Hip Hop Is Not Dead (But It Is Dying)

USA Today Poses The Question: Can rap regain its crown?

The music industry is suffering across-the-board drops in CD sales, but rap is in a steeper slide: This year, rap sales are down 33% from 2006, twice the decline for the industry overall, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Five years ago, Eminem’s album The Eminem Show was atop the Billboard chart, on its way to becoming the runaway best-selling album that year, with 7.6 million copies. Since then, no rap album has sold as well.

Rap’s decline can be traced to a range of factors, including marketing strategies that have de-emphasized album sales in favor of selling less-lucrative single songs and short versions of those singles as ring tones for cellphones. But more important to the industry, there are signs that many music-buying Americans — particularly the young, largely white audience that can make a difference between modest and blockbuster sales — are tiring of rappers’ emphasis on “gangsta” attitudes, explicit lyrics and tales of street life and conspicuous consumption.

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That is a great article you guys should read the entire thing. Damn Hip Hop is not in a good state right now both financially and creatively, we all know that the music could be better (allot better), because it’s been better before and should be able to do it again. The whole I’m from the streets gangster rap garbage has had it’s run. Every rapper did sell drugs like Jay-Z and get shot 9 times like 5o Cent that formula does not work anymore. We need new leaders in the rap game and we need a new movement in order to blow life back into the music creatively.

On the financial side of things, the music industry can not keep up with the technological advancements of the internet. I can’t tell you when is the last time I went out and bought a CD If it’s not on iTunes I’m not coppin it. The record labels no longer spend time to develop artist anymore they just look for the one hit wonders (Mims and Rich Boy) and milk them for the one hit and then thats it. The record labels need to pay more attention to the digital outlets and stop focusing on album sales, because right now Ring Tones are blowing the roof off album sales. People are cutting million ring tone checks now , they better smarten up…..

So like I said Hip Hop not dead (the culture itself it still very much alive) but it is dying, shoot if it was dead this website wouldn’t exist…..lol

I’m out