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-- Rap hits decline
Rap hits decline
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| NEW YORK - Maybe it was the umpteenth coke-dealing anthem or soft-porn music video. Perhaps it was the preening antics that some call reminiscent of Stepin Fetchit. The turning point is hard to pinpoint. But after 30 years of growing popularity, rap music is struggling with an alarming sales decline and growing criticism from within about the culture's negative effect on society. Rap insider Chuck Creekmur, who runs the Web site allhiphop.com, says he got a message from a friend "asking me to hook her up with some Red Hot Chili Peppers because she said she's through with rap. A lot of people are sick of rap . . . the negativity is just over the top now." The rapper Nas, considered one of the greats, challenged the condition of the art form when he titled his latest album "Hip-Hop is Dead." It's at least ailing, according to recent statistics: Though music sales are down overall, rap sales slid a whopping 21 percent from 2005 to 2006, and for the first time in 12 years no rap album was among the top 10 sellers of the year. A recent study by the Black Youth Project showed a majority of youth think rap has too many violent images. In a poll of black Americans by The Associated Press and AOL-Black Voices last year, 50 percent of respondents said hip-hop was a negative force in American society. Nicole Duncan-Smith grew up on rap, worked in the rap industry for years and is married to a hip-hop producer. She still listens to rap, but says it no longer speaks to or for her. She wrote the children's book "I Am Hip-Hop" partly to create something positive about rap for children, including her 4-year-old daughter. "I'm not removed from it, but I can't really tell the difference between Young Jeezy and Yung Joc. It's the same dumb stuff to me," says Duncan-Smith, 33. "I can't listen to that nonsense . . . I can't listen to another black man talk about you don't come to the 'hood anymore and ghetto revivals . . . I'm from the 'hood. How can you tell me you want to revive it? How about you want to change it? Rejuvenate it?" Linked to mayhem Hip-hop also seems to be increasingly blamed for a variety of social ills. Studies have attempted to link it to everything from teen drug use to increased sexual activity among young girls. Even the mayhem that broke out in Las Vegas during last week's NBA All-Star Game was blamed on hip-hoppers. "(NBA Commissioner) David Stern seriously needs to consider moving the event out of the country for the next couple of years in hopes that young, hip-hop hoodlums would find another event to terrorize," columnist Jason Whitlock, who is black, wrote on AOL. While rap has been in essence pop music for years, and most rap consumers are white, some worry the black community is suffering from hip-hop -- from the way America perceives blacks to the attitudes and images being adopted by black youth. But the rapper David Banner derides the growing criticism as blacks joining America's attack on young black men who are only reflecting the crushing problems within their communities. Besides, he says, that's the kind of music America wants to hear. "Look at the music that gets us popular -- 'Like a Pimp,' 'Dope Boy Fresh,' " he says, naming two of his hits. "What makes it so difficult is to know that we need to be doing other things. But the truth is at least us talking about what we're talking about, we can bring certain things to the light," he says. Long-time criticism Criticism of hip-hop is certainly nothing new -- it's as much a part of the culture as the beats and rhymes. Among the early accusations were that rap wasn't true music, its lyrics were too raw, its street message too polarizing. But they rarely came from the youthful audience itself, which was enraptured with genre that defined them as none other could. "As people within the hip-hop generation get older, I think the criticism is increasing," says author Bakari Kitwana, who is part of a lecture tour titled "Does Hip-Hop Hate Women?" "There was a more of a tendency when we were younger to be more defensive of it," he adds. During her '90s crusade against rap's habit of degrading women, the late black activist C. Dolores Tucker certainly had few allies within the hip-hop community, or even among young black women. Backed by folks such as conservative Republican William Bennett, Tucker was vilified within rap circles. In retrospect, "many of us weren't listening," says Tracy Denean Sharpley-Whiting, a professor at Vanderbilt University and author of the new book "Pimps Up, Ho's Down: Hip-Hop's Hold On Young Black Women." "She was onto something, but most of us said, 'They're not calling me a bitch, they're not talking about me, they're talking about those women.' But then it became clear that, you know what? Those women can be any women." One rap fan, Bryan Hunt, made the searing documentary "Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes," which debuted on PBS this month. Hunt addresses the biggest criticisms of rap, from its treatment of women to the glorification of the gangsta lifestyle that has become the default posture for many of today's most popular rappers. "I love hip-hop," Hunt, 36, says in the documentary. "I sometimes feel bad for criticizing hip-hop, but I want to get us men to take a look at ourselves." Dances get heat, too Even dances that may seem innocuous are not above the fray. Last summer, as the "Chicken Noodle Soup" song and accompanying dance became a sensation, Baltimore Sun pop critic Rashod Ollison mused the dance -- demonstrated in the video by young people stomping wildly from side to side -- was part of the growing minstrelization of rap music. "The music, dances and images in the video are clearly reminiscent of the era when pop culture reduced blacks to caricatures: lazy 'coons,' grinning 'pickaninnies,' sexually super-charged 'bucks,' " he wrote. Crime connection And then there's the criminal aspect that has long been a part of rap. In the '70s, groups may have rapped about drug dealing and street violence, but rap stars weren't the embodiment of criminals themselves. Today, the most popular and successful rappers boast about who has murdered more foes and rhyme about dealing drugs as breezily as other artists sing about love. Creekmur says music labels have overfed the public on gangsta rap, obscuring artists who represent more positive and varied aspects of black life, such as Talib Kweli, Common and Lupe Fiasco. "It boils down to a complete lack of balance, and whenever there's a complete lack of balance people are going to reject it, whether it's positive or negative," Creekmur says. |
Too much to read, but im guessing its saying popular rap is on decline which im glad to see. But there's still tones of quality stuff coming out that few know of.
Only good can come out of this. Good for society, good for mainstream music, good for the image of african americans. Maybe now rap can go back to it's more intelligent roots.
The article doesn't touch on the fact that everyone and their dog is rapping, in milk commercials even. Come on.
It's too saturated now, too much glam, decadence, imaging and essentially fat to skim off. 'Not surprising.. this happens to every genre of music that hops on the pop culture train.. but it'll probably push a new sub genre of rap.. if it hasn't already.
I would like to hear more house with rap vocals, personally.. but it's gotta be done right 
I feel sorry for some of the artist. I seen people at the top fall not pretty! BUT 
I blame Hypnotic.How can people drink that shit.
Colt 45, dog 
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| Originally posted by Spin Laden Colt 45, dog |
I agree with spin laden its much to saturated now they need to move on to something fresh and new and quit that whole gangsta bullshit.
oh yes, Tribe.. man I loved those guys. That's a nice list, ANF. I don't mind k-os (Superstar) for Canadian content, and Roots.
This song was so good it convinced me to act black for 2 years.
Back in the day,I once wore those backward pants like kriss Kross at 13.
Fuck i sucked back then
kos is a great artist
down with rap
up with tech!!!
For the last time marcus this shit isn't tech.
I used to love Puff Daddy and Mase back in 97 when they were actually still cool. Immortal Technique and Biggy are probably the only ones I could stand listening to today.
Glad to hear hip hop is on the decline, the gangsta rap of today fuckin sucks.
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| Originally posted by LiGHT78 Glad to hear hip hop is on the decline, the gangsta rap of today fuckin sucks. |
Its declining thanks to the internet
Nothing to do with society
that's something I was thinking about too, and was surprised it wasn't mentioned in the article. I think it's a combo of everything mentioned, however.
Internet helps a genre of music grow to a certain extent, but then there comes that point where it's too accessible and prevalent (which is the case now), showing up on ringtones and so on.
it's also been comodified by big conglomerates who have been pushing those images and crap you see as well. As well as by sell out artists.
Rap has become Tiesto-ified
People forget when rap/ hip-hop had a positive message in their music that brought people together back in the 80's. They had great story tellers like Krs-One,EPMD and MC Lyte. Now a days its more about image. My hate for todays hardcore hip/hop is what got into EDM. The only time I listen to hip-hop is when my daughter is watching mtv or checking what's playing in her mp3 player. All she ever tells is boys act like they're 50 cent at her school. Pretty sad.
BTW: What about NAS as one the top 5...he's probably the best modern day lyricist out there today. He questions if hip hop is dead in his latest album.
To me, hip-hop started it's slow death around 1997..... it's just totally gone downhill for the most part.
The shit that was out there from the early to mid nineties (specifically 1993-1996) is in my opinion, the most creative lyrically and produced, the genre will ever see. I've got over 300+ albums from that era and still listen to them frequently.
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