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.
Very good article you all should check out. I think the major cause for the decline is the way technology has changed how you purchase music. Instead of buying an entire CD, where you don’t know if most of the tracks are hot, people prefer to buy the single off of itunes(if they don’t download it). So rappers put out major hits and people just by the single and the ringtone and pass on the album. You can’t just drop one banger anymore, you have to follow up with some solid singles, like Ciara. Robin Thicke was expected to flop but he kept working hard and that second single finally blew up for him. I know they are R&B but the same principle applies to rap. Look at the major songs by Rich Boy and MIMS and the lack of buzz with their second single. Flat out, rappers are going to have to work harder to see sales now, they need quality music and a very strong marketing campaign. We will see how T.I., Kanye West and 50 Cent sell in this new climate.
20 Comments so far
fiiiirrrst
great read
Krs-1 made some valid points,only 2 things to add first people are curious about a regions urban culture once that culture has been exposed the audience loses interest/especially when they find out only the slang is different and everything else is pretty much the same.Number 2 there are so many hood rappers that people don’t have to go very far to hear the type of music that they identify with/which in turn affects the mainstream artist who is not saying anything that varies from before mentioned hood rapper.
its an interesting article, but its basically saying what we (readers and listeners alike) have been saying and are still saying…we’ve grown tired of these nonsensical ad-libs and dances. There is no innovation in the mainstream these days, unlike in the underground with groups like Sa-Ra and Gym Class Heroes, but even with these groups, they get shunned by the greater hip hop community as being too “soft” or too “white.” We preach equality, yet we segregate when it comes to the music we listen to. Yes, I’m sure that there are those who love the Young Jeezy’s and the Lil’ Wayne’s because they are going through what these artists may (allegedly) have been through, and thats fine. But when there is a collective dumbing-down of lyrics and content, then we do indeed have a problem.
I see this decline of rap sales to be a GOOD thing. Do you know why? Because there is a change taking place right now. For the past 3,4 years we have been taking the crap that these record labels give us and swallowing it. This isn’t even about conscious rappers vs. mainstream….this is about the genre and the culture as a whole. The readers are not the only ones looking at these figures, the artists are too! They’re sitting in their multi-million dollar homes realizing that their crap is not cutting it anymore.
I encourage all of you to download the cd before it comes out. Fuck it, if you think the cd is good, then support the artist and give him his due by buying the cd…but if the cd is a dissappointment, then to hell with it! We need to show these horrible rappers that we’re not fucking around.
“The revolution will not be televised. The revolution is here.” Common Sense
I’m not gonna write a books report but how about this…how about rappers were never meant to go double and triple plat? It’s an underground art (always has been) not some pop/club BS. If the masses don’t like it…fck em. And bootleggin has always been a part of hip hop. Remember dubbing ya man’s tape back in the day?
Good article, with good points, but am the only one that noticed that he didn’t address the pink elephant in the room: illegal downloads?
50 gon sell because white fans adore him!
and Kanye
There was always a problem with rap. The problem is IT’S RAP!!! Rap and it’s major artists rarely are about anything but making money!
Real hip hop will always be an underground movement that most can’t comprehend like real jazz and you really can’t get rich off of it alone. MTV and BET stopped playing real hip hop around the late 90s about the same time they stopped airing concept videos. Now all they show are rap videos with tired themes and images.
If you are looking for hip hop the easiest way to find it these days is the internet and here are a few of the best websites:
http://www.fatbeats.com/catalog/index.php
http://www.sandboxautomatic.com/
http://www.hiphopsite.com/
Happy hunting and remember to keep an open mind about new music.
Peace
Its simply technology cats can download a whole CD from they home computers nowadays put it in the ipod n even play it in ur ride n ur good to go all of that for free who would turn that down? Unless ur a die hard fan of an artist n nowadays there’s just no artist I feel deserve a cent of my money and its scary cuz bootlegging aint even reach its climax yet which is another reson hip hop won’t survive for any longer cuz artist gon find another hustle once they realize aint no more good money in the game
Rap was never really selling back then either.
It was basically just Nelly and Eminem, who combined were sellin like 15 million everytime out.
Basically those two need to drop an album and we can see what the state of sales are.
there’s no excuse for poor album sales apart from poor song material.
its that simple,make better music,earn more sales.
Digga-da,digga-da,digga-da,digga-digga-da-da
Basically I think that the lack of good artists is some cause to this slack in hip hop sales. I agree that people are getting tired of the “gansta” persona. You can already see it now with artists leaning towards the whole rockstar attitude. To be honest, I like the whole “party like a rockstar” thing. It’s different. Plus, I too am sick of the same thing, and for some reason no rapper or hip hop artist is breaking out of the shell. In other words it’s getting boring.
Oh and another thing. I believe the new hip hop artists today get sales because of the producers who produce some sick beats and songs. Not because of what they say. (Some exceptions: Lil’ Wayne, T.I. etc.)
The death of on thing signifies the birth of somthing else……………hopefully that means the rebirth of emcee’s actually spittin from the soul and not from the greed and the love of money……….back to the essence baby……..it always comes back to the essence………hip-hop didnt die it just took an hiatus……..and trust when i say it came to North Carolina…………chea!
There is little innovation in Rap right now on the mainstream level. I find myself just listening to my older hip hop (and i ain’t talking ol skool Melly Mel, i mean like NWA or Tribe or Quik or Raekwon). I am one who is a HUGE hip hop head but artists like Bjork, Radiohead, Lilly Allen, M.I.A. and others are making quality music and have taken me away from the daily 50 vs Camron tiffs or Tru Life on Youtube daily talking about something that has no relevance or another rapper slain etc.. Also it is so easy to make the 808 drum clap sound that everyone in ever hood got like 4 rappers like this. Why if i am living in Oakland do i need to hear the same ish from Miami? I really hope Common goes platinum, that and Kanye are the only albums i am looking forward to. They actually take time with their projects, they don’t get “the hot producer” or 10,000 guests or 100 crew joints. I also am looking forward to Will.I.AM cause say wat u want he is a crazy ass producer and has ideas and puts them to fruition. $$, hoes, niggas, guns blah blah blah “you talkin’ loud but u ain’t saying nothing”
well said! Also there is some good rap ou there. I haven;t heard anything about KRS one’s new joint. I heard it one time and nothing else. These corporations only want us to see one kind of rap. Wonder why that is? Look at our communities, 58 percent of black women are raising their children alone. Then just about every rap song women called bitches and hoes. Women are raising our next generation with barely any help and damn sure no respect from men. Still think this music hasn’t affected us? Make as many songs revering the black woman as they made degrading her and maybe things might turn around. Good place to start if ya ask me.
OMG. You know what I hate? Stupid boys and girls yelling FIRRSSTT!!! at the first comment box. Its super annoying. Didn’t your mom ever tell you if u keep doing something, ur gonna stay like that. when you eat ur food, ur gonna yell FIRRSTTTTT, when u take a piss ‘FIIRSSTT’, when you raise ur hand to answer a question ‘FIIRSSTTT’.
RECORD SALES STARTED DROPPING WHEN THE SOUTH TOOK OVER CAUSE MORE THEN HAVE OF THEM DUDES IS TRASH.
There is a direct relationship between the dominance of the south and the decline of hip hop sales in particular.
fuck that shit all the real niggas keepin doin the shit you doin, you rep all us niggas. dont change what you doin the streets will always support you.
Hip-Hop will definitly retain record sells… i got two words for you….. No Case http://www.myspace.com/nocaseyg
get at me