I was a big rap fan until i start listen to Prince. Well really when all these dance songs came out last year. To me rap is dead,There has not been a #1 rap song on the chart this year,except for "Crack A Bootle", and i think it went #1 because that was Eminem's return single.Pop is really tearing the charts up,Beyonce,Lady GaGa,Flo Rida,and Black Eye Peas. The last real rap song to hit #1 was Chamillionaire "Ridin" rap is pure dead.
[Edited 8/1/09 23:33pm]

I've only liked two rap songs this year:

1) "Magnificent" - Rick Ross
2) "Like This" - Bow Wow

And except for Ne-Yo and Beyonce, current pop music bores or irritates me.
[Edited 8/1/09 23:52pm]

music is pretty much dead to me , i cant list a song from the last 3 4 years that i have liked. maybe there is some stuff that i like that i dont know of.

compared to this decade , the 90s rocked, at least there songs from that decade that i like

motownlover said:

There might be something out there for anyone, because with today's luxury of worldwide info online,
it's much easier to search and find for interesting stuff which was harder to trace during previous decades.

Bottomline for me is that there's life beyond the charts on which the general opinion about current music releases is based.

...but Hip Hop continues to strive

Blu and Exile
The Foreign Exchange
Little Brother
Charles Hamilton
Drake
88 Keys
Lupe Fiasco
K-oS
Gym Class Heroes
Kid Cudi
Kanye West
Q Tip
Big Sean
The Roots


and many others

yeah its dead

bboy87 said:

There it is Bboy! !!!


these days one has to to dig and search for good music/artists it makes it more fun and genuine

bboy87 said:

Don´t forget Mos Def. His new album "The Ecstatic" is the best album I´ve heard in years. I got the CD but unfortunately the booklet is a bit cheap. No liner notes, no lyris, nothing...just a "Thank you" for spending money.

But he´s one of my all time favorite rappers and "The Ecstatic" is my favorite Mos Def album. Seriously, it is even better than Black On Both Sides.And that is a great album.

KoolEaze said:

thanks for the heads up. i didn't even know this was out

I have probably bought less music during the past 2-3 years than any 2-3 year span since I first started buying music regularly as a teen in the 90s. Thats really saying something for me.

TheKing662 said:

If mainstream rap is dead, then why hadn't hip-hop AND r&b gotten that long overdue divorce yet?!?

And before anyone answers THIS^ question, keep in mind that Beyonce & Eminem STILL counts as shit-hop/r&b (rhythmless bullshit)!

ranchero4vida said:

yep, you're right. 3-4 at most

TheKing662 said:

Here in Europe none considers Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Flo Rida or the Black Eyed Peas as pop. All of them are doing commercial radio-friendly R&B/Hip-Hop or at least R&B/Hip-Hop influenced music (although BEPs had their non-R&B/hip-hop moments). To name those artists as pop just shows that pop in the US is really dead

TheKing662 said:

It's amazing how folks on the Org know little about hip hop....

murph said:

i know my bits

murph said:

Some of us (counting myself) are fans of hip-hop from the 88-93 era.

And anyone that dares to put Lil'Wayne, 50Cent, OR Eminem in the same sentence as Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, KRS-One, Chuck D, Ice Cube, Mr.Scarface, OR 2pac needs to be ashame of themselves. Seriously.

TonyVanDam said:

Hum, I think U R a little hard on Eminem.. He's a skilled lyricist... Just try to forget about the clown morron in him and focus on lyrics... I've lost interest in hip hop too, but Eminem is certainly on my Top 10 list... No doubt...

Yeah, Hip Hop is dying, but MAINSTREAM hip hop.. Here in France, we still dig the Roots, Common, Talib Kweli, mos Def, Wu Tang... The only people still listening to 50 Cent and Lil Wayne are the wanna be gangsta kids.. U know, the post puberty guy whos "rebelling" against dad and mum, but he is still glas theyre feeding him and providind him a shelter.. Most real hip hop fans are at least 25 yr old and they certainly dont buy mainstream hip hop except for a few acts (Em, Jay Z, Nas..)

TonyVanDam said:

I like 50 Cent. In fact I have been playing the Terminate On Sight CD non-stop the past week or so. OK I am embarassed now lol

TonyVanDam said:

"Some of us"...lol...

Actually, it's not that simple....My statement was made because TheKing said the last "real hip hop" song to hit #1 was Chamillionaire's "Ridin"...Now while Chamillionaire has proved himself to be a better than average MC, especially on the mixtape scene "Riding" was not the last true hip hop song to go no. 1 ...lol...In fact, I wouldn't call it "true" hip hop...It's good rap music...

Secondly, I'm from the era of 85 to the '90s in terms of hip hop...So I know my hip hop...I was first in line to by Run DMC's Raising Hell, Eric B & Rakim's Paid In Full, BDP's Criminal Minded, PE's It Takes A Nation...; NWA's Straight Outta Compton, MC Lyte's Lyte As a Rock; De La Soul's Three Feet Hight & Rising; A Tribe Called Quest's Low End Theory; Nas' Illmatic, Scarface's The Diary, OutKast's Aquemini Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Jay-Z's Blueprint and so on and so fourth....

But you have to be careful when making sweeping statements about artists...The truth is Kanye West's first two albums were true hip hop works...In fact, he was seen as the bridge between the witty and free-spirited template of the Native Tongue crew to the current hip hop scene...Eminem's first two big label studio albums (The Slim Shady LP and The Marshall Mathers LP) were well-received amongst underground hip hop heads...They remain strong works...Do I like their majority of their other releases? No...I can't get into a lot of their new shit...

But I have enough respect for the total artform of hip hop(that goes for southern hip hop as well from UGK to Ludacris) to separate the goodness from the bullshit...That means I can look objectively at an artist like 50 Cent and admit that Get Rich Or Die Trying was a strong commercial hip hop album and had heart (I'm not a fan of most of his other albums...He's talking the same old shit...)

And Lil' Wayne?...I can separate the bullshit "Auto-Tune" Wayne from the Hot Boys era and Mixtape Wayne...When you have a complete history of hip hop you are able to do this...Indeed, the underground hip hop scene is thriving from Kid Cudi to Pac Div....

Yeah...most of the hip hop being made today is unimaginative and lacks artistry...Truth be told, I can't listen to this crap without my ears bleeding...But there is some good stuff even amongst the bullshit...

murph said:

I know a great deal about hiphop, but I also know, I don't want 2 hear 99% of it these days.

Graycap23 said:

Oh I agree...But I wouldn't make Chamillionaire's "Ridin" as the litmus test of what "real hip hop" is...lol...

I also wouldn't make sweeping statements about every current act that rhymes into a mic...

murph said:

I hear u. There are ONLY 4 rap acts that I would spend $ on these days.

FrenchGuy said:

Even today, Eminem has yet to top his biggest career hit Lose Yourself. And that was within the first half of the 2000's. Whatever has he done lately beside getting in a feud with Mariah & Nick Cannon?!?

TheKing662 said:

You know your bits so well I don't think you can see past them!

Cinnie said:

were not discussing nothing

TonyVanDam said:

There's alot of MC's he could battle with...



but he chose MARIAH CAREY and NICK CANNON?!


FAIL

Exactly. A person doesn't have to rap on the song for it to be shit hop. Shit hop is a sound and whether the person raps or sings, the so called "music" behind them is shit hop.

Get some drums and bass in that shit and speed the damn tempo up. And leave out all that ignorant shit hop slang from the songs too. It's been damn near 20 years, let that dull shit die already.
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[Edited 8/4/09 2:30am]

bboy87 said:

Well I don't blame him. Mariah seems pretty annoying in the TV nevermind knowing her intimately