New York City… The Big Apple… The NYC… What is going on? Once… The place to be… The Mecca… The scene was felt all over the world… to make it… NYC had to be a part of it… This is no longer the case… The Hip Hop circuit has taken a tour since the late 90’s and found new homes in major cities across the U.S… Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, Chicago… etc…
NYC was the shit… Since Hip Hop’s inception… NYC was all anyone knew… Ok… Things evolve… but to be completely left out… Now that’s an exaggeration… But that’s what it feels like… Would anyone argue if I said 90% of the Hip Hop game was comprised of Mc’s from NYC and surrounding areas from 1980 – 1995… Would anyone disagree that the percentage has been on a steady decline since 95 and is more like 10% present day?… That is beyond drastic… New York radio sounds more like songs are being played by guest DJ’s from around the country… Hip Hop is going to continue to change… And I’m not writing so we can help New York artist have a presence in the game again… But… Something went really wrong…
When you’re on top of the world it’s hard to stay there… Did New York lose its hunger? Or did everyone else come up with a vision that eventually supplanted the ideas of the New York Mc… Now New York artist must adjust to being the minority in the game…
Adding to the dilemma is the meaning of a dope MC… It too has changed… Lyrical content has been devalued in today’s Hip Hop… Mc’s are dope but their lyrics aren’t mind blowing… Story telling is non-existent… All of which personified the New York Hip Hop artist… Today… there’s new content… albeit all similar… it’s new… New deliveries on the Mic… Hip Hop has always had good Mc’s and trash Mc’s… the difference is that the majority come from different areas of the country now… How we judge Mc’s has changed… It had to… Today Mc’s are good and bad for different reasons… You’re dope because you got 100,00 followers on your own… Your radio spins are crazy without the help of the machine (Labels)… You get the idea… It’s more than just the music now…
Can NYC rebound? That’s a question that has been thrown around quite a bit… We know the City can do it big… Puff Daddy… Jay Z… 50 Cent… but whose next?… and how long will it take?… Who will bring back that feel that can change the game… and do it from the Big Apple?