I blame the "hustler to buisness man" gimmick for ruining hip hop as an art form.

[Capitol]

I actually think the exact opposite. Hip hop embodies the rags to riches lifestyles. All these dudes that came in the game hoping to better their situation, rapping about their struggles, and embracing the extravagant lifestyles once they got better living conditions. It's so typical in hip hop. It's happened so many times. The only difference is now rappers aren't trying to rap about shyt they may or may not have and are instead trying to expand themselves to different ventures so they can actually attain it. Instead of rapping about the watches you rock hook up with the companies and get paid every time you name drop it. Make your own brands, expand your own image. Own property. Invest in other ventures.

All those rappers from the 80s that were rapping about the lavish lifestyles and rocking all of this jewelry would love to have a second chance to take some of the opportunities that these guys have now. Instead of going from on top of the world to bankrupt in 2012 they would have been rolling in money. Forget the music, and forget your feelings. Rappers smartened up and improved their livelihood period.

 

[Harry B]

You bout to tell me Jay-z wasn't a better rapper when he had that mentality? You bout to tell me 95% of biggies songs arent straight classic? shyt has nothing to do with rappers attitudes. shyt is deep as fukk it could need a damn disertation to go through. For
Consumers to labels to Internet to magazines to artists, management a&rs and on they all have a role in how music changed. One thing is sure, people go out and buy Waka flocks music he didn't trick anyone. So obviously there is a demand for his music.

We can't say if Lil Jon would go play in 91 as well cause there was no Lil Jon but Mark Wahlberg sold more than Illmatic and Paid in full combined.

fukk it shot is too deep to discuss with a few posts.

Types on a wack ass iPad blame t9

 

[L&HH]

i already diagnosed hiphop's illness, and its the ARTIST MIXTAPE you speaking on how many in it for the 'art' and 'getrich' sh1t ....... but you dont turn your back on 1000s of rappers dropping mixtape after mixtape de-valuing the art.

Breh daps/pos rep I was writing an article on this exact idea. I need to finish it tho. But imo you're %100 correct. The "mixtape" game is whack and has gotten out of hand and of out of control. First of all they're not even "mixtapes" anymore just basically promo albums. But when they released whack half-assed shyt on them their excuse is "ahh its just a mixtape" the album going have that fiyah on it. Then they release the album and these nikkas albums sound no better nor different from their mixtapes. In fact when albums release you got nikkas who constantly say if they replaced x song on the album with y song on the mixtape the album would have been a better album. Mixtapes also make it so there is no barrier to entry into hiphop. Any nikka with a cracked pro tools and fruity loops (not dising these DAWs, I use them myself) can coe out with a "mixtape" now-a-days. Just look on WSHH (Q is a fukking genius, just capatilizing on the 100,000s of rappers out there that arent any good tryna get that next buzz).

And if you want me to state ex. here it is:
Wiz - look at the reaction of Kush & OJ and even Taylor Allerdice to Rolling papers

Big KRIT - Reutrn of 4eva and 4eva and a day and Live form the Underground

J. Cole - Warmup and FnL compared to Sideline Story

Rick Ross-Some of the songs on Rich forever compared ith GFID (this one is a more personal opinion)

Drake-So Far gone & Thank Me Later

Big Sean-Finally famous mixtapes vs the album

Save for Rick Ross and Drake and these dudes released trash albums especially in comparison to what they released on their "mixtape"

 

[NvrCMyNut]

'50 cent had that great quality' how? It made him the most hated rapper in hiphop history & killed his career

 

[Capitol]

Breh daps/pos rep I was writing an article on this exact idea. I need to finish it tho. But imo you're %100 correct. The "mixtape" game is whack and has gotten out of hand and of out of control. First of all they're not even "mixtapes" anymore just basically promo albums. But when they released whack half-assed shyt on them their excuse is "ahh its just a mixtape" the album going have that fiyah on it. Then they release the album and these nikkas albums sound no better nor different from their mixtapes. In fact when albums release you got nikkas who constantly say if they replaced x song on the album with y song on the mixtape the album would have been a better album. Mixtapes also make it so there is no barrier to entry into hiphop. Any nikka with a cracked pro tools and fruity loops (not dising these DAWs, I use them myself) can coe out with a "mixtape" now-a-days. Just look on WSHH (Q is a fukking genius, just capatilizing on the 100,000s of rappers out there that arent any good tryna get that next buzz).

And if you want me to state ex. here it is:
Wiz - look at the reaction of Kush & OJ and even Taylor Allerdice to Rolling papers

Big KRIT - Reutrn of 4eva and 4eva and a day and Live form the Underground

J. Cole - Warmup and FnL compared to Sideline Story

Rick Ross-Some of the songs on Rich forever compared ith GFID (this one is a more personal opinion)

Drake-So Far gone & Thank Me Later

Big Sean-Finally famous mixtapes vs the album

Save for Rick Ross and Drake and these dudes released trash albums especially in comparison to what they released on their "mixtape"

I'm not going for that. People like Krit and J.Cole are people that have a message and a sound that they want to put out there, but the labels don't feel it is marketable. How do you get people to think your product is marketable? You go around town, the state, the country and you get people interested in what you are pushing. Only then when you get people interested will these labels even choose to invest in you these days.

You can say they are devaluing the art when truthfully these guys are the ones that care the most. If you ever see Krit talk about music he absolutely loves and respects hip hop as well as the people that came before him and his peers now. It's not his fault that the only way he could get noticed was to release a free project.

The problems lie with record labels that have thrown developing artists out the window. Instead of taking a chance with a new guy they sit back and wait until the artist builds up the fanbase themselves then come and try to reap the benefits. They take these same artists that built a fanbase then make them go in a direction that alienates the fanbase the just built. Making a good album turned into balancing what the labels want you to do, what the labels want you to do, and try to make a profit.

How exactly do you propose that an artist builds a fanbase or sets up a career in 2012 without mixtapes? They go to the label office and get turned down and that is it? Thats going to be the end of their career?

 

[The_King_of_Everything]

and its stupid because 99% of them have ZERO business acumen... let alone staying power past 2 albums for the most part

besides they dont meet the right people. Jay Z met the right people. 50 met the right people.

How these dumb ass rappers gonna meet a Steve Stoute type visionary in the trap??

Pos rep

 

[My neck and my back]

boo fukking hoo nikka...it's still rappers out there that take their craft seriously...ain't nothing stopping you from supporting them...buy the music, enjoy it, and stfu fakkit

 

[atlbound]

You little fucc, I got money stacks bigger than you.

Your not on my level, get your brakes tweeked. I did what you whole album did in my first week

1m,2m,3m,4....in just five year, 40m more

Those ain't rolex diamonds, what the fuc you done to that?

What is the difference between a 4.0 and a 4.6?

Clothing, movie, and films, we come to conquer it all, Roc-A-Wear, eighty mill like, eighteen months, You can bullshyt wit rap if you want

 

[BlackDiBiase]

but you wont call Jay-Z out on it tho, he birthed all the 'im not a rapper, im a hustler' and ran it to the ground and that was like back in 2003 when the game collapsed with him and 50 cent at the top.

 

[Habit]

That ship has sailed, if you don't go out support the music you like, that style of music will die off.

 

[mortuus est]

Whats wrong with saying your a hustler tho? does that not show you they can do different things.

Camron is a good example

 

[Kobes Two Jerseys]

I agree and the first rappers to really perpetuate that were Big and Jay took it to another level.

That whole I aint a rapper Im a hustler shiiit ruined hip hop

Eazy E died but he wont ever be erased from history. Lmao big and jay.

 

[bangbreh]

Jay could become a billionaire hes still just a ****** to the white dudes he wants to be like.

pos rep

 

[Harry B]

Lol @ cats trying to pinpoint 1 reason to why hiphop isn't as good as it was.
So what's the reason for pop, rock, and any other genre that was popping around the same time not being as dope?

There is a lot of reasons, probably in the 100s. And a book by the smartest dude in this shyt could probably not cover them all thoroughly enough.

Cause hiphop wasn't doing doing so bad when Ghost/rae/jay/az/kane and all those dudes were running with that "gimmick".
And besides that, we put a lot of emphasis on the rappers what about the fans? They play as big part in this. Gucci Mane is not forcing anyone to buy his music, neither is radio. But 100s of thousands still went out and did it.

 

[Consigliere]

This is a convenient excuse thread to shift blame from the fans to the artists.

I blame the fans who bootleg the music, dont attend shows, and have no connection to the culture or artform outside of the idea that rap is 'Black' music yet spend countless hours shytting on the culture from the safety of their internet connection.

Technology made it so you didnt have to master any of the cultural elements to make music and next thing you know there were 100's of thousands of 'rappers' spamming their links and devaluing the art form.

Cats cant scratch, break, do graf, or hit you with any real knowledge, but they will try to sell you their shytty mixtape.