Is Internet Piracy to blame?
More than 50% of people think that internet filesharing is not responsible for the lack in album sales. In fact, the most common belief is that they are actually helping the artist with their promotion efforts. Although this may be true in a sense, I am sure once someone has downloaded the whole album through a popular p2p site they will be less engaged in actually going out and purchasing that album.
Is the HipHop Genre flooded with weak talent?
In the past 5 years it has been no secret that Rap has been on a continuous backslide. When I turn on the tv, listen to the radio, or buy a new cd I have noticed one major flaw. Almost every rapper has nothing new to say. Bone Thugs n Harmony stated it best with a track from their new album called "Sound The Same". Every new artist with a few exceptions have come out with the same story, Dad or Mom were not there, one parent working 2 jobs, and being forced into a life of drugs and crime to make ends meat, and then the miraculous turn around.
Time for a change?
I remember growing up and first getting into rap. Nas, Jay-Z Rakim were among some of my favorites. Their ability to take me from my middle-class suburbian home, and make me feel as if I was right there beside them in their struggles was amazing. I immediately became a fan of all types of hiphop, and absolutely had to have the newest CD from my favortie artists. Now lets fast-foward to the present. Nas and Jay-z recently released their newest studio albums, HipHop is Dead, and Kingdom Come respectively. And these are two artists I can honestly say have the right idea. They have been able to change and adapt to the "New Era" of hiphop enough to stay relavant without changing so much they alienate their core fanbase.
With so much focus on the crunk movement, snap, and club anthems the average listener is not listening for the lyrics anymore. The beat is the most important part of 90% of the lead singles from artists. And this is definately a problem as it shows a weakness in the developement of today's artists. They can no longer turn a "wack" beat into a hot song, rather they use today's hottest producers to turn "wack" lyrics and topics into top 10 hits.
Predictions.
As longs a HipHop keeps up the trend it is in now, record sales will continue to plummet in the genre. The average consumer can just log onto a computer, type in the artist they are looking for, and download the few good songs from a rather lackluster album. There is definitely less incentive to go to your local music store and pick up albums. So is the problem piracy, or weak material? I think it is an alarming combination of both.
Source: www.isnare.com