Recently our local Macy’s went out of business so people have to find a new place to shop for discounted Ralph Lauren polos…dammit man! Yeah they had some nice stuff but overall the atmosphere was stale and their target audience was old and grympy folks who I guess just didn’t shop their enough. Grandparents don’t like mint green polos!

Anyway, its second quarter so right about now everyone in the hip-hop industry is getting ready to release albums which brings me to the main point…ummm…Hip-Hop is dead. Many people will argue that this isn’t true but lets take a look at the evidence. The culture itself is exactly the same as Macy’s going out of business. Before Macy’s closed their doors to the public they had numerous “going out of business” sales. The sale lasted so long that locals began to question the authenticity behind the sales…c’mon hurry up and close already! But in the art of business one must “milk” as much money out of the cash cow as possible. So the store jacks up prices and gradually sells off as much merchandise as possible. Once you really understand this it becomes easier to see what’s happening in hip hop.

Currently, hip hop has lost a large portion of its audience. The culture has refused to grow artistically, adopting aesthetic styles of other genres to try and keep it fresh rather then concentrating on the creativity in the music. Most of the hip hop audience that helped bring it to glory have either abandoned the culture or now listen only to the nostalgic older music they grew up with. New artist come but none have what it takes to revive the already dead industry. Most aren’t interested as they’ve become preoccupied with  short term product endorsements and filming reality television shows. As a result, they reinvent the wheel and do just enough to get a little name. Executives realize this and have made artists sign 360 deals and now, like the Macy’s, executives are trying to squeeze the hip hop lemon for as much juice as they can before they close the doors. All the hip hop icons are old and once they kick the hip hop bucket the sale will be over. So every time you see a new hip hop artist or rapper, maybe you’re one yourself, just remember you’re apart of the sale and eventually you’ll be out of business. My advice for artists is to strive to be different and don’t do what the next guy does…be yourself! I’m listening to Steam- Na Na Kiss Him Goodbye…hehehe.

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