by Brooklyne Gipson for theloop
After 30 years of growth in a genre initially written off as a passing fad, rapper Nas eulogized hip-hop with his third solo album Hip Hop is Dead in 2006. Although the title caused an uproar in the hip-hop community, especially in the south where artists like Young Jeezy believed Nas’ dis was targeted directly at them, the numbers didn’t lie. Hip-hop sales were in all actuality falling at an alarming rate for the first time in its history.
According to MSNBC, “Rap sales slid 21 percent from 2005 to 2006 and for the first time in 12 years no rap album was among the top 10 sellers of the year.”
In the face of the reality that hip-hop’s heavyweights were aging, (Jay Z is now 39 and Nas is 35) critics pondered what these numbers meant for the future of hip-hop. Had it’s mainstream appeal finally backfired? Had corporate America finally completely devalued hip-hop by putting money behind unsubstantial “ringtone rappers” that hipsters and teenagers in middle America had created a demand for, instead of supporting true artists? Did the new mainstream audience bait the artists themselves to devalue their own art (or completely fabricate talent in the first place) to create a product that would sell? Most importantly, could hip-hop be saved?
The answer came in a familiar format — a mixtape.
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