September 11th. Since 2001, this date serves as a terrible reminder of a catastrophe that we all wish would have never happened. So before we get into our topic, let us send our thoughts and prayers to all those who lost love ones on that day.
Interestingly enough on that very day Jay-Z released (what many folks regard as his best album) The Blueprint. Fast forward to 2007 as we approach that day again, there is a reason to actually look forward to it. 2 of Hip Hop's biggest stars, the humble Kanye West and the equally humble 50 Cent, will release their albums (the 3rd solo Album for each artist) on September 11th. I've been reading MANY opinions on line about who will sell more. This competition does bring some real excitement to the world of Hip Hop (and oh how we love excitement!). 50 has actually claimed that if Kanye sold more than 50 the first week, 50 would never release another solo album ( yeah...ok). Kanye, to his credit, took the high road and spoke about what a great day 9/11/07 would be for Hip Hop to have to giants of the industry go head to head. We at GFHH agree with that. For one, they are both highly respected artists, who are very different on many levels. Both of their debut and sophomore albums were very successful. And they are both outspoken individuals who seemed to get interviewed twice a week (BTW - For all the hate I see 50 and G-Unit get, if homeboy sneezes too hard it's a headline not only on Bossip.com, but Page 6 as well). These and other reasons gives a good shot of energy that is needed in this game right now. A battle without the beef, so to speak. So after that day comes and goes; and we have purchased one or the other (or both), and the final numbers come in…..a question comes to my mind. When did we, as fans, start caring about how much an artist sells in the first week or overall? Why is that even important to us? It's not like any of these artist are cutting checks written out to me, no matter how big a fan I am of their music. We also know that sales never really determine who was the better MC or rapper (as always, there is a difference). In that case Hammer, Vanilla Ice or Eminem would be known as the greatest of all time (BTW - I know there are some huge and loyal Em fans out there, but he's no where near the greatest of all time). We at Grown Folks Hip Hop can't seem to remember what made record sales so important to the fans, but it's starting to cloud folks perception of a solid album. For example, I don't think Nas' Hip Hop is Dead or Game's The Documentary have sold over a million copies, but both of those MCs are 2 of the best doing it right now. Same will apply to Common, and the same did apply to Busta (whose album was crazy). Does this make them wack? Does that make them lesser artists than a Yung Joc or a Mike Jones (both of whom sold over a million copies of their debut albums)? Would you say T.I. was a better MC than Pharoahe Monch? As Amy Winehouse would ask, "What kind of Fu*k#ry is this?" Sales NEVER determined whether I liked an artist or bought their music. It wasn't even something I thought about when buying music. But things have changed. This is a new generation and it is their turn to determine what's hot and what's not using their own criteria. While that criteria is probably different from those folks over the age of 30, we should still respect it, like we wanted our parent's generation to respect what we thought and expressed. That's cool and all, but we were trying to UNDERSTAND why sales have become so important and the art form that is MCing seems to have been pushed to the back. Respect is one thing, but understanding is another. Get at us!!!!
Interestingly enough on that very day Jay-Z released (what many folks regard as his best album) The Blueprint. Fast forward to 2007 as we approach that day again, there is a reason to actually look forward to it. 2 of Hip Hop's biggest stars, the humble Kanye West and the equally humble 50 Cent, will release their albums (the 3rd solo Album for each artist) on September 11th. I've been reading MANY opinions on line about who will sell more. This competition does bring some real excitement to the world of Hip Hop (and oh how we love excitement!). 50 has actually claimed that if Kanye sold more than 50 the first week, 50 would never release another solo album ( yeah...ok). Kanye, to his credit, took the high road and spoke about what a great day 9/11/07 would be for Hip Hop to have to giants of the industry go head to head. We at GFHH agree with that. For one, they are both highly respected artists, who are very different on many levels. Both of their debut and sophomore albums were very successful. And they are both outspoken individuals who seemed to get interviewed twice a week (BTW - For all the hate I see 50 and G-Unit get, if homeboy sneezes too hard it's a headline not only on Bossip.com, but Page 6 as well). These and other reasons gives a good shot of energy that is needed in this game right now. A battle without the beef, so to speak. So after that day comes and goes; and we have purchased one or the other (or both), and the final numbers come in…..a question comes to my mind. When did we, as fans, start caring about how much an artist sells in the first week or overall? Why is that even important to us? It's not like any of these artist are cutting checks written out to me, no matter how big a fan I am of their music. We also know that sales never really determine who was the better MC or rapper (as always, there is a difference). In that case Hammer, Vanilla Ice or Eminem would be known as the greatest of all time (BTW - I know there are some huge and loyal Em fans out there, but he's no where near the greatest of all time). We at Grown Folks Hip Hop can't seem to remember what made record sales so important to the fans, but it's starting to cloud folks perception of a solid album. For example, I don't think Nas' Hip Hop is Dead or Game's The Documentary have sold over a million copies, but both of those MCs are 2 of the best doing it right now. Same will apply to Common, and the same did apply to Busta (whose album was crazy). Does this make them wack? Does that make them lesser artists than a Yung Joc or a Mike Jones (both of whom sold over a million copies of their debut albums)? Would you say T.I. was a better MC than Pharoahe Monch? As Amy Winehouse would ask, "What kind of Fu*k#ry is this?" Sales NEVER determined whether I liked an artist or bought their music. It wasn't even something I thought about when buying music. But things have changed. This is a new generation and it is their turn to determine what's hot and what's not using their own criteria. While that criteria is probably different from those folks over the age of 30, we should still respect it, like we wanted our parent's generation to respect what we thought and expressed. That's cool and all, but we were trying to UNDERSTAND why sales have become so important and the art form that is MCing seems to have been pushed to the back. Respect is one thing, but understanding is another. Get at us!!!!
4 comments:
Yo bottom line hip-hop like sports and other things kids did for love is about money. When me and my boys use to flow at the lunch table we were not doing to get rich. We were doing it for the love we had for the music. Like basketball we played for the love not to drive a bentley. Now im not against getting paid for your skills, however i know alot of people who have jobs just to pay the bills and they suck at there job. All they care about is there paycheck. Fans have fallen into the hype of how much did the artist sell, so what. If 50 sells 3 million
my money is better spent supporting Dead Presidents or Common they would actually need my support 50 is good.Lets support good music not bandwagonism
One comment..."Who cares?"....Do people really care how many sales there are the first week? Are young people really making there decisions about skills and good music based on sales? If so, then all I can say is that is definitely their immaturity showing. Seriously, we are not talking about the majority of the black community becasue WE do not purchase music. We buy a copy and copy it for everyone else. We are constantly looking for the hook up. True? Therefore, the individuals that are purchasing the music legitimately are usually outside of our race. I'm 37 and I know that I am not about to spend $15-$20 for someone's album unless they have proven to me that they have timeless skills. Anyone can have a banging track,spit some random lyrics and WOW it's a hot track. However, not everyone can produce timeless songs(song=lyrics + track, not just a hot track)and stay current throughout their career. I am not a 50 hater or congratulator, but how long is he going to be popular by rapping and singing on his tracks about money, violence and women. As a matter of fact, how long is this trend going to continue in hip-hop period? Let me not go there...Back to the point...In our society today, young people equate success and quality music(makes no sense) with financial gains. If you sell 1-2 million you must be a good artist because your record sales show how popular you are. B.S. it just means that you have crossed over to other races because your label has promoted the hell out of you and you have a gimmick. I am so glad that you mentioned Common. He is one of the timeless artists that has consistently dropped some of the most phenomenal pieces of work. He has not received his just due because of his content and image(my opinion). BUT now that he has done some work in other countries speaking out about certain injustices, let's just say that THOSE people are willing to back and support him(not to mention Mr. West's influences). I think the world of hip-hop needs to re-focus and take it back to basics, which would be celebrating and giving PROPS(yup, I'm old school) to REAL MCs that are not just creative but are true story-tellers and crowd motivators. All the other artists with their "HOT" tracks and garabge lyrics need to kick rocks. In closing, AGAIN, WHO CARES how many they sell in the first week if it is not quality and/or timeless music.
I can't for one remember what READY TO DIE did it's first week...I don't know what ENTER THE WU-TANG (36 CHAMBERS) sold it's first week...I don't know how many units ILLMATIC moved it's first week....and I DIDN"T CARE! The Game has defintiely changed. But let us remember that in this BUSINESS of hip hop there are alot of ego's involved and it comes across in a lot of rhymes...and with the dominance and showing off with jewels, cars,clothes, money etc...this transfers over into record sales and the focus put on these sales. Another thing that contributes to this whole PHENOMENON is the attitudes of alot of these artists...especially the ones that talk about this is a hustle for them...that's a damn shame...doing it for the hustle more than the love...and we're in a day where alot of these artists have become Entrepreneurs and have ventured into other businesses because the money from music is not as much as they would like it to be. With 50 and Ye' specifically...it's more of an ego thing...I think more so on 50's part. Both of these dudes are not wanting for anything financially...and if both of their albums were to flop, it's not like they gotta worry about paying next month's mortgage. It's new kind of battling among stars..because they're not going to go back and forth in a real battle...lyrically (which I would be more interested in than sales)...so this is the type of excitement they can generate..the kind that will only benefit them in the long run and not Hip Hop. Because in a few months we will forget about them coming out on the same day or it won't seem as big a deal when you look back on it....but if they had a real battle.. verse for verse....that would live forever in Hip Hop History.
I guess it is a sign of the times. When I was younger and I argued about who my favorite MC was (KRS-ONE), sales didn't matter because not too many people could say that another MC was better than Kris regardless of record sales. Topiggy back off of what Lex said, I could careless how many records B.I.G. or Nas sold. I was copping that. Big L, Scarface, Redman are some of my favorite artists who NEVER sold big units. It seems that the under 25 folks are a lot more into the rappers story (50 Cent, Game), swag (Jeezy, T.I.), jewelry & tattoos (Wayne), etc. than lyrics. Hopefully these artists will get back to focusing on skills soon. When you loose giants in the game like B.I.G., Pac, Pun, Big L, JMJ, etc. The art is going to suffer.
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