“New York Rap Fell Off Because 50 Cent Made It Cool To Sound Southern & Changed The Sound Of New York Music”

[Mob H]

NY fell off during that mid 2000's period because on one hand you had a bunch of mixtape rappers that couldn't make a hit, some of them being bitter that NY was no longer the top dog on the airwaves, and on the other hand you had nikkas that were trying TOO hard to follow the trends and ended up making trash like in the post above mine.

Blaming 50 Cent for that because he says "mane" every now and then is asinine.

 

[Bar Razor]

New York really fell off because they capitulated to the "gangster" trend started by NWA. Before NWA, there was variety - you had BDK, Rakim, Kid N Play, Chub Rock, De La, EPMD and on and on and on. All with different flavors, etc. After NWA, when all the record labels only wanted to sign some form of crime rhyme, the originators of hip hop were at a crossroads. Unfortunately, it chose to go gangsta and so afterwards came Wu, Nas Escobar, Lox, ONYX,Mobb Deep, Jay-Z, DMX and on and on all having a theme of crime related rap. Gone was the variety. And some people at the time tried to push back - De La, OC, Jeru, Grim Reap from Gravediggaz. But the machine was too strong and hip hop descended into the criminal cesspool in the mainstream that's lasted 30 years now and seen the rise of trap, drill and other detriments to the music/community.

And I liked a bunch of those acts because they were TALENTED no matter what the subject matter was. That was never a question. but once criminal related rap became ALL YOU HEARD mainstream wise, a dark cloud fell over the music that's never lifted.

 

[ISO]

50 is more involved with modern NY’s hip hop scene giving features, co-signs, game and opportunity behind the scenes than probably any old guard NY rapper

 

[Shadow King]

I getwhat you’re saying and yes it was hard to believe for me too. But if you look at the lists of hot rap acts out of NYC in the 80’s and 90’s, the one for 2000 and beyond places in comparison. It seems like the game changed as far as how you get on for one. Dudes expected to be successful overnight. Seems like the grind was gone.

I believe there was also an identity crisis. For a while everyone sounded like a Baby Biggie or. Jay-Z junior. Due in part to the 90’s, materialism became too prominent.

And not just the MC’s, but the producers as well. Who became the 2000’s Marley Marl, Primo, Pete Rock, or Large Professor out of NY? No one.

Can’t forget that the losses of BIG, Big L, Big Pun, and the breakup of the Fugees were gut punches to NY hip hop.

All of this speaks to the bolded, not talent magically becoming inferior, though I disgaree with the grind disappearing, especially the 2000s, that was more of a 10s trend. If anything the grind peaked in the 2000s. You weren't doing anything without a half dozen mixtapes first.

As far as producers, from a combination of chasing the existing super producers and beatmaking becoming more accessible/easier, it was harder for a beatmaker to reach a certain status and hold it off from cheaper replacements. On top of the fact artists stopped using the 1 or 2 producer per album model that gave those older legends their cache, because they were chasing radio.

 

[Yaboysix]

My bad, i was Trippin!

 

[Rasille]

Rappers like Lloyd Banks, Joe Budden and Cassidy debuted 2/3 years prior with successful albums and hits but by 2006 other similar rappers couldn’t be successful? That makes sense to y’all?

 

[KING WILL]

I know he said it in a song. "I'm New Yorker, but I sound southern".


But I never thought he sounded southern. Didn't know this was a thing amongst New Yorkers.

 

[MarcP]

New York fell off because their rappers put 80% their skill points into hot 97 freestyle raps, 20% into "I'm bringing New York back/this is real hiphop/this is real rap", and zero into song writing so even though a lot of them had bars...none of them nikkas could write songs to save their lives.

 

[Yagirlcheatinonus]

I thought Papoose was going to be the next Nas

 

[ReturnOfJudah]