What happened to all the rap groups? These days you hardly see any group of emcees, deejays and producers collectively working together on a few projects and call it a Hip Hop project. Now not every rapper is Common and will survive a solo career at that level for over 10 years.
It's sad how rappers and producers took Hip Hop and turned it into solo rap projects. Rappers that feel they don't need anyone or any advice usually fall far short of their true glory. I worked and continue to work with rappers and producers that think they know everything about the music industry. They want to hold on to their music and not release tracks because they think their might be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and that bid deal is coming soon. I know rappers that don't or can't get any features on their record. There not changing anything in their arsenal but want the label to sell more of their product and advance them money not due them. If you put an LP out and it sells 20,000 units, why would your next LP sell more if you put out the same type of album.
When the art of Hip Hop came out, it was all about unity and working together for the few that were part of this culture. These days, on top of everyone thinking their Hip Hop, most artist think they have the game figured out before they taste any real success. They don't take advice from their elders that been down the road their trying to go down. They get yes men around them and hire lawyers to make their decisions. What's really sad about this non-unified art form is the lawyers make more money on Hip Hop than the people involved. And this greediness in Hip Hop has divided it to allow, and has allowed, the hipsters to take over the art form. The light that was once on Hip Hop has been dimmed and is almost out. Maybe some of these so called, keep it real, rappers will incorporate a deejay, b-boys and some graff into their project so they can call themselves a Hip Hop group rather than a solo rapper, and we can say Hip Hop is not dead, through rap at least.
