Hip-Hop was never repetitive in its early stages. From the 1970s onward, each artist presented a different sound and feel to the art form.

One could listen to a Scarface album or Tribe Called Quest album and expect something totally different. Each region has its own plights; it’s own experiences and rappers provided listeners a tale over a simple beat.

The beauty of the music was that one could turn on the radio or purchase a record that gave one a fresh listening experience.

Mannie Fresh is not a fan of the current state of Hip-Hop. The super-producer who brought the world of Hip-Hop a slew of hits in the late 90s and 2000s is upset there is no “growth” in the genre.

“Southern music is stuck to me, it’s one way,” he said in an interview with Soul Culture. “It’s 808s, snare rolls and hi-hats. I love that all these cats grew up on Mannie Fresh sound, but I’m looking for a little bit of growth. I think we’ve been in that same spot long enough. It’s time to move on.”

The one-time Big Tymer, born Byron Thomas, said rappers are sounding like rappers from different regions.

You got New York rappers, he said, that sound like they from the South.

“I’m not saying nothing is wrong with that, but what happened to the East Coast sound, what happened to the West Coast sound,” he said.

Fresh pointed out when he was coming up, Hip-Hop provided different genres within a genre.

“At one point rap had Public Enemy. Public Enemy was our pro-black,” he said. “We had Slick Rick. Slick Rick was our storyteller. We had NWA. NWA was our gangster rap. You had CashMoney. That was your Bling Bling. That’s four different genres of rap. We don’t have that right now.”

Now, he said, it’s based on the club.

Hip-Hop, he continued, growing up to me was a teacher as well.

“It was a culture and a teacher,” he said. “You had the choice of saying today I want to hear something positive. Today, I want to hear something that’s all about the hood. We just don’t have that right now. It’s out there, but the labels are not pushing that. The labels are going mainstream. We want you to look like this and sound like this. We’re not going to take a chance on that artist that’s heartfelt. You gotta go underground to find that.”

Does Mannie Fresh have a point? Sound off below.