Defsounds

Are the good rappers not selling because they suck?

… at marketing?

Nas came out with an anthem. Since then, every one has become the expert...pointing fingers at every other rapper and movement because album sales aren’t what they used to be. The problem with all the barbershop talk and internet nail salon gossip is that most of the time, people are failing to see the bigger picture.

Hip Hop isn’t the only genre in danger, it’s the music business as a whole. Sales have been going down considerably in the last few years—labels are having to get smarter with their releases and it’s getting harder and harder to go platinum!

Labels started selling less when they released artists who weren’t as magnificent as their predecessors. Believe it or not, Defsounds readers, there was a time when you could hear an artist’s single, go out and buy the album and bump it from beginning to end. Now you’re lucky if the single is worth buying.

So, with the sudden influx of mediocre artists two-stepping their way across the music scene, we can’t help but feel like labels are getting lazy and putting out garbage because it’s the easiest thing to do with the least amount of work. Sike. No it isn’t. Wait. Yes it is, but “harder” is the wrong word. Labels are having to work for that platinum status. And that’s a good thing.

There was a Golden Era in music, where every album was a piece of artistry sewn into the fabric of foreverness. Now it’s some whack shit slapping you across the face, kind of.

The assumption is right. On one hand, it is less work, but that’s because the artists they’re picking up are people that are busting their asses to make a check. It’s not just about a catchy chorus and inventing a new dance every six to eight hours depending on weather conditions in the South and Midwest. It’s about what these “bubble gum” artists are doing behind the scenes. They’re promoting their asses off. Performing over 200 days a year. Out on the road doing shows, from club to amphitheater to House of Blues. And why? Because they understand that they have to compensate for their mediocrity. Their work ethic is sick.

What about your favorite MC 5000? As soon as he gets a deal and doesn’t sell—or doesn’t get a deal and doesn’t sell—he’s assuming that it’s because they only want the cookie cutter image. Let me note here that I use “he” as an example because women don’t rap. April fools. Most of the time, and we all know it’s true, MC 5000 doesn’t have that same willingness to slave over his music because he’s assuming that the game is based on skill alone. It’s an “I’m the shit, I shouldn’t have to do anything but present my music,” type of mentality that leaves them stuck. Ego is a big thing in the Hip Hop world, you have to establish yourself as the sheeeeeeeeyiznit. But that’s getting in the way of getting a deal since MC 5000 is too intergalactic to try and connect with his public.

So maybe if all our favorite rappers would unbunch the silk panties they have stuck up their asses, and understand that in order to get picked up and pushed by a label you have to prove to them that you won’t be a waste of their money—something we wouldn’t blame any normal person for doing.

Besides, Souljah Boy isn’t as whack as ya’ll make him out to be. He was 17, making dance music. I love Immortal Technique, but I’m not trying to get down to Dance With the Devil. I’d rather objectify that woman and Superman her.

Immortal Technique sold 30,000 records with no distribution, for the record. Proof that dope stuff sells, you just have to hustle your ass off half as hard as he did to make a decent living.

All views and/or opinions in this article are not the sole belief/disbelief of Defsounds owners, staff or affiliates.