Why Can't Rappers Go Gold Anymore? + (Facts/Stats)....
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usmarin3 wrote:One thing fans and us are failing to speak about too is the OVER SATURATION of hiphop music. All these ? mixtapes,i understand that putting out 1 million records gimmick worked for Lil Wayne, but that doesn't mean you should do it. These rappers have made the music so disposable that they can't even take a 2 year break and come back no more, the only ? who can truly do that is Em, Jay, Ye, Outkast,etc and retain their fanbase. Ironically these dudes never put out mixtapes either or do 10 million features.
Sometimes less is more, there is just too much music (bad music at that) and way too many ? artist. Sick of rappers putting on their homeboys and whack ass crews. Hiphop is way too trendy, the life span of these rappers are 3 years max.
Thank you. These rappers suffer from ADD and drop too much damn music for your fans to treat your album special. The typical fan looks at it like this: "Why should I buy an album from my favorite artist when I got a dozen mixtapes of over 200 songs from him?" Mixtapes are only good when you get on the scene, and they should be minimal, like J Cole. Don't do a Yo Gotti who dropped 30 mixtapes in a month (he actually did that ? SMH) and expect your fans to cop your album.
Plus ? are cheap these days. They complain that their artist charge too much for a $10 CD but doesn't mind tricking on some basic ass ? at a club these days. Or the buy bootlegs. -
I think one of the biggest contributing factors to the decline in music sales is iTunes. Album sales were still pretty high in the era of Napster, Audiogalaxy and other file sharing programs. These days, consumers have shifted back to preferring singles over albums like the days when albums weren't that popular.
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We need a return of the hip hop artist, someone who can craft albums with concepts, rather than putting together a collection of songs that sound like a glorified mixtape.
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What controversLab Baby wrote:We need a return of the hip hop artist, someone who can craft albums with concepts, rather than putting together a collection of songs that sound like a glorified mixtape.
Yeah Content is the most important ting. -
I think the downslide of hiphop came about with the advent of the superproducer. It pretty much started to made the artform linear and formulaic, once you get a formula and it works commercially then the music business went from albums to singles. Listen to the radio now the ? sound like one long ass song.
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man most hiphop heads arent gonna spend their money if they dont have too. we download and burn. simple and plain. 15 years ago i was buyin every record i could. these days i got bills to pay and kids to feed. i aint buyin no cd when i could d/l it for free. undun was the only albums in years i even thought of buyin. and i didnt even get that ? .
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D.Original wrote:man most hiphop heads arent gonna spend their money if they dont have too. we download and burn. simple and plain. 15 years ago i was buyin every record i could. these days i got bills to pay and kids to feed. i aint buyin no cd when i could d/l it for free. undun was the only albums in years i even thought of buyin. and i didnt even get that ? .
I agree with this. Back in the 90's, the economy was in such good shape that people actually had disposable cash to spend on music. These days, people are not about burn gas to buy album. Of course they could cop it online, but at the same time the internet is also gives listeners the luxury of just downloading it. -
Bootlegging has nothing to do with going platinum or not. If people like your music enough they will go buy it point blank period. Rappers nowadays aint bout nothin but stereotypical ? ? , and you gotta think who really wants to hear a whole album of that? Even nice beats cant make a ? go platinum, check Rick Ross. You gotta have some sorta of substance or have already been in the game for 10+ years w/ a huge fanbase, that is were we are in the urban music industry nowadays.
Rap at its current state will not make it, people are really lacking originality. The musician-less art form is beginning to be exposed as simple and easily manipulated. Everybody is trying it, so as one you really gotta do something different which is not gimmicky.
Pitbull and Flo Rida may be big "international stars" or whatever you say but they still arent really moving many units, check for yourself. As mentioned above they are not timeless, and severely lack substance. Another case of not knowing what to make music about, just being a commercial or spokesperson. Knowone wanna hear that ? all the time, just when everybody else is around. These rappers need to dig deeper or its over for sure -
32DaysOfInfiniti wrote:Bootlegging has nothing to do with going platinum or not. If people like your music enough they will go buy it point blank period. Rappers nowadays aint bout nothin but stereotypical ? ? , and you gotta think who really wants to hear a whole album of that? Even nice beats cant make a ? go platinum, check Rick Ross. You gotta have some sorta of substance or have already been in the game for 10+ years w/ a huge fanbase, that is were we are in the urban music industry nowadays.
Rap at its current state will not make it, people are really lacking originality. The musician-less art form is beginning to be exposed as simple and easily manipulated. Everybody is trying it, so as one you really gotta do something different which is not gimmicky.
Pitbull and Flo Rida may be big "international stars" or whatever you say but they still arent really moving many units, check for yourself. As mentioned above they are not timeless, and severely lack substance. Another case of not knowing what to make music about, just being a commercial or spokesperson. Knowone wanna hear that ? all the time, just when everybody else is around. These rappers need to dig deeper or its over for sure
Its happening for sure. A lot of these veteran rappers that think that ? is gonna be sweet all the time have had a rude awakening these last several years. Like what happened to gangsta rap. And G Funk. ? thought that they can remain the same and make money for all of eternity, but they got played out and lost most of their fans. Once, rappers could easily go platinum with a Neptunes beat. Now, with the massive cutbacks in these record companies, no one is taking any more chances, thanks to downloading. Its a good thing cause only the new rappers with the love of the art are gonna continue to make music. The get rich quick schemes are over. -
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sionb55 wrote:Aye im pretty sure Kanye got a platinum plaque in 2010 chief.... pretty sure it was around November & December too....
Anyways, I think today its just that the labels havent caught up to the technology yet. Nowadays theres no sense in buying albums when u can get them online, ppl will only buy records if the anticipation is high enough (see Lil Wayne, Ross or Drake). As a result a lot of labels lost truckloads of money, now labels will only make large investments in artists who can "guarantee" they will sell, Rihanna, Drake, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Ross, Eminem, Jeezy, Wayne, Nicki. Those artists get "blockbuster movie" budgets & all the attention from the label cuz right now the quest for profits is hard for a record company unless u indie & can tour locally or ur got majors brokering endorsements & taking a cut off that.
As for the new guys who went gold - Wale, J.Cole, Big Sean, Wiz Khalifa, B.o.B, Kudi watch come later this year & 2013, they've proved that they can sell well thru an indie-like promo method. Now the big wigs are gonna renegotiate marketing deals & put their money behind them. I think if these new cats drop albums this year their gonna be promoted really well & really commercially. Lotus Flower Bomb & Black & Yellow were international hits and they were indie records before they were commercial records.
I checked the RIAA, Kanye didn't get certified until January 11th 2011.
Wale & Big Sean haven't gone Gold yet I think Wale is around 375K and Big Sean at 250K.
I guess you're right, the labels want to bank on a sure thing and it's disgusting how they are willing to turn the music pop just to sell.
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Who gives a ? about who sells what. As long as gangsta rap is still alive im happy ? that bedrock how to love ?
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poopoo wrote:Who gives a ? about who sells what. As long as gangsta rap is still alive im happy ? that bedrock how to love ?
Then you never lived past 2005. Gangsta rap is what G Funk is back in 2000.
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ImParallel wrote:H-Rap 180 wrote:
I checked the RIAA, Kanye didn't get certified until January 11th 2011.
Wale & Big Sean haven't gone Gold yet I think Wale is around 375K and Big Sean at 250K.
I guess you're right, the labels want to bank on a sure thing and it's disgusting how they are willing to turn the music pop just to sell.
How is it disgusting? Isn't this their profession? Not their fault most hip hop heads stopped purchasing music years ago. They cater to the people that actually go out and buy (just so happens to be hood rats and white ? now).
Lupe is a prime example of this, he had almost 0 control on Lasers...it went out, sold well...now he has full creative control on F&L2.
Lupe's album was terrible just like B.O.B's but that's the formula at Atlantic.
Thankfully theres a mainstream movement and label that hasn't gone the Pop route. -
H-Rap 180 wrote:sionb55 wrote:Aye im pretty sure Kanye got a platinum plaque in 2010 chief.... pretty sure it was around November & December too....
Anyways, I think today its just that the labels havent caught up to the technology yet. Nowadays theres no sense in buying albums when u can get them online, ppl will only buy records if the anticipation is high enough (see Lil Wayne, Ross or Drake). As a result a lot of labels lost truckloads of money, now labels will only make large investments in artists who can "guarantee" they will sell, Rihanna, Drake, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Ross, Eminem, Jeezy, Wayne, Nicki. Those artists get "blockbuster movie" budgets & all the attention from the label cuz right now the quest for profits is hard for a record company unless u indie & can tour locally or ur got majors brokering endorsements & taking a cut off that.
As for the new guys who went gold - Wale, J.Cole, Big Sean, Wiz Khalifa, B.o.B, Kudi watch come later this year & 2013, they've proved that they can sell well thru an indie-like promo method. Now the big wigs are gonna renegotiate marketing deals & put their money behind them. I think if these new cats drop albums this year their gonna be promoted really well & really commercially. Lotus Flower Bomb & Black & Yellow were international hits and they were indie records before they were commercial records.
I checked the RIAA, Kanye didn't get certified until January 11th 2011.
Wale & Big Sean haven't gone Gold yet I think Wale is around 375K and Big Sean at 250K.
I guess you're right, the labels want to bank on a sure thing and it's disgusting how they are willing to turn the music pop just to sell.
Big Sean is at 310k albums sold.
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HAF BAYKED wrote:its not that deep...bootlegs man, bootlegs....simple as that....if we factor in all the numbers from bootleg sales, ? going triple platinum lol......i mean even people who got jobs and can afford a $14 cd would still just rather grab the 5 for 10 or download it....there's no solution to this ? ....
that's pretty much it cause cd's bootlegs are way worse than tapes cause that was mostly just a limited to the streets cd's are much more accessible..everybody has a computer from the burbs to the streets even in the sticks and everybody has a mp3 player and you can convert youtube videos to mp3 it only gets worse a good chunk of buyers are never coming back like our jobs.....bootleggin wasnt as bad in the 80's or 90's cause only streets ? copped em and real tapes were made by real dj's with real blendin skills the platinum sales came from kids,suburban teens/young adults and ladies but in the 2000's they began burning cd's or coppin from the bootleg dude sellin em cheap
another thing is to me music has taken a back seat there's nobody real plays music videos on tv and rap city is dead..and it's more about the "swag" or style over substance which kinda started in the late 90's bling bling era when the shiny suits and platinum jewelry,hype william videos,timbaland,trackmasters,and neptunes beats were the whole rage and cats were going multi platinum left and right off that which actually got worse atleast then most of em had technique just the same tired subject matter now its the same tired subject matter but ? dont even try to rap -
labels put money behind indivisul songs as opposed to albums..thats why albums are ? .. an sales are low.. low quality.. low sales.. if you put ut an ALBUM that is quality top to bottom it will sell..
quality music still sells(em,adele) -
ROFL..GUY wrote:labels put money behind individual songs as opposed to albums..thats why albums are ? .. an sales are low.. low quality.. low sales.. if you put ut an ALBUM that is quality top to bottom it will sell..
quality music still sells(em,adele)
nah man... artists are responsible for the product they deliver regardless of how much money the label put behind their album... the game just ain't the same no more, in order for any artist to be successful they have to know how to sell their image more than their actual skills and for the most part i don't think ppl caught on to that yet -
Internet and CD burners, it used to be that you had to get some nerd or a ? to burn you a CD or load your ipod up....now even ? in jail be on the internet and got mp3 players and ? ...
Also, I dont understand blaming the label for not taking risks on music that aint got a chance of making a shitload of money...there's a reason your weedman don't sell acid and LSD and ? (if you stay in the hood)....
Damn this aint the 90s no more, we aint got that good old Clinton surplus, ? can't be making music for the fun of it....
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online pirating killed the market for music...you have to be a true loyal fan to go out and support someones music
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Yall keep thinking that as Adele strolls her way to a cool 7 million sold... Rap is dead, not the fans
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Its a alot of things. Technology, pirating/bootlegging, oversaturation, and Low quality of music. Rappers have to have a album/mixtape out every 6 months to a year. Just going away for a few years, and building anticipation seem to be over. Sometimes when a artist do build anticipation by having a couple hot singles out, or doing guest appearances, there's no follow up for an album, now the momentum is gone.
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I dont think its quality of music, the quality of music was not that much better
in 2005.
I think its bootlegging and the fact that reality TV has taken the place of rap videos
which makes marketing harder.
plus rap is especially hit hard because its fan base is really narrow to begin with compared to adele's
and its a younger demographic that is more prone to downloading. -
Its a alot of things. Technology, pirating/bootlegging, oversaturation, and Low quality of music. Rappers have to have a album/mixtape out every 6 months to a year. Just going away for a few years, and building anticipation seem to be over. Sometimes when a artist do build anticipation by having a couple hot singles out, or doing guest appearances, there's no follow up for an album, now the momentum is gone.
Yes you make alot of sense Id be foolish to argue with the points you made.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILX6yM1Cy7k&feature=related
http://youtu.be/-tV7pFQPldo
