Sunday, September 2, 2007

Hype or Harbinger? The Battle for the "soul" of hip hop



Another article on the state of hip hop...
This time the so-called decline of hip hop is cast as the backdrop for Kanye and 50 cent's "beef"(?)
Hip hop is "doomed" if 50 sells more and is "saved" if Kanye does. As if this isn't all simply hype to sell both artist's albums.
I mean come on! Pretending as if there are enormous differences between Kanye West and 50 cent is just a little like pretending that there are massive differences between Democratic politicians and Republican politicians. Sure, of course I have my preferences, but let's be honest, both are millionaire pop stars who work for multi billion dollar corporations. (Kinda like Republicans and Democrats in congress...)
Once again the numbers are a little more telling than the general thrust of the article. Sales have dropped... Alot in the last few years. What does this mean. I don't think anyone can be sure just yet. But whether or not 50 moves more units than Kanye is not gonna determine the future of hip hop. Your casual listener is not gonna suddenly realize that the Roots are awesome if Kanye sells more records. Some moron is still gonna go lookin' for the next single from that shitty group that made "Laffy Taffy" whether 50 retires or not.

Hell, me just posting about this is adding to the hype I guess...

whatever.

This article can be found in The Guardian


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