Hip Hop is absolutely dying. The fans aren't there anymore, really. Lil' Wayne's the big deal right now in rap right now, but that don't mean **** because nobody cares. Rap is being segmented into niche little cliques that the majority of people aren't interested in. Meanwhile, Hip Hop is getting the worse side of it all by shoe-horning artists like Common and Saigon into worthless time slots to make way for the 20th time to play this week's new crappy song that sounds just like last week's crappy song.
But it's like I said, the fans don't care. Calling them "fans" is even a stretch. They download the song they want because the artist isn't proving he's something worth supporting. He said something catchy. Anybody can do that. The listeners don't have a strong stance on hip hop. Rap is the stuff they wanna listen to when they wanna get stupid/nasty/dance. I like the article. Only one side of all of it is being promoted. Right now it's the next southern gimmick and someone flaunting a rich lifestyle. It's all forgettable, which is exactly why this stuff isn't selling. Hip Hop is being milked for all it's worth right now and it's gonna bite the industry in the ass.
God Blessa!