I remember waiting to hear my favorite song on the radio to hating songs I liked because they were played all the time on every station. Streaming eliminated this. In some ways the Internet helped in that regard, but the Internet is a suspect because it killed the mystique. It also turned us fans into critics, which took some of the joy and excitement out of the listening experience.
If you are one to say Hiphop is dead. Who are your personal TOP 3 Suspects? :
- Thread starter BlackDiBiase
- Start date
I remember waiting to hear my favorite song on the radio to hating songs I liked because they were played all the time on every station. Streaming eliminated this. In some ways the Internet helped in that regard, but the Internet is a suspect because it killed the mystique. It also turned us fans into critics, which took some of the joy and excitement out of the listening experience.
BlackDiBiase
Superstar
Nah, a little more evidence needed lol.
You are right about Ye though with all that 808s Kid Cudi type nonsense.
props.
BlackDiBiase
Superstar
Big Facts.
But the gatekeepers were already being weakened with the Interscope/TheSource beef and Radio stations and personalities being called out. ie. Angie Martinez and Flex.
Em is Interscope and the reason I put Jay in there is because you mentioned yourself the flash pan rappers well thats Jay's children.
- I am not a rapper I am a hustler.
As for Luda up until this dude came out and the goofy started getting airtime, Busta is a real spitter but that whole goofy package Luda has shat on the poetic value of your lyrical darts. No respect for the MCs not long after that. Luda always went plat he bought the likes of that novelty Chingy, DFL type raps that choked hiphop for a long minute.
BlackDiBiase
Superstar
Oh sh1t that a shot at Nas.
If he was the first to put on a personna and made it profitable ie. not Kool G or Mobb then I can really hear that because Nore thinks Nas was the first NYC gangster rapper and Benzino said 'Mobb Deep' this was on Drink-Champs. Nas went 2xplat with IWW so you might be right on that.
Em, Luda, and Jay 
Don’t even have to turn my phone sideways to know this is some negative rep nonsense
Don’t even have to turn my phone sideways to know this is some negative rep nonsense
BlackDiBiase
Superstar
Em, Luda, and Jay
Don’t even have to turn my phone sideways to know this is some negative rep nonsense
The class of 1999 included Eminem, Fabolous,Shyne,Joe Buddens,etc. The last great batch of rappers.
After the year 2000 you began to have Young Jeezys and fake lyricist like Lupe Fiasco, its been 2 decades of hot trash!
BlackDiBiase
Superstar
Jay started this though.
'I sold what your whole album sold in my first week'
50 did make it super competitive and rappers were catching Ls off first week release sales. Those were the 'harsh realities' times lol, Early 2000s.
I don't know if Jay was the first to start talking about numbers but 50 definitely made it popular.
The South
The Southern Section of the United States
The States Below the Mason-Dixon Line.
The Southern Section of the United States
The States Below the Mason-Dixon Line.
1. Telecommunications Act of 1996. Took power away from local radio stations and DJs who used to gatekeep and perform quality control. Clear Channel was able to buy up local stations nationwide and they all had to play what corporate HQ told em to play.
2. Most labels went from being run by people who knew and loved music to standard corporate business people. Business was always crooked as fukk but they used to take risks and invest in artist development. Now they risk averse and don't invest in shyt, so they sign a bunch of unoriginal clones and that's who get promoted.
3. The fans. Embraced too much garbage. Now you get called a hater for rejecting weak music from untalented rappers. Fans thought that "I'm not a rapper I'm a hustler" shyt was cool and embraced a bunch of bums behind it. That's why nobody in line to take over from Kendrick, Drake and Cole. The next couple generations already came and went because most of em lacked talent and substance.
2. Most labels went from being run by people who knew and loved music to standard corporate business people. Business was always crooked as fukk but they used to take risks and invest in artist development. Now they risk averse and don't invest in shyt, so they sign a bunch of unoriginal clones and that's who get promoted.
3. The fans. Embraced too much garbage. Now you get called a hater for rejecting weak music from untalented rappers. Fans thought that "I'm not a rapper I'm a hustler" shyt was cool and embraced a bunch of bums behind it. That's why nobody in line to take over from Kendrick, Drake and Cole. The next couple generations already came and went because most of em lacked talent and substance.
BlackDiBiase
Superstar
50 definetely made it popular, facts in fact it's still going till this day.
Jay was the pioneer. A whore rapper ... 'Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense But I did 5 mill' – I ain't been rhyming like Common since'
Check the facts. Mase used to diss him about no platinum hits. Jay takes everything sensitively.
Jay : 'Only one moving units was Em, Pimp Juice and Us'.
Jay : 'I seen Mase do it, I seen X do it, I seen Ja catch lighter fluid'
BlackDiBiase
Superstar
Dope avatar, dope posts.
I like how you laid it out in simple terms in point 1, and point 3 is very underrated reasons. In my City we embrace every mediocre artist to the point no one out the City invests or listens to that garbage. We need a higher standard, but its the young ones they need "New" and not "Great".
Mastamimd
Ain't shyt
Pointing at rappers is disingenuous but the fact that two of the four elements were all but relegated to the underground has to count for something. Aside from a few artists in the 90s and the short revival in the 2000s you never see B Boys/Girls in videos. And with the Telecommunications Act coupled in with the DJ Drama raid the DJ, the most important element in the creation of hip hop, became obsolete.
Commercialization goes back to the 80s but once it became a household commodity in suburbia it was a wrap. I can't blame Eminem alone on this though; when grunge died a lot of the frat boy fans turned to nu metal, which was as far as they would go when it comes to enjoying hip hop. And as that genre was gaining steam in comes Eminem; the perfect storm of a white rapper. Once he came in the commercialization aspect couldn't be put back in the box which destroyed gatekeeping.
One more thing about gatekeeping; I was old enough to remember when most white people HATED hip hop because they were racist as shyt. They refused to even admit they liked it. Now that they do what do you think these record labels are going to do? Target them for profit. Kanye was perfect for that because you had the "safe" guy which opened up a lot. And now we're here.
Commercialization goes back to the 80s but once it became a household commodity in suburbia it was a wrap. I can't blame Eminem alone on this though; when grunge died a lot of the frat boy fans turned to nu metal, which was as far as they would go when it comes to enjoying hip hop. And as that genre was gaining steam in comes Eminem; the perfect storm of a white rapper. Once he came in the commercialization aspect couldn't be put back in the box which destroyed gatekeeping.
One more thing about gatekeeping; I was old enough to remember when most white people HATED hip hop because they were racist as shyt. They refused to even admit they liked it. Now that they do what do you think these record labels are going to do? Target them for profit. Kanye was perfect for that because you had the "safe" guy which opened up a lot. And now we're here.