Really like the genre. I used to listen to HOT 103.7 when I lived in Seattle. That station played a lot of 90s-2000s rap, R'n'B, and other "urban" music. It just hit differently when driving home on I-5 after pulling a twelve-hour shift in the warehouse. I also remember spontaneously dancing on the warehouse floor when a particularly good track hit at a slow time, which umm... got a lot of people turnt. I loved that energy.
As for the songs themselves, the subject matter concerned everything from persistence in the face of obstacles, to happiness and enjoyment of life, to the depressing reality of poverty, and even to subtly religious overtones, as if hoping for deliverance. It was far more complex, emotional, and expressive than I thought the genre was originally.
There were other subject matters as well, but the following are the ones that spoke to me the most. With that said, here's some of my favorites from that time.
Poll
