I love listening to hip-hop and rap but its not the same as it used to be. The most known and best hip-hop artists came out in the early 80's and throughout the 90's such as Snoop Dogg, N.W.A. , Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., and many more. Now most of the rappers out of that era don't rap, are dead, or just don't have it anymore. With them not around anymore sales have declined. According to the New York Times, Rap sales have declined 21 percent from 2005 through 2006. With many rappers deceased ( Eazy E, Tupac Shakur, and The Notrious B.I.G.) the sound of rap and hip-hop is changing. In the 90's many of the rappers had success not with just one album but with multiple albums and many of their songs making the charts. Rap use to dominate the charts in the early 1980's,90's, and between the years 2000 and 2004. Now the only ones dominating the charts and record sales come from the genre Pop.
Pop has dominated the charts with Lady Gaga, Katie Perry and Justin Bieber. Many of the teens today love Justin Bieber and would die to watch Lady Gaga preform. Most of the Pop singers do have something that many of the rappers of today don't have. They have catchy songs which make people listen and buy their album. The radio then plays it over and over again. I've never personally heard Lady Gaga sing but according to ladygaga.com her songs also have a poetic touch to it with everything she says have a double and sometimes triple meaning to it capturing more audience. Parents also would rather have their children listen to pop than rap. With rap consisting mostly of violence many parents would rather have their kids listen to pop which has hardly any or no violence at all.
That's the problem with rap today. They are simply getting beat by Pop artist around the world. Less people listen to rap and instead listen to pop. Pop has double meanings and talks about more than one thing and its catchy. While most rap songs of today talk about one thing and that one thing will be the most irrelevant thing ever and no one wants to really listen to it. Rappers still might be getting famous today but it will never be like before.
Rap is simply not what it use to be. With many famous and notorious rappers dead it will never be reborn. It will never be what it once was back in the 90's. People don't care about other peoples struggles they would rather just have a song they can dance to. Most people care about how high your voice can get. With rap being mostly violent adults don't really care about it. Hip Hop is a dying breed.
Yes things have changed within hip hop. Many people say it is an evolution within the genre . As far as the sales are concerned, most rappers now come out with mixtapes. MIxtapes are the new album for a rap artist. It gives them more freedom to say how they feel. Believe it or not, many artist make themselves a very large amount being on the mixtapes.
ReplyDeleteT.I, Tyga, Lil Wayne, Drake are just a few of the rapppers that put out mixtapes. I sm sure they can tell you that it is very profitable. As far as the sales declining, that has a lot to do with the people buying their mixtapes instead of their album. On the mixtape the artit can truly use their creativity.
Hip hop isnt dying, its changing, just like it did then. There are new artists, new sounds, new looks, and new ways of reciving the music. Although, it is more violent than Pop music, there are some meaningful rappers out there who have a good message.
I feel like pop music has become more popular than ever before, but I don't think that we should say Hip Hop is dying yet. Their are still many hip hop artists out there producing great music. I just feel like things have changed because these days people are more focused on being successful with other things. If you think about it, Jay-Z and Diddy rapped and now make billions by having clothing lines and colognes and stuff. Many artists do that as a matter of fact. Madonna has quit making music to promote her own clothing line. Personally, I think artists have become more money hungry, and for got why they got into the business to begin with.
ReplyDeleteYes I agree with CJS when you say that there are many artist out there are great but not great as before. Many rappers have gotten money hungry and have went into clothing sales like Jay-Z and Russell Simmons. Hip-Hop is dying slowely and when CJS says that its a revolution i beg to differ. Its not a revolution its becoming somehting different its gonna be a different type of hip-hop and will sooner or later die out.
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