THE RENAISSANCE OF FUN UNAPOLOGETICALLY “BLACK” MUSIC by Royce Hall
August 14, 2025
My favorite kind of music or media in general are the ones I can have fun with, the ones that I can dance or vibe out to, the ones that are engaging to listen to and recently I feel like we’ve been seeing a lot of fun music come back into the limelight especially in black culture and I’m here to give some examples.
Kendrick with his latest album that came out last year GNX is a clear example of unapologetically fun music inspired by black culture. After him brutalizing Drake in the rap beef (who let’s just say has been outed as being a culture vulture by many people) and made a West Coast banger that ran every street for months with Not Like Us and uniting the entire West Coast together with the Pop Out show at a huge arena in LA, he dropped a victory lap album in November that was full on West Coast. From him getting a bunch of underground artists from Cali to feature on the album to bangers like Squabble Up and Hey Now that give off the classic hyphy or G-funk sound and Mustard (a legendary West Coast producer of this new generation) all over the project. It gave off a bit of a mixtape feel which was different than most of Kendrick’s other albums that are usually very conceptual while this album just has a lot of fun bangers while still having those deep cut songs like Reincarnated and Gloria with great storytelling and penmanship.
Also Tyler, The Creator who I think is one of the most talented and creative artists that we have right now has dropped 2 albums in the past year and while Chromakopia is a way more emotional album, Sticky for example feels like a 2000s southern banger that feels like something kids would rap on a school lunch table with a star-studded feature roster. Also the concepts of “not trying to hide as someone you’re not and just being yourself” and hair on songs like Take Your Mask Off and I Killed You are very prominent on the album. And then Tyler would go on to drop another album this summer called Don’t Tap The Glass which is entirely inspired by old school hip hop, 90s R&B and most prominently dance music. It’s just him having fun the entire time and gives off very vintage vibes and for someone that always focuses on giving us concept albums and Chromakopia being a deeper album, it was really satisfying to just hear a fun danceable album from him. Exactly what I wanted to hear from Tyler and has a great mix of singing and rapping from him with some of his most skilled production to date.
Also The Paradox has been blowing up recently and for good reason. They’re a rock/pop-punk band and while rock music has been deemed as “white people” music for a long time, it came from us so it’s very satisfying to hear a group of younger black artists hone in on that sound. They only have 5 songs out right now but they’re all bangers and I would highly advise for you to check them out if you love that 2000s pop-punk sound. Also songs like Nokia by Drake (who yes I know is kinda the opposite of being unapologetically black) and Dark Thoughts by Lil Tecca are very 2000s-inspired and the latter brings us back to the classic Neptunes sound and were huge hits this year that were very fun and vibrant and were being played outside a lot.
Also, maybe not entirely fun music but Clipse just came out with their first album in 16 years and it was a major hit for the hip hop community with it shining light on Pusha T, Malice and Pharrell once again after 20+ years of them being around. Lyricism in hip hop is at the forefront with them and it shows. The promotion also for that album was amazing with them going on Tiny Desk and doing interviews with Complex and other big publications.
Playboi Carti and Metro Boomin are the last people I’ll talk about and both of their albums gave off extreme throwback 2000s-early 2010s ATL trap vibes in both a different way. Metro Boomin brought back the fun bright dance sound with his Futuristic Summa album that was meant to be played outside and those vibes show out on songs like Butterflies and I Want It All for example. Playboi Carti made a genre-bending trap album with lots of hits and a star studded feature list inspired by vintage ATL trap with even having Atlanta mixtape legend Swamp Izzo to host the project. Songs like Like Weezy and Crank definitely give off those vibes and even samples older trap artists like Rich Kidz and SpaceGhostPurpp. Also not to mention, we’ve been getting artists like Zeddy Will that have been bringing back the fun bouncy dance sound to the internet that people have been saying gives off “106 and Park” vibes with songs like Get Jiggy, Trippin and Boujee Baby. And there’s underground artists like Rsieh Raxan for example in R&B that for sure give off that danceable groovy vibe with great production. So in conclusion, I feel like especially with everything going on right now in the world good or bad, people are putting out more fun music as of recent and we need that more. (Also not black artists but artists like Charli XCX and Chappell Roan are definitely giving off those vibes also with them putting electronic and 80s synthpop to the forefront again)
About the Creator
Royce Hall is a passionate writer and creator whose work blends music journalism, filmmaking, and storytelling. Through CinematicSoundz, Royce writes reviews and essays on hip hop, R&B, and pop, as well as reflections on movies, TV shows, and his own filmmaking journey. This is just the beginning of Royce’s journalism career as it is his dream to one day be invited to major music events, interview his favorite artists, and make a living talking
Credits
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