[Submitted by emphasis on August 15, 2007, 10:40 pm]
for the original blog and other blogs peep: http://emphas1s.multiply.com 
A lot of the real hip hop heads who have followed the culture, particularly the music associated with it will notice a number of trends. By mentioning any of these artists or trends, I am not endorsing their music at all - in fact a lot of it is very questionable morally: I just want to know what happened to the culture I used to love.
Let's look at some of these trends:
Piracy - As an artist myself if you burn my cd, my kids don't get to eat, and I won't get any money to hop into the studio to do another one. Most of the good artists are just getting by, nuff said.
The dormancy of New York based hip hop - Everyone accredits New York City as the Mecca of hip hop culture - it started there. Even when the West Coast was strong with the rise of Dr Dre produced rap music, the East always had a counter. Right now, the top MC's from the five boroughs are laying dormant, or going crunk. Apart from Nas' comeback last year, the Big Apple wasn't representing, neither with established or fresh talent.
The lackluster sales - 2006 was a very bad year for hip hop record sales declining by 21% from 2005 according to futuremusic.com and CNN. I personally accredit it to people being tired of the same old derogatory messages promoting mindless materialism, and demoting positive role models and degrading women. There is nothing new under the sun, and the rap game is boring now. It is the first time in 12 years that a Hip Hop album has not featured in the top ten albums of the year as far as sales. Click here for Futuremusic.com's take on the sales from last year.
The producers going pop - in the above article, the conclusion is that the top hip hop producers must reinvent the game. Namely Dr Dre and Timbaland. Dr Dre hasn't produced anything for the last few years other than the odd cameo, and people have given up on waiting for the comeback album. Timbaland along with the Neptunes have all been producing primarily pop music for people
like Justin Timberlake, Gwen Stefani, Nelly Furtado, Omarion: not necessarily bad, just not hip hop. Leaving Kanye, the self indulgent Chi-town multiplatinum backpack producer, whose compositions lately have been similar to that from the groundbreaking Jigga album and his debut. Again, nothing new under the sun.
The southern renaissance - Last year the South outsold most East and West coast albums (apart from Jigga and Snoop), but still nowhere near what hip hop sold in previous years. And apart from Outkast really, is there anyone out there really helping to develop the music and culture to another level. It all sounds the same to me...
Bling - To many rappers trying to get on MTV Cribs, and hardly any of them want to develop the art form. Rapping about rims and mansions, forgetting what a beautiful thing it is that they are now in a more fortunate situation than they used to be. Money magnifies character, and though the bulk of them came from impoverished situations in less than desirable locations, they'd rather watch rims turn then watch lives turn. Even
Madonna knows better than that!
Selling out - Mobb Deep and rapping reverend Ma$e join 50 Cents G Unit last year. Diddy sings and his top artists he releases last year (Danity Kane and Cassie) are straight up pop. Akon is everywhere from Snoop to D Block to Gwen Stefani. He even recorded with New Zealand artists P Money and Savage. Anything to sell a record - even if he is the new millennium's Mark Morrison. Rather than developing the art form, it's made totally bubble gum, formulated purely for monetary gain. Sickening. Don't be surprised if Crazy Frog starts doing hooks for Ice Cube next year.
As you can see hip hop is in a fragile state at the moment. But I believe that there can be redemption. Check out the final episode in this trilogy: Who killed Hip Hop?
A lot of the real hip hop heads who have followed the culture, particularly the music associated with it will notice a number of trends. By mentioning any of these artists or trends, I am not endorsing their music at all - in fact a lot of it is very questionable morally: I just want to know what happened to the culture I used to love.Let's look at some of these trends:
Piracy - As an artist myself if you burn my cd, my kids don't get to eat, and I won't get any money to hop into the studio to do another one. Most of the good artists are just getting by, nuff said.
The dormancy of New York based hip hop - Everyone accredits New York City as the Mecca of hip hop culture - it started there. Even when the West Coast was strong with the rise of Dr Dre produced rap music, the East always had a counter. Right now, the top MC's from the five boroughs are laying dormant, or going crunk. Apart from Nas' comeback last year, the Big Apple wasn't representing, neither with established or fresh talent.
The lackluster sales - 2006 was a very bad year for hip hop record sales declining by 21% from 2005 according to futuremusic.com and CNN. I personally accredit it to people being tired of the same old derogatory messages promoting mindless materialism, and demoting positive role models and degrading women. There is nothing new under the sun, and the rap game is boring now. It is the first time in 12 years that a Hip Hop album has not featured in the top ten albums of the year as far as sales. Click here for Futuremusic.com's take on the sales from last year.
The producers going pop - in the above article, the conclusion is that the top hip hop producers must reinvent the game. Namely Dr Dre and Timbaland. Dr Dre hasn't produced anything for the last few years other than the odd cameo, and people have given up on waiting for the comeback album. Timbaland along with the Neptunes have all been producing primarily pop music for people
like Justin Timberlake, Gwen Stefani, Nelly Furtado, Omarion: not necessarily bad, just not hip hop. Leaving Kanye, the self indulgent Chi-town multiplatinum backpack producer, whose compositions lately have been similar to that from the groundbreaking Jigga album and his debut. Again, nothing new under the sun.The southern renaissance - Last year the South outsold most East and West coast albums (apart from Jigga and Snoop), but still nowhere near what hip hop sold in previous years. And apart from Outkast really, is there anyone out there really helping to develop the music and culture to another level. It all sounds the same to me...
Bling - To many rappers trying to get on MTV Cribs, and hardly any of them want to develop the art form. Rapping about rims and mansions, forgetting what a beautiful thing it is that they are now in a more fortunate situation than they used to be. Money magnifies character, and though the bulk of them came from impoverished situations in less than desirable locations, they'd rather watch rims turn then watch lives turn. Even
Madonna knows better than that!Selling out - Mobb Deep and rapping reverend Ma$e join 50 Cents G Unit last year. Diddy sings and his top artists he releases last year (Danity Kane and Cassie) are straight up pop. Akon is everywhere from Snoop to D Block to Gwen Stefani. He even recorded with New Zealand artists P Money and Savage. Anything to sell a record - even if he is the new millennium's Mark Morrison. Rather than developing the art form, it's made totally bubble gum, formulated purely for monetary gain. Sickening. Don't be surprised if Crazy Frog starts doing hooks for Ice Cube next year.
As you can see hip hop is in a fragile state at the moment. But I believe that there can be redemption. Check out the final episode in this trilogy: Who killed Hip Hop?