The fall of the melodic gangster rap 

In recent years, there has been a dilemma in Swedish hip hop.

At the same time as the genre demands authenticity, ie that you as a rapper must be genuine in your music, the content has been constantly criticized.

Critics have called it glorifying violence.

The defenders have a contract that the texts reflect the society we live in. 

In folklore it is called "gangster rap".

A melodic variant that differs from the American predecessors NWA, or the Swedish Cartel.

And the melodic variant that broke through at the end of 2018, the beginning of 2019 was never free from criticism, but it managed to become the largest in Sweden.

New wave of Swedish hip hop artists

Swedish hip hop was successful and reached far beyond Sweden's borders.

The American music magazine Rolling Stone wrote an entire report about Dree Low's enormous success as an independent artist. 

In the following years, the new wave of Swedish hip-hop artists dominated the music scene, the top lists and the music galas, which a few years earlier had been characterized by house and pop. 

At the Grammy Awards 2019, it was ZE who took home the award "artist of the year".

Every now and then a shift occurred on the Swedish music scene.

He was not just a "hip hop artist", he was the

year 

.

The following year, during the P3 Gold Gala, the same thing happened.

The absolute heaviest prizes went to hip hop artists.

This year's song went to the relatively new artist Einár, an artist name that few knew only twelve months earlier.

In addition to the hip-hop artists being new to the music scene, there were other factors that set them apart from the mainstream artists, who had previously dominated the music galas and charts.

Largest in Sweden

The new rappers did most of it on their own.

They built up their fan base via social media and the music was released independently, without the help of any major record companies or nice press releases.

These were not people who had been welcomed into the establishment, they had worked their way up.

They were authentic and selfmade. 

The new hip-hop music was also different from what it used to be.

The productions were pop-influenced, the lyrics more melodic, a little simpler than the type of hip hop that dominated before.

The lines were delivered at a slower pace, the content was explicit.

It was new.

It was unique.

It was the largest in Sweden.

A shadow over the music

Despite its greatness, the music was repeatedly met with criticism - both within the genre but also from outside. 

But regardless of whether you belong to a critic or a defender, most people can probably agree that there is now a shadow over the music.

Some of the biggest artists are currently serving prison sentences and one of the biggest was shot to death on Thursday night.

And perhaps it is precisely this shadow that will lead to the fall of the melodic gangster rap.