Who knew rapper Nas was a prophet? Nearly two years ago, he titled his 2006 album, Hip Hop is Dead. The prognostication sparked a firestorm in the hip hop community who interpreted it as the bitter rambling of an “old” man who time has come and gone.
Now the New York Times has declared the genre’s downfall in its piece, “The Shrinking Market is Changing Hip Hop”. According to the article, sales of hip hop CDs have taken a particularly hard hit in a market where overall sales are down. “Rap sales fell 21 percent from 2005 to 2006, and that trend seems to be continuing.” And if the New York Times, a publication not known for being ahead of the curve when it comes to pop culture, acknowledges the possible demise of the genre, hip hop is not just dead but it’s in rigor mortis.
Hip hop’s struggles are not surprising to most who follow the industry. Iconic artists, such as Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent, whose CDs easily became multi-platinum sellers not so long ago, now find their recent releases struggle to reach the million in sales mark after weeks on the charts.
Although, I am not too deeply ensconced in the happenings of popular culture, I do try to keep abreast of its latest offerings. I know about Britney, Paris, Fergie, and a little about Mylie. Even the Internet sensation, and now ad pitchman, Tay Zonday, singer of “Chocolate Rain”, caught my attention. With that said, I did not recognize the names of the rappers mentioned in the Times piece nor was I familiar with their music.Therein lies the problem.
And no, I am not that damn old — at least not chronologically. But in hip hop years, I am ancient. For me and most people of a certain age for whom the genre was more than just music but a movement that embodied the bravado of a generation who after having been abandoned by the civil rights old guard decided to make its own way in the world, the boasting, bling obessesed, stripper glorifying lyrics do not hold our interest. We’ve grown up but hip hop hasn’t. And the younger generation, accustomed to downloading, file sharing and outright bootlegging, doesn’t really see the value in investing in a CD of “songs” of which one or two might be of temporal interest.
Article comments
1 - Mach X
You were doing fine but you stumbled in the third act. Pull up a chair.
The South didn't bring rapping about excess to the forefront, Puffy did. He and Biggie created the floss era. This was picked up on by the southern artist Masta P and then by Cash Money records. The south until then had been stuck on pimping and drug-dealing rhymes. MP and CMR melded those to the floss style Puffy had popularized and the takeover was in effect. Then Jay Z came along with a northern version of the hustler stee and the stranglehold was complete.
The second revolution of the south came with crunk (precursored by the dungeon family, most notably of course Outkast), which revived the southern dance tradition which had its roots in the defunct hiphop genre of Bass. What is now known as the ringtone era we are currently in is a combination of the mp3-centric, technology-connected culture of today's youth and the legacy of bass (which was littered with one-and-two hit wonders).
These rappers aren't talking about anything more or less shallow and one-dimensional than their predecessors. And in a way, their dominance over d-boy rap is making it possible for other artists like Lupe Fiasco and Cee-Lo to get breathing for their own sound.
In short, two forces are converging: generational change and technological revolution. You're not witnessing the death of hip hop, you're witnessing an evolutionary phase of the music industry.