Rap music faces alarming sales decline

[Juanjay]

The Roots
Murs
POS
K-OS... who is a modern Prince... sings, raps, plays most of the intruments on his tracks

All those I listed are good rap. 

And for the bass comment up there, the bass player from The Roots is sick, you won't hear it on the albums but live he can rip and their former bass/guitar Ben (he played both) now plays bass in Incubus. As for R&B, groups like the Isley Brothers, The Wailers and stuff have members that are just as and if not more skilled than rock groups. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean its not good. People like Flea and Les Claypool learned how to play bass from 70's funk and R&B.

theres a difference between parliament funkadelic and the shitty rap out there today, lol.

parliament rocked...funky style!

Oh I know but it's "R&B"...

and I agree there is a lot of shit music out there today in all genres. but people only know the mainstream hip hop of the world and don't realize there is good stuff.

[mrlee]

The Roots
Murs
POS
K-OS... who is a modern Prince... sings, raps, plays most of the intruments on his tracks

All those I listed are good rap. 

And for the bass comment up there, the bass player from The Roots is sick, you won't hear it on the albums but live he can rip and their former bass/guitar Ben (he played both) now plays bass in Incubus. As for R&B, groups like the Isley Brothers, The Wailers and stuff have members that are just as and if not more skilled than rock groups. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean its not good. People like Flea and Les Claypool learned how to play bass from 70's funk and R&B.

theres a difference between parliament funkadelic and the shitty rap out there today, lol.

parliament rocked...funky style!

Oh I know but it's "R&B"...

and I agree there is a lot of shit music out there today in all genres. but people only know the mainstream hip hop of the world and don't realize there is good stuff.

i just generally dont enjoy watching a man talk fast with processed beats behind him, so most of it is all boring to me, its not rapping i have a problem with, its just the whole background, its boring.

i love bands like rage against the machine, they have interesting backing music.

[GNRreunioneventually]

this is a sign. Rap is dying fucking finally thats all i got to say. With rap dying its a sign that 2007 is a year for Metal and a CHINESE DEMOCRACY

i love this lol Raps dying

rap is dying and i'm lovin' every minute of it
in there vids they had all the chicks
suckin on tits
blowin all the dicks
massage'n there clits

they all live in manshions and drive real fast cars
all those motha fuckas talk like they from mars
some of them chinese all got carzs
Goddamn thank God its dyin' shitty music all of it

heres mine-

W. AXL ROSE is back people and here to stay
even after CHINESE DEMOCRACY he will never go away
NOW CHINESE DEMOCRACY, what next nobody knows
all i know is that all the haters got to go
each and every song will be a hit
Guns'N'Roses has just begun and will never quit
so to all the hater you must admit
that W. Axl Rose is the greatest, he is da shit
the new album will be everything that is good
it will put shame to all the homies in the hood
all of todays music hurts my head
it all sucks so bad, it makes me wish i was dead
and i couldn't care less if you don't think my poem is cool
but you got to admit that G'n'R RULE

[stinson4ever]

rock is just as bas as rap IMO.

At least some people in this thread have some sense and realize this...? Rock fans should know better than anyone that you need to dig a little deeper to find the quality music these days.? I highly doubt any of the trash talkers have even listened to a song by Talib, Common or Lupe Fiasco because I hardly see how you could call it "reptitive" or filled with a bunch of "bling and hos".

What's being described in the article happens all the time, it happened with hair metal, it happened with grunge, it happened with nu-metal, and it's happening with gangster rap.? The quality of music in general is declining these days and mainstream rap is the most noticeable because it's been dominating the charts.? I will agree that it's a good thing that the music on the top of the charts is suffering declining sales, but I certainly won't use it as an excuse to bash the whole genre.? Just as Fall Out Boy doesn't represent rock music, Young Joc doesn't represent hip hop.

Your right i didnt mean to pigeon-hole the whole genre of rock. Im just saying mainstream rock and rap are just as bad. All the good rock bands are harder to find.

[Communist China]

Part of this probably just because it's been water-downed. Lots of pop is using hip-hop beats and style videos while still being "pop". And the hip-hop pop has stolen away some of the teenage white girls and there go record sales.

I hope it dies or at least changes, but more-so I want pop to fix itself.

[AxlsMainMan]

Everything is just a phase with the kids these days...

[SLCPUNK]

So long......it's an ugly ride down. (Just ask Lita Ford, she still thinks Rock will one day make a comeback to the mainstream like the old days.)

Take a seat in the waiting room.

[JohnMorrison73]

fuck rap/hip hop/r&b (whatever its all the same SHIT) im so glad its going down in sales

[BlowUpYourVideo]

Rap sounds the same to me too.

Some new genre will probably take over, instead of rock. What that could be I don't know. If rock became 'the big thing' again that would be cool, but I don't think it will.

Word to your mother.

[Dr. Blutarsky]

you can only rap about treating women like shit, telling people how rich you are, showing you have no morals, and you should kill police and smoke massive amounts of weed. Other than the weed issue, people are fed up with the negative shit.

[maynard]

Finally the Rap cycle is over. This doesn't mean that mainstream music will get better. Popular music will always be the worse.
Pop music is a lot better than last years, Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake lastest albums are very fun to listen, Timbaland is a good producer.
I can see rap getting poppier and "whiter" more and more, many people can't stand those agressive lyrics and visuals anymore.

Anyway, for me, the biggest genre this year will be Emo, unfortunately it's the new hype.

Leving the emo kids alone, I think 2007 will be a great year for music:

Chinese Democracy (hopefully)
NIN is more active than ever
Bjork's new album
RATM and Smashing Pumpkins reuniting.

Call me the alternative guy but these artits rule and will make this year one of the best years for music.

I'm also looking forward for the new Coheed and Cambria and Sebastian Bach.

[mrlee]

id just love for there to be talented rock groups who do amazing huge stadium shows (which get put on youtube) like there were in the 80s and 90s.

I watch some of these shows and think "i wish i could have been there looks amazing"

instead today we are limited to small clubs for rock bands.

[Africa]

Sad to see so many stupid, close-minded people in here.
Really, it is.

[mrlee]

Sad to see so many stupid, close-minded people in here.
Really, it is.

just because they dont like rap and you do?

[Africa]

Sad to see so many stupid, close-minded people in here.
Really, it is.

just because they dont like rap and you do?

No, because they criticize a genre they seemingly know nothing about for all the wrong reasons.

[Axl Rose's Guns]

Hip hop and rap is already spreading out. timberland producing Nelly fertado (or however its spelled) and Justin Timberlake is showing that pop and rap are merging.

Update: Dr. Dre is producing the next Backstreet boys LP. 

[Booker Floyd]

you can only rap about treating women like shit, telling people how rich you are, showing you have no morals, and you should kill police and smoke massive amounts of weed. Other than the weed issue, people are fed up with the negative shit.

Kill police, huh?  Id love for you to give some examples of this overwhelming police-killing trend in rap.  My guess is you barely make it past "Cop Killer," which is actually a rock song.  But give it a shot.

The truth is that while rap sales might be down at the moment, its spilled over to pop music so heavily that itd be foolish to pretend that its somehow dying.  I agree with many in this thread in that I hope sales do fall - Id rather trite, disposable, cynically commercial music (in all forms) wasnt rewarded with high sales.  However, I say that as somebody who loves the artform as much as I do traditional rock, not a clueless, hostile critic.  I understand if somebody doesnt get it or enjoy it, but the ignorant generalizing and bizarre anger displayed by many rock fans and some in this thread is just stupid. 

Its funny that one poster celebrated the "death" of rap by referencing Nine Inch Nails' new material when Trent Reznor has cited Public Enemy and the Bomb Squad as an influence on the new album.  I believe Dr. Dre contributed to The Fragile as well.  And Reznor just appeared on rapper/producer El-Ps new album, along with Mars Volta.  Then he celebrated Rage Against The Machines reunion...of course that band is heavily influenced by rap.  I remember a remix to Bjorks "Bachelorette" done by RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan.  And of course Axl has expressed his appreciation for rap. 

For those making these broad statements against rap, consider somebody viruently attacking rock and using Panic at the Disco, Hawthorne Heights, and whatever other lightweight MTV act that is successful at the moment as examples.  Instead of going on these thoughtless, irrationally emotional tirades against a form of music that you dont know or understand. 

[Stonerose]

This is the best fukin news iv ever heard! The world is seeing the light! This 'music' if u can call it that, has been plaguing our ears for to fukin long. Hopefully the talentless fucks have had there day. Its ridiculous, people who cant sing and cant play any intsruments having hits lol. Please let this shit die out!

[Africa]

Kill police, huh?? Id love for you to give some examples of this overwhelming police-killing trend in rap.? My guess is you barely make it past "Cop Killer," which is actually a rock song.?

Not that it's a trend, but "Fuck the police" by NWA springs to mind...
They even got trouble with the FBI because of that song. Not so much a trend though as a milestone in rap.

[Africa]

And by the way guys, for those of you who see rap dying out any time soon in terms of record sales; with Eminem, Dr. Dre and Kanye West's albums dropping this year i wouldn't get my hopes up.