at the tail end of Obama's presidency.

V-necks are cool. Instagram filters and Vine videos are at their peak. >> Got my name Jeff.

>> Everyone is doing the ice bucket challenge [music] and Happy by Farel Williams is the biggest song on the planet. The general vibe is [screaming] well kind of joyful. [music] >> Yeah, you guys remember that?

I mean, if Happy dropped today, it would flop diabolically, become a Tik Tok meme, and get categorized as coworker music all within a 48 hour window. Things wouldn't stay like this for long, though, as behind all the corny enthusiasm in the pop sphere, change was coming >> in the most unexpected form. [music] >> Hip hop had at one point been a massively successful and influential genre.

By the time 2014 rolled around, though, it seemed like those days were long gone and that the once giant cultural force was on its last legs. [music] Some may have disagreed, but the charts certainly seem to point in that direction, as 2014 statistically marked the lowest presence the genre had had on there in a long time. Mainstream hip hop was dead, and the genre needed a spark, a wave that would pull it back up to the [music] center of everyone's attention.

In another corner of society, though, that was already happening. There is growing outrage tonight after an unarmed African-American teenager was [music] shot and killed by police in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Missouri.

>> Leading up to 2015, several disconnected examples of inequality had managed to cross over from online verality to nationwide outrage. >> They're mad. I'm mad.

We should all be mad, man. We should all be angry because of what's going on right now. >> We are asking for games to be more inclusive.

[music] Um, we're asking for games to acknowledge that we exist and that we love games. >> With the rise of social media, there was a growing feeling that everyday people now had the power to make a actual change. Nobody really knew at the time, but this was only the beginning of something much greater.

In stage one, the seed is planted. A foundational idea is shared amongst the collective. The vibes are in the air, okay?

And now it's up for people to grab them [music] and make them into something real. Most movements stop here, but every so often they move into >> stage two rise. >> Seeing the stale atmosphere hip hop's veterans had left behind, the new generation decided to try something different.

>> Hold up, hold up. Thug want to play some new [ __ ] [cheering] >> [music] >> You could hear their music online, mainly on Soundcloud and YouTube, and every once in a while, one would creep onto the radio. >> These so-called mumble rappers didn't take pride in [music] their lyricism or messaging.

They just put all their focus into energy, swag, and melodies. They were seen as a joke. Okay?

Most people didn't take them seriously, so they didn't see it coming. But over time, these artistic choices would form into a distinctive sound and aesthetic in the underground. And soon enough, with nothing happening in the mainstream, these fresh ideas would begin rapidly gaining traction.

By the time 2016 rolled around, Soundcloud artists were blowing up overnight. Water, [music] huh? WATER.

[music] >> All of a sudden, hip-hop is cool again and everyone is talking about it. >> I know these old hip-hop is. >> Oh, like Joe Button.

I know you watching THIS [ __ ] LIKE >> [laughter] >> PUT UP ON YOUR [ __ ] SHE suck my dick and then you kiss. >> That's the worst freestyle I ever heard in my life. >> Memes, debates, and micro trends are at an all-time high.

[music] >> I just read about this kid who spent 15 hours saying Gucci gang. >> The new wave is coming and everyone [music] can feel it, too. It's 2016, the year most Jenzers talk about like it was the last time they felt happiness.

Uh, and I'm Gen Z and they're absolutely right. That [ __ ] was just different. I'm sorry.

Like, you put your Yeezys on, grab your hoverboard, go out in the street, open the Pokemon Go app, you go online, and there's like a new Vine trend. >> Damn Daniel. Back at it again with the white man.

[laughter] >> Damn Daniel, mannequin challenge, Running Man, Juju on that beat. No real worries. Just Harambe, killer clowns, and the 73 and N Warriors down.

OH, [ __ ] BY JAMES. >> LIKE, compare that [ __ ] to now. All these new generations have is >> 67.

67. >> What you know about the dab, young buck? The [ __ ] You wish you were.

You wish you were. >> Back into the real world and things are heating up. As Trump gets elected president, more and more people start feeling a responsibility to stand up and finally say something.

At this point in time, the outrage we saw at the start of the decade started becoming more and more frequent. As useless as that sounds, they actually made a difference. The Me Too movement exposed high-profile predators and sent a lot of them to jail.

Bill Cosby, R. Kelly, Weinstein, and Kevin Spacy all get packed up. It's over with.

The internet finally made people answer for their shitty past. Colin Kaepernick sitting down, he said, to take a stand against the growing number of unarmed black men killed by police and racial injustice in general. >> We just got out of a long-term relationship with a very boring but sensible person.

And now we're dating a [ __ ] >> Thousands of Americans enraged [music] by the man voted into office by millions of other Americans. >> Fake hair. [music] She's racist.

She's always lying. We don't care. >> You don't have an option.

You have to stand up. Speak up. Act up.

>> On Hollywood's [music] biggest night. It was activism that took center stage. >> So, I'm hyperventilating a little bit.

If I fall over, pick me up cuz I've got some things [music] to say. >> Our voices joining together in a mighty chorus that is finally saying, "Time's up. We put up monuments for the feminists.

Tell the NRA they in God's way. >> As we moved closer to the end of the decade, those who never had a voice increasingly started banding together and seeing the positive effects their actions could now have thought to themselves, maybe we can actually do this. Stage two occurs when all those people who shared a common idea in stage one start linking up, connecting, and building towards a common goal.

The new wave is in full effect and ascending rapidly into >> stage three peak. [cheering] >> Stage three marks the peak of the movement's popularity as the average Joe comes to discover what all the fuss is about. The thing, whatever it is, then becomes increasingly commercial and accessible [music] for mass consumption.

At this point, your alcoholic uncle will bring up Thing at a family [music] gathering. >> The problem they have is that I don't give a [ __ ] They don't cancel me. I cancel them.

>> Your parents ask you about thing. SNL makes an awkward skit on thing, which will make you slightly uncomfortable [music] and chuckle one time. >> Hey, who the [ __ ] watches this [ __ ] And even though this seemed like the natural trajectory of both movements, nothing could possibly prepare people for what was about to come.

>> Good evening and thank you for joining us. We are going to begin right now with breaking news because the World Health Organization has declared the Corona virus outbreak a pandemic. >> Co just hit.

Everyone's inside and scared. But I'm not going to lie, I was happy as [ __ ] You're telling me I don't have to go to school and I can spend the entire day doom scrolling? Bro, sign me up.

>> I didn't know where it COME FROM. >> IT HAS TO COME FROM THE SAME VIRUS TO BE IN THE SAME FAMILY. Virus is coming.

>> Stop touching [ __ ] WITH YOUR HAND. >> THIS WAS THE era of face masks, Zoom meetings, Among Us sessions, and Tik Tok videos. >> And I'm in a house.

In a house in a house. >> And to make matters worse, nearly a decade of protest culminated in the explosion that was the murder of George Floyd. >> Hands up those two.

Riots and protests engulfed the entire country for several months while the issue of social justice became unavoidable and omniresent. >> The Black Lives Matter movement has unleashed [music] a wave of protests against racism worldwide. >> If you've exhausted every option of peaceful protest for [music] decades and the prosecution of police still hasn't changed, what would you do?

>> Protest is pretty [ __ ] amazing. They seem to be dedicated to change in a way that I can't remember anything like this in my life. The state of pop culture at this point showed us that racial awareness was mandatory, LGBTQ appreciation was necessary, and that social justice was cool.

[music] >> I take responsibility. >> I take responsibility. >> I take responsibility.

I take responsibility for every unchecked moment. Next, [music] in what is possibly my second favorite story this month, Netflix and Amazon Prime came together to fight homophobia. >> Quote, "An unnecessary gay character.

" >> Sorry, you've yet to realize that every gay person is very necessary. [cheering] >> 700,000 likes. >> We love gay people, too.

And folks, tune in to the radio to hear the number one song in the country. Monttero >> look nice is gay. >> Oh, let me stop.

Let me stop. >> Oh, what? >> I I got that out.

>> Okay, you look like you homophobic. >> No, I'm not homophobic. >> Girl boss main leads dominated TV.

>> I belong to no [music] one. I identify as non-binary. >> There's a really long history of black people not being treated fairly in this country.

It has to stop. >> Quinn has gender dysphoria. Her sign gender is not the one she identifies.

[music] >> I will no longer allow an unchecked woman. I will no longer allow racist, [music] hurtful words, jokes, stereotypes, no matter how big or small, to be uttered in my presence. moral purity became everything.

Okay? How much do you care? How good of a person are you?

Those were the main questions of the co era. At the same time that social justice issues were reaching their zenith, hiphop was also peaking, coasting off the momentum of the Soundcloud wave, the entire genre had embraced the homogeneous trap aesthetic. But not without reason.

I mean, it worked and it didn't stop working. It was the sound of pop charts and pop culture. Every commercial had a trap beat in the background.

Labels started mass- prodducing industry plans to capitalize on the gold mine that mainstream rap had become. Nav was selling 130k first week. What are we talking about?

At this point, hip-hop was the biggest genre of music in the world, becoming bigger than it had ever been. Even larger than life pop stars were desperate to jump on the wave. >> [music] >> Ariana Grande had a whole era where she just spray painted her skin brown.

>> I'm like, "Bitch, that's my cookie. That's my juice. " [music] Okay, >> carry on.

>> Talked strictly in a >> This is the Mac I'm here to talk about today, girl. >> And made water down trap music. >> Komi, get your ass in here.

>> Come on, girl. >> This is actually real. like her fans call it, the Black Kana era.

In just a couple years time, both of these movements had managed to conquer the world. And now having been rewarded with great success, the founders are no longer focused on innovating. Instead, their primary goal is to maintain their status, polishing the ideas that had worked so well for them in the past.

Meet Drke. It's the end of 2021 and he's the biggest rapper in the world. Larger than life and in complete control of hip-hop.

It hadn't always been this way, though. Once upon a time, he was just an awkward, geeky kid who stuck out like a sore thumb amongst his rapper peers. >> I just want to make music that people enjoy, you know.

Um, >> while on radio, Young Drke might have been a rising star and hit maker, amongst the hip-hop community, he was a laughingtock. I don't like anything about Drke. >> Mom, I don't like his voice.

I don't like I don't like what he talks about. I don't I don't >> I be trying to face I don't [laughter] like the way he walks like nothing. I don't >> an emotional [ __ ] who talked about women and feelings too much.

>> He'll just He's so emotional, man. When did rap become that? He'll just make a song that's just like, "Oh, I'm crying.

" From that point on, Drke did everything in his power to dominate the rap game, secretly hoping he could change the mind of all those bullies who didn't let him in at the start of the decade. It took a lot of work, a lot of dedication, and a lot of great music. Fast forward to 2021, and Drke had gotten exactly what he was asking for.

His vulnerable and emotional approach had completely changed the foundation of the rap game and was finally accepted as normal. Drke was now not only the undisputed king of the biggest music genre in the world, but also well respected in almost every corner of its culture, even managing to convince some of his street credibility. Aubrey didn't want to change things anymore.

Aubrey wanted things to stay the same. Nothing lasts forever. People always seem to forget that.

Where there once was a purpose, now isn't anymore. People get cocky, arrogant, and start abusing their power just because they can. >> Honestly, if you guys want to look at my eyes, you guys want to do something?

You guys, that's what I thought. No, that's what I thought. >> In a figurative sense, this is the point where the victim becomes the bully, perpetuating the cycle of abuse that was responsible for the start of the movement in the first place.

I have to come to the conclusion that inherently I show speed is just a piece of [ __ ] I don't see any way someone like this can turn around and redeem themselves and be able to make up for all the disgusting [ __ ] that they've done and said and influenced for people as a guy with a platform. I can't imagine posting anything like that. Bankrupt them, put them out of business, deplatform them, like actually take them out financially.

>> They feel untouchable and unbeatable. Convinced that their run will last forever. I want nothing to do with you and I won't think twice about it because you're not worth keeping around.

>> This exact moment marks the beginning of the end. >> And now we take a short break from our program to learn the art of performative progressivism brought to you by Mint Mobile. >> Welcome welcome to today's video clip.

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Get it while you can. >> Stage four, decline. >> This is where we are.

Canceling food. Last week, they canled Uncle Ben's rice. No beans, no rice.

Trump doesn't even need to build a wall. >> We're now beginning week two of the left's allout attack on Joe Rogan. The liberal mom's lashing out [music] at Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney, calling her racist after she posted photos from her mom's 60th birthday party.

>> As we started getting deeper into the 20s, the dominance of wokeness in the mainstream and the aggressive tactics it used in eliminating its detractors sparked massive outrage on the other side of the political aisle. There was a growing rage from those who felt left out and ironically oppressed in popular culture. Zuckerberg became a red pill frat bro at 40 years old.

Elon Musk buying X and making it a safe haven for the ostracized in the camp. >> Like like wokeness basically [music] wants to make comedy illegal which is not cool. >> Podcasts become the home of anti-wokeness with most comedians pulling in millions of views while professing their hate for the social justice movement.

Along with them, their audience started rapidly moving in the opposite direction. They too would be cancelled and [music] deplatformed, but the sentiment still didn't go away. Woke culture now had an enemy which [music] was climbing rapidly up the ranks.

Things slowly start to get ugly as stage 4 [music] unravels. >> I I really think this is Drke's lowest point yet in terms of level of effort. He really put almost nothing into this.

>> People get fat, washed up, and lazy. [music] completely losing their ability to stick together, innovate, or adapt to any new obstacles. At this point, the movement becomes so normalized in the mainstream that it loses its ability to challenge [music] the impossible.

>> The once fresh and lively cultural movement is reduced to a cheap trend, an emblem to be worn [music] rather than a piece of resistance that demands reflection and action. The social justice movement went from rallying people towards a common goal to pointless exercises of power [music] over celebrities and athletes who didn't pass the moral purity test. The moral standards would only go higher and higher as time went by until even the people inside the movement couldn't live up to them anymore.

At that point, the focus turned inward and the progressive sphere started devouring itself from the inside out. to my mother. I really got the Joe Biden piñatas on deck.

>> People move past co like it never happened and [music] went right back outside. Y2K aesthetic dominates everything. Baggy pants are back in style.

It's a new day where verality is more important than ever. Streamers have become the new celebrities. GGO's Death Con 3.

>> You can't say out loud that this [music] person ever did anything good. And I'm done with that. Barbheimer.

Hip-hop is rapidly falling off both in quality and popularity. Nobody knows what to do. How do you stop stage 4 from happening?

Well, the answer is simple. You don't. There's really only one thing you can do at this point.

Speed up the inevitable. For most rap fans, Kendrick Lamar was always everything Drke couldn't be. He was hailed as hip-hop's golden child right at the start of his mainstream run, quickly becoming the critic and fan favorite.

>> Like, this is good hip-hop. This is positive hip-hop. This is the kind of hip-hop that we need.

That's that's commenting on social issues. >> It was the one section of the audience Drke could never win over despite trying his hardest. See, unlike Aubrey, Kendrick's main strength wasn't getting on the radio.

It was creating meticulous masterpieces, timeless bodies of work, which set him apart from the rest of the rap game. He was the one people counted on to lead hip-hop into a brighter tomorrow. Even as the Soundcloud wave hit and melodic trap took over, he adapted, wrestling with Drke for the throne of hip-hop well into the 2010s.

but then he disappeared and that allowed Drke to take the reigns and lead the way as hip hop's number one. Fast forward to 2023 and Drke is scoring his 14th number one album while the genre is in a freef fall, deteriorating into a dark pit of pathetic gimmicks and desperate trend chasers. Fans were increasingly unhappy, but the mainstream was still eating it up.

Truthfully, this corrosive climate suited Drke as the biggest rapper in the world and a notorious trendchaser himself. He stood only to gain from the lack of quality and depth the average listener had become accustomed to. Things couldn't go on this way.

Something had to be done. And the golden child knew exactly what that was. >> THE KING IS BACK.

[screaming] >> OH [ __ ] >> he's rapping. [ __ ] the big three [music] [ __ ] It's just big me. >> Seriously, Kendrick.

>> It's a lot of goofies with a check. >> Kendrick's the best. Kendrick's the best rapper.

Kendrick is a I've always said Kendrick is my favorite. >> Bully. [music] I hate bullies.

You must be a terrible person. Everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it. >> I'm literally uploading Drke's this right now.

How do YOU HAVE A RESPONSE BEFORE THIS EVEN UPLOADED? >> KENDRICK, RELAX. >> HEY, HE GOING CRAZY.

>> Kendrick got to [music] raise our daughters knowing there's predators like him lurking for >> Wait, I can't take this. This is too much. Why believe you?

You never gave us nothing to believe in. Cuz [music] you lied about religious views. You lied [singing] about your surgery.

A rebellion, an uprising led to one of the biggest cultural events of the 2020s. [music] >> A rap battle in which Kendrick Lamar destroyed Drke, slaying the flag bearer of late stage commercial trap and finally saying what the culture was feeling out loud. Enough with the hollow, lazy, and unoriginal.

We need music that's creative, deep, and inspired. Everybody had their fun, but now the party is over and it's time for something real. >> If you say you're voting for Trump, suddenly you're a Nazi, you're Hitler, you're garbage.

Enough. Enough. >> They just want no Trump no matter what.

And they're willing to gaslight themselves. >> Hey, so remember all those anti-woke guys from earlier in the video? Yeah.

um they didn't go away. As a matter of fact, they only multiplied and grew stronger as the public sentiment shifted further and further away from social progressivism. It wasn't just a fleeting feeling.

It was a burning hatred towards the status quo that required drastic change. A fire had been started and no one was putting it out. It is now official.

CNN projects [music] that Donald Trump has been elected president, defeating Vice President [music] Kla Harris and making a political comeback unlike any >> 47th president [cheering] of the United States. >> The former president's comeback. >> I am going to admit I am a little surprised that [music] they won so much.

>> It was finally official. We were now in >> stage five. And that's it.

Here we are. It was just announced that for the first time in 35 years, hip-hop spent an entire week without a single song in the top 40 of the charts. The biggest trap releases of the year have all flopped diabolically and even the average Joe's are bored at this point.

[music] >> Rap is cool and all, but it's getting outplayed, bro. It talk about hoes, money. It's the same topics like every single time.

>> 17 bodies last night. Ain't nobody catch. >> Okay.

I hope you get caught soon, my brother. >> We know that your bodies te. We know that you have good poom pom.

We know that. >> Stop playing rap for the most part. And honestly, [music] I've come to realize it's probably the worst genre there is.

Like our >> stage five is where the movement becomes culturally irrelevant and a complete non-factor [music] in the mainstream. Those from the movement may still try to recapture an old flame, a moment that got lost in time, but the people have already moved on. The old moves don't work anymore.

The shots aren't falling, and the crowd is as quiet as a church mouse. The power has been completely stripped from its previous holders and put into the hands of people who were made to feel silenced, mocked, and left out before. The culture is theirs to shape.

Now, >> the Liberal mom's lashing out at [music] Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney, calling her racist after she posted photos from her mom's 60th birthday party. >> My jeans are blue. >> Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.

>> White people shouldn't joke about genetic [music] superiority. Since you are talking about this, I just wanted to give you an opportunity to talk about that specifically. >> I think that [music] when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear.

>> Miss Tan genetics. I just got my color analysis back. >> There is a cultural shift happening in [music] the US.

We're seeing a move away even in these commercials that are so typically woke. >> The zeitgeist showed it wasn't cool to be progressive or liberal. >> When you're walking down the street late at [music] night, guess what you're looking for?

Black people. And you equate that with danger. >> Another human I would just deport immediately.

>> We are just so unbelievably fed up with the ghetto [music] ratchet behavior, entitlement, the victimhood. >> Platforms no longer care about political correctness. Corporations no longer celebrate Pride Month.

>> Google no change. IBM no change. Microsoft no change.

>> Or any month for that matter. It's like they never cared about anything. Wow.

Interesting. >> Even Starbucks roached out on the gays. Country has taken over as the most popular genre of music.

>> You have been the light of the day. You are such a gift. >> You bought such light.

>> Look around you. Everything is a byproduct of what came before it. The overbearing need for social responsibility and pure morals of years past has now been replaced by a culture ready to eat up whatever seems authentic, no matter how shitty at its core.

When something feels too clean, people [music] crave mess. When everything's ironic, sincerity starts to look rebellious. [music] Every era gives us ideas and moments that changed the world as we know it.

Then we move on. The social justice movement didn't vanish. [music] It dissolved.

It was absorbed into the culture. The language changed, the expectations changed, and the boundaries moved. [music] And once that happens, it stops feeling like a movement at all and just becomes the new normal.

The past decade of hip-hop has been liberating. The genre doesn't take itself nearly as seriously anymore. The gender norms have been broken and artists are free to bend their voices, their images, [music] and their identities however they want.

The demand for change has been met. The movement has served its purpose. Death is inevitable.

Death is healthy. Nothing, no sound, no movement, no era can or should stay mainstream forever. Now that the people have made their money and the vultures have moved on, it's time for a reset.

It's time to go back underground and come up with something new. The Kendrick Drke beef wasn't just a rap moment. It was a reminder.

Culture changes when someone chooses to change it. When people stand up and decide the old rules don't apply anymore. Every era ends the [music] same way, with a spark, a fracture, a moment no one saw coming.

And maybe, just maybe, we're closer to that moment [music] than we think. But you want to see these two worlds collide? Watch this.

Okay. Bitter Magener thinks rap is a scop to destroy society.