Pointin' the finger at the wrong people.
The industry, and rappers and producers playing politics killed NY's relevance in hip-hop.
NY rappers taking bad deals, going pop, and moving into acting and not bringing up a new generation allowed the labels to step in.
When the labels stepped in after figuring out how to profit off hip-hop, they lowered the bar.
It wasn't that Southern hip-hop killed hip-hop, the rise of Southern hip-hop coincided with a lower bar for lyrics and hip-hop authenticity in the industry.
After '99, the hip-hop bar was significantly lowered in favor of the labels pushin' inferior goods in a market that was in high demand for hip-hop.
After the industry started oversaturating the market with watered down surfeit goods, wack rappers with a gimmick, it didn't matter if they had longevity 'cause it would be easier to prevent legacies in hip-hop that would threaten the labels.
The rise of the south coincided with the industry establishing a monopoly in hip-hop.