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January 8, 2007

Who Killed Hip-Hop?

Taking Nas's last album title at face value, the list-lovers at Blender rank that which may be to blame (via Prefixmag):

10. Young MC
09. The Double Disc
08. The 1985 Chicago Bears
07. The Remix
06. Public schools
05. Michael Jordan
04. Nas
03. Diddy
02. White People
01. 2Pac and Notorious B.I.G.
Granted, they're going for hyperbole and humor (reason for #1: "Hip-hop's two most venerated artists can also be credited with the popular expansion of its Rollie-waving, Cristal-swilling Vice Rap derivative, giving rise to club bankers like Petey Pablo and Fabolous"), but that doesn't excuse forgetting Will Smith.

Posted at 4:28 PM in




50 Comments

I would switch 3 and 1. Honestly I wouldn't even have Tupac and BIG on the list but I suppose I see their point. But Puffy? Man, that guy ushered in the Cristal era. And is someone at Blender related to Dave Faustino or something?

Posted by: Mo! at 01/08/07 4:47 PM  | Reply
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Hip-hop killed hip-hop. It sucks. Things that suck won't last

Posted by: jras at 01/08/07 4:52 PM  | Reply
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Why don't we just nail K-Fed to this cross too?

DwD

Posted by: Dw Dunphy at 01/08/07 5:02 PM  | Reply
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I vote for that gap ad with Common in it.

Posted by: dannygutters at 01/08/07 5:04 PM  | Reply
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The stupid skits between every song.

Posted by: Les at 01/08/07 5:09 PM  | Reply
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les I concur. that was the only bad thing about the miseducation of lauryn hill.

Also,little kids rapping i.e. lil romeo, lil bow wow, and this classic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGEn32CuS78 even if it got jermaine dupri famous. Also random fact, the neptunes cowrote rumpshaker.

Posted by: ian at 01/08/07 5:16 PM  | Reply
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Jordan and Da' Bears? What's Blender got against Windy City heroes?

Posted by: kilgub at 01/08/07 5:26 PM  | Reply
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better give hip-hop respect or one of 'em will shoot you. That's what they do. What a legacy!!

Posted by: steve at 01/08/07 5:26 PM  | Reply
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better give hip-hop respect or one of 'em will shoot you. That's what they do. What a legacy!!

Posted by: steve at 01/08/07 5:28 PM  | Reply
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Hip-hop is dead because of irresponsible corporate commidfication.

Certain remnants exists in the underground. But its life blood is decided by the ear and financial choices of the masses.

There will be a resurgence, a renaissance movement if you will. Either that or a rebirth/renaming.

Perhaps PROG.

Posted by: iBeat at 01/08/07 5:30 PM  | Reply
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as a reformed hip-hop head, i'd say hip-hop died when the bling became more important than the craft of the music. it started with master p and his crew in 95 with their rediculous cd covers and promo shots that begged us to get caught up in the lifestyle rather than the music. i (wrongly) thought the community would write them off as one trick ponies. now, it continues on in all of the lame videos that show the emptiness of the music/lyrics.

Posted by: mattshu at 01/08/07 5:30 PM  | Reply
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Number 7 and number 3 are the same thing.

Posted by: Eavvon O'Neal at 01/08/07 5:34 PM  | Reply
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Number 7 and number 3 are the same thing.

Posted by: Eavvon O'Neal at 01/08/07 5:40 PM  | Reply
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Diddy

Posted by: Kier at 01/08/07 5:56 PM  | Reply
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Who killed hip-hop? Dumbasses who say things like this:
"better give hip-hop respect or one of 'em will shoot you. That's what they do. What a legacy!!"

Posted by: Kevin at 01/08/07 5:59 PM  | Reply
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where's Nelly? The founder of 'hip-pop'??

Posted by: stephen at 01/08/07 6:20 PM  | Reply
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Hip Hop is alive and well.
The same people who couldn't see it until it was pop are the people sayin it's dead.
There's probably hip hop happening in your town tonight but nerds like you don't know it...

Posted by: fixitagain at 01/08/07 6:24 PM  | Reply
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Funny you should mention it...The Onion AV Club has El-P addressing this very concern.

http://www.avclub.com/content/node/57275

Posted by: stlf at 01/08/07 6:39 PM  | Reply
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The South

Posted by: Matt at 01/08/07 6:48 PM  | Reply
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Definitely, diddy. With the commercialism and the bling bling and the catch phrases and the krystal and all that other stuff.

But maybe i'm wrong i was never that much into wrap in the first place. Thus the mispelled name of the deflating genre.

Thank Jehosaphat!

Posted by: The Zimzi at 01/08/07 6:59 PM  | Reply
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I agree; Krystal hamburgers killed hip hop.

Posted by: AC at 01/08/07 7:18 PM  | Reply
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Diddy, Nelly, Baby, Juvenile, Eminem, Timbeland, etc.

Posted by: G at 01/08/07 7:46 PM  | Reply
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The Fat Boys

Posted by: Lamppost at 01/08/07 8:09 PM  | Reply
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hip hop died in 1997, the corpse is just starting to get really disgusting now. and master p is to blame.

Posted by: blaze ya dead homie at 01/08/07 8:20 PM  | Reply
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rhythm killed hip hop

Posted by: kyle at 01/08/07 10:17 PM  | Reply
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melody killed hip hop

Posted by: kyle at 01/08/07 10:17 PM  | Reply
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Ok seriously, Run DMC. Teaming up with Aerosmith? There's no going back from that.

Posted by: Elliot at 01/08/07 11:45 PM  | Reply
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Gilbert O'Sullivan and The Turtles killed hip-hop. The most creative part of hip-hop was and is DJ-ing and "turntablism." Their respective lawsuits against Biz Markie and De La Soul made it economically unfeasible to release sample-rich pieces of art. The hip-hop economy now dictates that sampled songs use only one radio-friendly sample. Boring. You'll never see a hip-hop album as dense as It Takes a Nation of Millions... or Paul's Boutique again.

Posted by: Greg at 01/09/07 12:47 AM  | Reply
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Hip Hop died somewhere between the East Coast Vs. West Coast War (and shootings), bling-bling and pimp cups, and F*ing Seven year olds doing it.
In the End the Suits get everybody...

Posted by: TheSkiddle at 01/09/07 1:29 AM  | Reply
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The west coast killed hip hop with it's gang lifestyle bought into the music. Gangbangin sucks and I hate LA because of it. I hate LA I hate it. I hate LA. I hate it I hate LA.

Posted by: goatmouth at 01/09/07 1:35 AM  | Reply
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All I know is I'm listening to the latest Roots record, and that free Kweli/Madlib thing and wondering what all you people are on about.

Posted by: Alex at 01/09/07 3:47 AM  | Reply
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Alex, I'm with you! (even though I'm listening to clipse)

Posted by: dan s at 01/09/07 5:06 AM  | Reply
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you guys talk like HIP HOP is only one kind of animal......there has always been good hip hop....and there has always been wack ass hip hop......just like rock, hip hop has it's good & bad.......and you'd think we'd be trying to promote good hip hop on stereogum.....right? word to your momma.

Posted by: maya lucia at 01/09/07 6:04 AM  | Reply
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Who needs a list?

Who killed hip-hop? The music industry.

It's that simple.

Posted by: boybacon at 01/09/07 8:42 AM  | Reply
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The damn skits! They're the number one reason I stopped buying hip hop albums. Not only are they annoying to sit through, but they usually reveal something crappy about the artist.

Posted by: JF at 01/09/07 10:13 AM  | Reply
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People talk about hip hop and modern R&B as though they were the only black music, and when you point out the fact that nearly all modern hip hop and r&b is fucking horrible, they act like you're saying it about black America at large or something.

Hip-hop was always a limited form, musically. It managed to be innovative and exciting for many many years despite those limitations, and now, I think, it's pretty well at the end of its rope. At least in the mainstream sense. I've only heard a little underground hip hop, and most of it is boring, as far as I've heard.

R&B/soul I don't know what its excuse is, really. How it went from Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Otis Redding, Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, to R.Kelly and whoever the hell else is beyond me, except that I know I'd be fucking pissed off if someone was trying to sell that shit to me. Not my demographic, obviously.

okay I'm done.

Posted by: Jed2 at 01/09/07 10:36 AM  | Reply
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BLENDER killed hip-hop. (Oh wait, there they are at #2....).

Posted by: TT1200 at 01/09/07 11:39 AM  | Reply
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Greg, you hit the nail on the head.

Posted by: Tom at 01/09/07 12:08 PM  | Reply
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fuck hip hop its all bout RAP & GANGSTA RAP BITCH...

Posted by: N$ HTX at 01/09/07 12:12 PM  | Reply
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Greg, you hit the nail on the head.

Posted by: Tom at 01/09/07 12:13 PM  | Reply
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Jimmy Iovine, who should be executed for crimes against humanity and music in general.

Posted by: Tony G at 01/09/07 2:43 PM  | Reply
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wheres the skateboards upraisin on that list

Posted by: tonetto at 02/05/07 1:45 PM  | Reply
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diddy killed it big time he's rubbish n he can't write music he needs to sit down and let the real players take over

Posted by: Southtacular at 03/13/07 5:37 PM  | Reply
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forget everything about wat killed hip hop their was three things

industies,suburbs,bubble gum rap

Posted by: Tonetto at 04/09/07 2:45 PM  | Reply
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What the hell? Look at the list now? The Entries of Diddy and Pac/Biggie have been removed! Sounds like Diddy pulled some strings

Posted by: Joshua Apkin at 04/10/07 7:06 PM  | Reply
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who killed hip hop? - the same people who killed the blues,the same people who killed funk,the same people who have no interest in black creative art until the corparate world decides to throw em a few crumbs - the same people who will destroy the heart and soul of every black creative artform from now until the end of time - GREEDY SELF CENTRED BLACK PEOPLE.,theres no point in blaming white people for the fucking joke that hip hop has become,we have done this all by ourselves,by going to these big corparations oliver twist style,begging for white mainstream approval,and allowing our selves to be packaged into neat little products ready for consumption,we have sapped all of the life force out of it..some of you young heads need to stop being fucking sheep,and do something REAL scary - try being yourselves.Read up on what happened to funk how it mutated into disco but then was made glammy and soulless -then you'll see where hip hop is heading real fast.hip hop was Style Wars -coming up with your own style,but there aint many people doin that -not any of these boring clowns that clutter the pages of XXL,The Source or the rest of those shitty mags -personally i wouldnt wipe my ass on em.

Posted by: mindseye at 04/11/07 7:46 AM  | Reply
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The East and West Coast beef destroyed people's perceptions of hip hop.

Posted by: Edward Outlaw II at 05/02/07 4:17 PM  | Reply
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I'm looking for The son of Edward Zant Outlaw and Forrest Outlaw. Are you him?

Posted by: James Zant  in reply to Edward Outlaw II's comment at 02/16/09 9:28 PM  | Reply
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Corporate America killed Hip Hop point blank. Over the last decade or so, big corporations like Viacom and Radio One had figured out that exploiting gangsterified stereotypes in rap music are its main selling points. This is the reason why every single rapper that gets any spins on the radio or on TV is a fitted baseball cap wearing self-professed drug dealer MC. Even if you are a talented rapper with a positive message, it would be damn near impossible to get your record any airplay on a national level. If you want any exposure at all you better put on some blackface and start rapping about nothing but meaningless sex, guns and cocaine. Prosperity in hip hop is also a reason for its demise. Rappers don't make music for the love of the music anymore, but more for the love of money. Rappers will prostitute themselves to the white mainstream so they can live lavish lifestyles.

Posted by: Yeaze at 05/24/07 1:12 AM  | Reply
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For Me, Rap died over 10 years ago when biggie got killed.

Posted by: Afi K. James at 09/03/07 9:48 AM  | Reply
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