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.
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.
COMMENTS
i miss the good ole days when the only song u heard on an album was the single, now half the songs from an album get leaked and it take the joy out of lisening 2 an album from beginning 2 end.hope shit changes bout i doubt it.
I'm blaming this shit on the internet. Really doe. I know that all of the world would be SCREWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED without internet, but hey, I'm from Iraq, my uncle once send a bird across Iraq with a letter and it fucking came back with a reply LOL. Now, let's rewind the time, let's go back to the 80's and 90's.. All the rappers where on their grind, NWA, Rakim & Eric B, Wu-Tang and the list goes on.. They were going platinum and even diamond cuz of there was no fucking internet to leak their shit and that's why everybody did so good. Nowadays it's like a track get's leaked 4 months before the album drop and like a weed or two before the whole album got leaked.
I remember going to Iraq, it was like 4-5 days before The Cool dropped and I was like "Yo man, I need that album for my trip" and I just had to get the album, and I ended up downloading the shit even though I promised myself to go and cop the album.
Now, I'm not claiming I'm some kinda saint or something, but dude, I'm really blaming all this shit on the internet..
For the stupid people
NO INTERNET = NO LEAK = BETTER ALBUM SALES
Shit typos, fuck that, it's 3am. Y'all know what I mean..
SNOOP DOGG IS ONE OF THE BEST ASWELL,BUT NEWAY NO ONE IS SELLING LIKE IN THE PAST,DOWNLOADIN IS AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH THATS DA WHOLE FUCKING PROBLEM.
"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."
that makes a lot of sense. its true i think
What about shitty rappers who also suck at marketing? Take Reign for example. Dude sounds like a poor-man's South Park Mexican, and his grassroots marketing campaign on Defsounds is a failure at best.
well..im a young guy, and honestly, i don't know much about hip hop before 2000. but i do understand what you mean about the bubblegum MC's working their asses off. i mean, Soulja Boy will perform at a lynching if it'll get him promotion.
Nas wouldn't perform at a small nightclub. it's the difference in their demeanor. Nas is a profilic rapper, he is well off, and he is generally heralded as the GOAT.
Soulja boy is well known, he is pretty broke in all actuality, and he is widely considered as the Brutus who delivered the final stab to hip hop. so he has to grab any gig he can to get promotion, sell cds, and sell merchandise.
Nas on the other hand, can get a show just about anywhere. he doesn't see any reason to go out and jump around and dance and whatnot because of his reputation as the best. so, as stated above, he figures his rhymes will be enough. this isn't a great comparison, but it gets the point across.
the second more great rappers start performing year round and with as much intensity as kanye, the second real artists will start generating a much bigger buzz in the game.
or they could go the "Nigger/Untitled" route and build a buzz off of controversy. and you all know this statement is truth so just take it, like it and love it.
and Nas and Soulja Boy are in no way shape or form on the same scale, i used them because they are polar opposites, so don't crucify me, i'm just dropping my opinion doods.
Hip Hop needs to go back to what it was and stay dat way...rappers need to go back to storytelln cuz one of my favorite songs of all time is MY MINDS PLAYING TRICKS ON ME...now thats what we need cuz to be fuckn honest theres only 3 fuckn artist that should be rapping bout money and dats Hov,50, and diddy...if ur a rapper and ur money aint on dey level.....SHUT THE FUCK UP BOUT DAT SHYT...and shouts to my nigga for speakin on IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE CUZ DAT NIGGA SPIT IT REAL EVRYTIME...LISTEN TO DANCIN WIT DA DEVIL ON YOUTUBE ASAP
BROOKLYN STAND UP...BEDSTY ,NOSTRAND IS DA AVE COME HOLLA
The whole sound has changed, bigtime, from samples, to delivery, to lyrics, to the listeners. HipHop has flipped.
Something helping uplift it all and help artists is: http://www.FreestyleMadness.com
The world's, FIRST, ONE, & ONLY 100% LIVE Real-Time Open Mic On The Internet. Battle, Cypher, Chat, 24:7. Get Paid To Spit and Much Much More!
I mean you can't get mad aint anybody but yourself! The older generation protected hip hop and when i say they protected hip hop they supported it. Nowadayz the younger generation prostitutes hip hop and when i say that i mean If the people like that "Imma sell it" regardless. Because at the end of the day people fell in love with rap money instead of falling in love with the unity and peace of mind it brought blacks when it first came about!
^ WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?????? FUCKING FAGGOT ILL KILL YOU!!!!!!!!!
What is hip hop any way. i like to think that hip hop is what nas, mos, talib, IT, krs, gza, tupac, eminem etc are doing. hot verses using metaphors and similes with a great flow on a dope beat. like telling stories and talking about real life scenerios and just having fun. i think this new pop/dance/bubblegum shit whatever u want to call it should just get a new genre to end all of this bullshit. hip hop aint dead it aint the same as it was. one requirement for hip hop should be writing your own meaningful lyrics
i agree that the internet had a influence on this. but artist just need to adapt. you can do everything and more to promote your music. but if your music sucks. people arent gona recognize you. yeah you got a single but unless you prove yo self ppl just gona download, cause that catchy hit song is prolly hot just for the beat. n prolly the only decent song on the album. ya got to have some talent. sorry one hit wonders
listen to joe's who, the whole way through. he makes alot valid points..
i wish, i fucking wish i could bump cds all the way through. eminem is my fav, he is consistant in dropin albums that i can bump all the way through. and he talks about some deep shit.
ill drop bills only for quality music.
just wanted to add JOE BUDDEN - WHO =========FIRE listen to that shit
Imma youngin so i dont know much about hiphop but i do think that artist such as rap artist should be more positive with the songs and rap about real life otha than gettin high and havin sex and money because people who listen to hiphop usually r fron the hood and wanna relate to real thinkg going on in life shit if you got a tight beat too den hey dat would be a extra, idk
while that is true, it still seems that all niggaz wanna do these days is dance and not to b sexist or anything but its mostly women who want to bu that shit because girls like to dance so they want songs they can shake there asses to. The dudes are guilty of only listening to songs that have hot beats and don't give 2 shits about lyrics. I am guilty of that too but I still dfinently care about lyrics and im sure I can say the same about my fellow defsound users.
^real talk, 2 bad i can only prop u once.
There's nothing wrong with just listening to beats though if it's meant to be dance music.
Merengue is one of the most popular forms of dance music in the world, let alone Latin America, and they got songs with absolutely NO substance.
La Vaca - The Cow.
Lyrics go like this
La Vaca. Moo.
La Vaca. Moo.
La Vaca. Moo.
What people pay attention to is the music, the beat, the arrangement, it's all ill. At the same time though, they got artists like Ricardo Arjona who will put out a single of straight singing, with no chorus. He's super political and has sold over 15 million.
The problem isn't that Hip Hop is doing this or that, it's that we're not letting it do ALL of it. I'm sure no body would have a problem with Souljah Boy if Styles P was doing big numbers too. We need balance and diversity.
AND FOR OUR FAVORITE ARTISTS TO QUIT ACTING LIKE BREEZIES.
tha La Vaca shit is da bomb. U get bitches dancin to that.
Lmao. No joke. That shiznit is my jam. I get down to merengue all day. Salsa. You already know.
Bachata had to grow on me, but even that is dope.
The WHOLE WORLD is doing dance music. AND deep shiznit. Hip Hop needs to follow suit.
well said indeed. Thanks for the article great point outs but as the album sales are dipping down the Digital music industry is soring up at a very fast rate, to quote this weeks TIME magazine-
"U.S. album sales for the first quarter of 2008 plunged another 11%, according to a Nielsen SoundScan report that marks a continuing slump for an industry stuck in a downward spiral for six of the past seven years. U.S. digital sales, however, made up music's lone bright spot: they soared 53% in 2007 and now make up 23% of all U.S. recording revenue." (they even have nice pie charts for it)
But doesn't that eventually get the Artist the money they worked for? or are we just saddened to see great foundation for the music industry die down?
Oh, absolutely.
This is Real talk...ps. souljah boy is that whack look what nas was spitting at 17..and thats a comparison to nas that souljah does deserve...step yo game up nigga!!!
i think thats the problem too...we as listners have to understand that music is forever changing and that we have to roll wit the times....i am a fault in this as well but in order to pick sales back up its on us a listners to cop the album....the artist have to get off that fame and richest shit and start living on earth....most of the fans are die hard fans but even with that said if you music sux and you (as an artist) dnt work hardwhy am i gonna support you....
i meant "buy"not "bu"
^*BUT i doubt it. nas is killen shit with his new joint "breathe".
This dude is on point. It happens a lot, I know a bunch of really good ass MCs out there except barely anybody knows who they are. There's only a handful of MCs that could really hustle to make themselves known like that.
^^word...plus (like he said)...they jus expect 2 be on cuz they can rap...alotta ppl can rap but wats gon make me wanna buy yo cd when i can get 4 free??...they gotta get down on there audiences level and spit shit that tha masses can relate to (and girls can shake they ass to) its wat sells...thats how sells will come back...basically
MAKE MUSIC THE AVERAGE NIGGA LIKE ME CAN RELATE TO.
good read..but DAMMIT if i hear about soulja boy in one more damn article...yes yes yes he's not lyrical SO what its not for ppl who are NOT KIDS!
good fucken read the work ethic is shown through immortal and tech n9ne two born music hustlers/artists that dont let the industry hamper thier sales more artists need to dirty up thier hands and quit crying imm keep the song on my prof a lil longer fo this one good looking out
yo you heard tech's new album?
its a double album..that shit is real nice too..called "Killer"..you should pick it up
good fucken read the work ethic is shown through immortal and tech n9ne two born music hustlers/artists that dont let the industry hamper thier sales more artists need to dirty up thier hands and quit crying imm keep the song on my prof a lil longer fo this one good looking out
The economy sucks, gas prices are out the roof, and were in a recession. Thats one part. But the labels are getting screwed too. Every artist has a budget as we all know. You bust that budget it comes outta your pockets as an artist. And if you release a piece of shit album, nobody buys ity, flops and then you as an artist are now in debt to the label.
While some savvy marketing can help sales( Kanye, 50, Lil Wayne) lack of it cant be blamed for failure. I mean I'm not Lil Waynes fan, but dude did sell a Millie(no pun intended) with his album leaked and 30 some odd mixtapes. It can be done. Creativity or lack of it gets shunned too. Jay tried a new approach with Kingdom Come and while it might have did numbers, some were put off by the grown up tone of the album.
Really though, if a Cd costs 15 bucks to buy and gas is 3.90 a gallon, I'm going to just listen first and buy or Limewire tracks I really can replay over and over.
How can you say, 'no pun' intended, when you wouldn't have said 'millie', otherwise?
Yo. Jay Z is one of my favorite rappers of all time. I think what he's done for music and business and the positive role he's made in young people's lives.
But straight up.
Kingdom Come was whack. Eff all that "too sophisticated" non-sense. What's he trying to say? That it went over our heads? That we as an audience couldn't understand where he was coming from? My ass. It was trash. Half-hearted. Too bad kneegr0w.
And even with the economy in a recession ... look. How many poor people you know still have fly kicks. People find a way to do things, it just has to be worth-while.
PLUS. The fact that people are spending so much on gas is because they're dumb as shit.
Public transportation exists for a reason, but they'd rather break their banks for convenience. Eff that. I'll take the metro to LA and back for 15 dollars. AND I'll buy a CD. Kn'amsizzle. ;]
word for word i agree with what you said
I used to be against downloading( and still am to an extent) but 50's last album proved why some albums just are not worth buying just on name alone.
what u mean nigga tos is said to do some big numbers with ur hatein ass
Skitzo, just for mentioning 816's finest Tech N9ne, you get the quote of the day award, real shit. I aint heard anyone out of the 816 talk bout him. Seen his shows in the L, at the Granada( granasty, if youre local) Municipal Hall, Bartle Hall, the dudes grind is unreal. Like he said "the industries some punks". But Aaron Yates still owes me 150$ from 02 back in Top City when he was...never mind.
Uhh dude, chill. I said 50 last album Curtis as a metaphor. He tried passing off an average album as great becuase of name recongnition. He thought cuz it's 50 releasing it, that itd be another 50 banger, which even you will admit, wasnt. So chill, you big 50 stan, you.
its cuz of people like u tho that keep niggas from dropin any cd i download music and then if i like it i go out and buy it
HAAAHAA!!! You failed to read again. "I used to be against downloading(AND STILL AM TO A CERTAIN EXTENT)" Read between the lines. I only download about 1-2% of ALL MY MUSIC. Mixtapes are really not an accessible item where I'm at, those have to be downloaded. But I did Limewire some 50 tracks, I mean I wasnt goin to spend 15$ on Curtis after my homeboy bumped it, all the way through. There wasnt enough justification to buy it, when it had only 3 bangers. Now I did buy:
Big Doe Rehab
The Cool
The Solution
American Gangster
UGK....
i bought UGK too...errybody should support rap tho...but its not like its against tha law to download music for free (i think??)...
shit is the straight up truth my man..the future of albums, and the direction, and substance of music..its all in the hands of the kids and people who buy albums..
i mean its a two way street are people not buying cus the music sucks?
or do people make shitty music because people arent buying?
i dont think limewire or napster were the problem..its the way that the recording business handled them..the fuckin RIAA blew that shit WAY out of proportion, and all those artists that got all fuckin personally offended with their music bein available for free download..they fucked up
its our fault in part..but really..its the fact that just like the movies..and tv shows..with all those fuckin reality tv shows(fuck them..)..artists realized they could "get rich quick", and that gimmicky shit sold..and stopped caring about the substance and meaning behind their shit..
sad but true..and the list is WAY too fuckin long.
and in closing..seriously, as much as i HATE the fuckin dude..Dj Khaled is helping the industry..hes collectivizing that shit and makin HUGE, DRAMATIC records with menacing ass production..its not his fault if shawty lo can rap, but hes tryna bring bone thugs, ti, wayne, rick ross, fat joe, akon, twista,NAS, beanie siegel, freeway..all those dudes onto one record..
its nice to know some people are trying.
the good rappers aren't selling because you have to have some type of gimmick or dance to sell no disrespect to the rappers that are selling but most of the albums the rappers that are selling are trash
Albums that shoudl've wen't platinum : Freeway-Free at last,of course Lupe's album,Styles P,The Roots and Beanz it saddens me to see niggas like Freeway who have two classic albums but stay getting overlooked
I disagree about needing a gimmick. Obie Trice's first album went platinum off of word of mouth and the quality of the album.
What happens is that people think you need a gimmick to blow. What you really need above all else is a connection with an audience. You can have the whackest shit ever, but if you're giving back to the community, involved with your fans, and they feel connected to you, you can sell ridiculous numbers.
And that's how it starts. Build a fan base and all else follows.
^^Nah homie, you and I both know why Obie went plat the 1st time just like how D12 keeps going plat. One word EMINEM! It didn't have shit to do with the community and giving back....Eminem's name helped them niggas go plat. If Obie was signed to Def Jam with out an eminem feature, he wouldn't go close to plat, he would go gold at most.
I agree with Phillyallday215, the rappers he named and then some should of went plat but the hip-hop scene is different now. You can't tell me Freeway wasn't putting in work to promote his album and making himself hot. He was killing every mix-tape and feature he was on before his album came out. He still couldn't go plat. The hip-hop scene, like I said caters to the dance and gimmicky shit nowadays. Unless you're a big name like Jay, 50, Wayne, Kanye etc... You'll be lucky to even go platinum with out some dance song and shit.
First of all a couple of points that I want to make:you don't have to be a kid to listen to soldiar boy because I know grown ass nigas that run these streets everyday and request for him;so that is not an excuse for selling records. Another point that I would like to make if your shit trash it's trash. Plies up and coming artist no snap music no dance music at number 2 on the billboard. So, step your shit up. Shoot out to the midwest-Madison,WI
plies is a bad examle man hes pure garbage "buss it baby" is on the same level as snap shit content wise anyway the problem is in the retailers(in montreal at least) back when lupes album came out i went to best buy,futureshop, walmart all didnt have it...how am i gonna buy real music if i cant find it?
yea i remember i went to buy lupe's cd the day it came out and it was night and they didnt even have it on the shelf they had to get it from the back
im back bitches
(Spits out semen, wipes mouth)
this is about to get ugly.....WHAT grown ass men and where the fuuuuuc you from to see them requesting that shit?
thats not a good look!
lol it looks like you sayin " 'beca you suck!"
kane at 14? are u crazy? eminem over rakim???? u must be on meth. BIG and Pac should be at the top
If they never gave niggas internet and iPods albums would still sell.
"inventing a new dance every six to eight hours depending on weather conditions in the South and Midwest."
HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
jokes...
shit is only gonna get worse....and touring is only gonna become more important.....no work ethic (as u stated) no money....done...
hip hop is alive.
Man.....music SUCKS now compared to the late 80's and 90's. Sure there are a few artists putting out good music...but you can count them all ALMOST on one hand. Hip Hop is alive no doubt, but the TRUE life of hip hop as I know it is dying and fast. Now everybody wants to talk about shooting this or slanging that when in actuality half these niggas are lying through their teeth. They DON'T have guns and they DON'T slang shit. REAL Hip Hop artists stand up and keep it alive! (ie Kanye, Jay-Z, Nas, Common, Lupe. See? ONE hand)
rap music is a hustle (agree with it or not). its about putting out the best product (or at least the best seeming product) and letting the customers know you got that "good shit". I think this article was on point in the sense that talented rappers get too complacent with their skill level. Not knocking all cause some do actually grind and pave their own ways and get creative with it but let's be real... you can't blame your label if you don't catch a buzz... that shit's all on you.
Ye in this day & age you are most definitely gon have to come up with a catchy song, or a real club banger, or even a song with a dance attached to it to gain numbers, but we sometimes forget the purpose of music which is to entertain. People always like to point fingers in situations where shit hits the fan and it's real funny.
I respect the hustle more than anything cause that I think is one thing no one can fake out. The rappers who might not be as "lyrically inclined" as the next cat is probably out there longer on the block pushing his tape or making the trips to various radio stations to do promo interviews, doing drops, sending their shit out to different dj's across the board and so on. People tend to forget that hip-hop music was originally independent.
HIP HOP LIVE IN THA MIDWEST AND VACATE TO THA SOUTH HERE AND THERE I BET ALL YALL LIKE SHAWTY LO TO SHOUTOUT THA KING SHOUTOUT KANYE HAHA HATAS
(YA BOY) I DID'NT C THAT BUT GOOD SHIT NO OTHER WAY TO SAY IT
If u were 2 ask me I think niggas is putting out garbage. There r a few niggas that coming wit it, but fuck these wack niggas and there wack record labels. The shit I listen 2 u aint gonna hear that shit on radio, bet, mtv. They say suckafree but its a bunch of suckas 2 me!
i think this article is about new york, them niggas mad cuz ain't body buyin the shit no more, remember in tha early 90's, all u heard and saw were new york cats,besides cali(nwa) thats it,new york ain't tha mecca no more, tha tide has changed ya'll past tha torch, to tha midwest, hahaha!!!
nope, it's not marketing or because they aren't putting out anything hot
it's 2 things which are called an "i-pod" and a "cd burner"...those 2 things fucked the music industry up for everybody. if you take away those 2 things, EVERYONE will go gold at the minimum and everyone will be eating good.
basically what i'm saying is, if there weren't cd burners or limewire, every artist will go gold their first week no matter who they are because you will have no other option but to buy the album.
I feel what you're getting at, but you have to understand first and foremost that anytime anything happens, certain conditions have to be met ... meaning there's a number of causes.
So it IS because of whack marketing, and no promotion, and garbage, just as much as the internet and CD burners are to blame.
That's not the point though. If everybody sat around and came up with 1,000 reasons how a certain disease was contracted, nothing would get done. It takes the people learning how to get rid of the disease that make the movement.
So in music, it could be because of global warming. It doesn't matter. Rappers better start selling ice packets with their CD's to start pushing more albums. Or maybe not albums. Maybe the market is gonna move away from that, turn albums into a promotional tool and make all the loot off of shows.
It comes down to how dedicated an artist really is tho. Your typical "MC" nowadays don't wana go out and hustle 4 da sales, like other artists such as: a Soulja Boy, ( dude is trash!!!!!!!) but he's richer than the hottest MC on your block cuz he hustled not jus wit lyrics (like he really got any...lol) but wit his swagger and dancing like the article brought out. Us true hip-hop don't buy it, but our lil sistas, lil brothas, and baby mamas are. So like Jay, we can't knock the hustle. Learn it.
ReDef.
It comes down to how dedicated an artist really is tho. Your typical "MC" nowadays don't wana go out and hustle 4 da sales, like other artists such as: a Soulja Boy, ( dude is trash!!!!!!!) but he's richer than the hottest MC on your block cuz he hustled not jus wit lyrics (like he really got any...lol) but wit his swagger and dancing like the article brought out. Us true hip-hop don't buy it, but our lil sistas, lil brothas, and baby mamas are. So like Jay, we can't knock the hustle. Learn it.
ReDef.
Man. "Can't knock the hustle. Learn it." Thank you. Every millionaire and billionaire out there has been telling us the same thing, we just don't listen.