Death of Hip-Hop: The Burial Article by: Mina Jasarevic Yes, 2007 has witnessed a predictable decline in hip-hop’s album sales. And although sales themselves are down, the quality of music put out is expanding faster than the dough in a Pillsbury bake-off. 2008 is gleaming with a fresh light as hip-hop artists got a 2007 head-start in kicking ass and taking names. Like every other New Year, 2008 should begin with a focus to learn from the mistakes of the previous year while applying those lessons to successfully complete the year ahead. To get straight to the point, this is the time where we as a hip-hop collective need to ring in the New Year and bury the redundant, annoying and unimaginative catch-phrase of 2007 which deems the current state of hip-hop as “dead”. Without a doubt, Nasir Jones is one of the most intelligent MCs in the game. With the exception of Oochie Wally (we will also bury the reference to this track), Nas generally writes and releases music with reason and purpose. He has giving us Illmatic which is generally considered the best hip-hop album, period. He has given us One Mic and he gave our kids “I Know I Can” as he continues to bless the airwaves with rhymes bursting with lyricism, passion and reflection of society. Declaring hip-hop to be dead, is probably yet another way in which Nas wanted to sway our attention to the genre of music which the mainstream appeal consists of, including ringtone rappers (Soulja boy off in this hoe!), rappers wearing bulletproof vests whose children can be found on stage also wearing bulletproof vests, and most important of all, tracks with the most annoying and repetitive beats that overshadow rappers with even more annoying and repetitive rhymes that generally revolve around “pu&&y, crack, wack, ass, hustla, gangsta - playa gimme that”. Nas, we thank you. And here is where the controversy kicks in. As right as Nas is, he is also wrong. Granted, there are artists – and even geographical areas – that have introduced pure garbage to the game, trash which sells with the snap of a finger. But what Nas has failed to predict is that the 2007 would revive artistic credibility among hip-hop’s soldiers, and in this past year perhaps more than ever since the mid-90s, give the fans, the critics and the industry as well, a new hope, a bright idea, and something to smile about. *Clears throat* Here we go: Talib Kweli – Eardrum. Kanye West – Graduation. Lupe Fiasco – The Cool. Naledge – Naledge is Power. Little Brother – The Getback. Common – Finding Forever. Jeru the Damaja – Still Rising. Royce Da 5’9 – The Bar Exam. C.L. Smooth – The Outsider. Black Milk - Popular Demand. SoulStice – Dead Letter Perfect. Ghostface – Big Doe Rehab. Smif N Wessun – The Album. Styles P – Super Gangster Extraordinary Gentleman. Far from a complete list of the best that 2007 gave us, these are just some of the albums that stuck out to the mainstream hip-hop world on a general consensus. Loads of other quality records are due for release, laced with good old-fashioned lyricism, experimental modes of production, diversity in subject matter, and overall, just a better quality of music. On top of it all, the debates are once again marking their territory in hip-hop’s culture, emerging all the way from the underground circuit (think Rhymefest’s and Lupe’s discussion on political candidates) to mainstream matters (Kanye vs. 50). So please, let us ring in the New Year and put the falsified ‘Hip-hop is dead’ expression where it belongs – in the coffin. As the many glimpses of already-leaked tracks are showing, 2008 is destined for greatness. Let us not stagnate it with negativity, nostalgia and fear of the new. (17) Comments | Post a comment »

That's why he said it was dead because the real hiphop ain't gettin no shine. All the albums that you listed only two of them didn't flop

Posted by Am

Mina... You are still the best writer, and i feel you 110% on this, (even if you can only have 100% of something lol).... Hip hop is not dead!!! some of the rappers in it are zombies! but hip hop is not dead.... We have to learn the difference between... Rappers and artists!!! rappers just rap! artists arent limited to anything but being creative!

Posted by Dinero

Best hip hop album of the last 5 years -by a mile: edan's "beauty and the beat". Got ideas,got knowledge and respect of the history,got skills,got his own brain and is not afraid to show it,got a genuine love for hip hop culture and its potential - not what he can get out of it (if the cap fits you phoney moneygrabbing clowns, then wear it) - didnt sell sh*t compared to the big "rap stars" but its an album that i will be listening to 10 years from now -not skipping past 10 tracks of overhyped mtv poo to get to the "club bangers"

Posted by Kramizm

Hip-hop was dead before nas said it.

Posted by zulu nation

Hip hop is very dead. Sorry to say it folks. But it's been dead. I'm sure this point has been brought up time and time again, but ever since corporate america got a hold of it, the integrity of the "artists" and the quality of the music has declined rapidly. These rappers all look the same, sound the same - the videos all look the same, the songs all sound the same - the sh*t is sickening. I'm an 80's baby and i'm a big fan of the "golden era" of rap (1990's). Ever since the 90's i've been able to witness the downfall of the music and hurts me terribly. And don't get me wrong, i'm not a person who is resistant to change, but if the change is not one of improvement, then what is the point of changing at all? sadly, if things don't change, i feel that the music wll continue to worsen and hip hop will simply be looked at as a "fad" that came and went.

Posted by qilla beats

And one other thing. Kanye west is the most overrated poor excuse for "hip hop" i've ever seen. I'm sure all you 15 - 19 year olds will disagree but honestly, i think dude sucks major ass. I'm not hatin', i just don't dig dude's style. He's waaaaaay overrated (his lyrics are garbage) and i think he tries waaaaaaay too hard to be different and eccentric and the end result is him lookin like a dumb ass. There are probably 1million mc's who are nicer than he is. He might be an ok producer (his drum patterns are wack, he loops his samples too much...there are also 1million other producers who can flip a sample way better than he can...alchemist, heatmakerz, etc) but he needs to shut his mouth and quit rhymin (and saying other stupid sh*t that has nothing to do with rap for that matter)

Posted by qilla beats

Sigh... To qilla beats i say well said. I never ever type anything to these pages but i just couldn't hold back. I wrote a whole novel and erased it thinking... This is the error of no respect it's a waste. I'll say i'm from chicago so trust you don't want me to get into chicago's take on rap. In short, main stream radio didn't start playing rap until 87' with ll's "i'm bad". The masses of the city didn't like rap until it started to get videos. As far as kanye... Well the white jesus thing in jesus walks video and having a song called "gold digger" and epmd is nowhere in the video!!!! wow, but that's the era we're in no respect. Today's hip-hop culture is roots on ice, (not the band) more alex haley. Let me know when it's cool for rappers to speak english again. -salaam. (oh, my fault that's not cool either i forget it's in style for blacks to be stupid.) -pork chops and grape jelly w/white jesus portraits.

Posted by zulu nation

^yo zulu whats the science with grape jelly? i eat empire kosher jelly, please enlighten me. Grape jellys not swine right???????? p.e.a.c.e.

Posted by ALLAHEEM .

^^^ peace allaheem. Any mono (animal fat) ingredients, yellow dye no.5, red no.5. Unfortunately most tooth pastes and deodorants. I know you didn't ask all that sir, but seeing your name i was taken to share the information. Actually the pork list is longer than i wrote. My advice is whole foods. So not having grape jelly in many years hopefully it has none of the ingredients listed. In conclusion i wrote the jelly part to be humorous.

Posted by zulu nation

A lot of the artists mentioned as bringing real hip hop releases in 2007 are some of my favorite mc's (smif-n-wessun, talib kweli) artists like that will always have great lyrics, flow and delivery. The problem is that people don't seem to understand that production has gone completely down the toilet. This is supposed to be hip hop production right? where are the true city beats? where is grimyness? almost everyone hip hop fan agrees that hip hop was it's best from the mid 80's through the mid 90's. Noone has the balls anymore to release that kind of material. Every hip hop production made today has to be somewhat danceable. I dont like that, it's not real at all, it just shows, that respectable artists today are possibly dropping great lyrics over the most mainstream production you can find. I dont wanna hear tek and steele of smif-n-wessun over a brutally abused helium sample, we love smif-n-wessun because they used to be one of the best at making grimy hip hop. Hip hop is dead. Only club driven production is here in 2008. A very long comment but my point could not be more clear

Posted by chris

Talib kweli – eardrum. Good but not as good as previous works kanye west – graduation. Nothing stood out about this album, maybe if i was a 19 year old white girl i would've like this album lupe fiasco – the cool. Not interesting to listen to, there's no "music" in it, no heart or soul in it. Naledge – naledge is power. Good album, i expect to hear more from this guy little brother – the getback. Good album, too bad no enough promotion common – finding forever. Great album! best of 2007! jeru the damaja – still rising. Good to come off a long hiatus royce da 5’9 – the bar exam. Didn't hear it and neither did anyone else i know. C.l. Smooth – the outsider. Did anyone know this was even out? black milk - popular demand. Heard of it, didn't hear maybe also because of no strong promotion push. Soulstice – dead letter perfect. Who????????? ghostface – big doe rehab. Decent album, got overshadowed by the hype of 8 diagram. Smif n wessun – the album. Decent album styles p – super gangster extraordinary gentleman. After i saw the video, i didn't care to hear the whole album. The biggest point, and i will agree with a lot of you on this, is that most of these artists got little to no promotion push to even compete with the ringtone rappers so to most people, it's like they don't exist. Therefore hip hop is dead. When the industry levels the playing field for all people putting out music from serious record companies and labels, then the people will have more of a choice and more of these kinds of acts wi

Posted by pHiL K.

Dope article mina. Let's put an end to this garbage fast food music out here. Do the knowledge people for crying out loud. Knowledge yourself and your family.

Posted by wise one

Man, how come "real hiphop" basically eliminates harder acts or what u losers call gangster rap? cube aint real? killa outrhymes n iggas all day.. Sean price? tupac? u gotta be on some back pack bs nowadays to be considered hiphop?..much as u hate to admit it, gangbangers, thieves, and other criminals have been in the industry creating real hiphop from day one. Just cuz they spit on topics you dont like does not make them any less hiphop.

Posted by Strike Ice

Real hiphop: cypress hill, redman, tupac, ice cube, scarface, jim jones, jay z, mobb deep, cam'ron, biggie, eminem, royce, too short, beanie, lox, nore, chamillionaire, slim thugga, shyne, schoolly d, heltah skeltah, outkast, 8ball & mjg, jt money, e-40, jt tha bigga figga, kurrupt, daz, strike ice, tical, ghost, raekwon, bun b, jeezy, and the list goes on....

Posted by Strike Ice

Word to zulu and peace to mina for the positivity. I'll be cracking 40 in a couple of years and the only hip hop related anything that i do in my old age is the old school shows that come into town every summer. It's incredibly disappointing that the young cats have zero respect for the groundwork that mc's and dj's from the 70's-90's have laid out for them. The game should be elevated instead of denigrated. This is the only music genre that doesn't respect artists of the past. Next time you hear a young cat rocking soulja boy, drop a epmd disc in his hand and give him a little education.

Posted by MC KSL

Una pagina en español no me caeria nada mal

Posted by DRAKO

Good article. Hiphop aint dead by a longshot. Music, movies, books, u name it... What sells and whats good are rarely the same thing. The bullsh*t on mtv and radio is on there cuz it sells, not cuz it's quality.

Posted by 808aholic

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