New York?......shit? Dont Believe The Hype

I dont think NY hiphop fell off.....at least not as far as quality.

HipHop (and the music of HipHop, that being rap music) started in NY. This is as undisputable as the fact that water is wet. So NY has always been the epicenter of rap from it's inception in the mid to late 70's til say.....92-ish when Dre dropped 'The Chronic'. At that point media attention shifted to West Coast rap b/c it was a newer sound. But during 92/93-ish NY was still producing quality music ( Wu, De La, Pete Rock and CL Smooth, Redman(okay okay Jerz, but same difference), Gangstarr, Das Efx, etc.) Then 94 happened. BIG and Nas among others shifted some focus back East...but the West coast kept making quality music right alongside the East. Shit got competitive yo! The south was juuuuust starting to make rumblings with 'Kast. UGK lived up to the 'undeground' in their moniker b/c their music was quality...but you had to be in the know to know about it. As far as radio and video love...Geto Boys and 'Face were pretty much the only southern rap doing it. (Am I forgetting anyone? This is all off the top of my head.)

Then the East/West shit happened. And this shit is what made niggas even fucking care where somebody was from. Because before it didnt matter. At first the only question to be answered was whether or not the shit jammed. But the West/East (far be it from me to play favorites)changed all of that. Trust....we are still feeling remnants of that non-sense b/c now if you favored one over the other you subconciously look at the other funny even if you do go on to accept it later.

Before I go off the deep end and lose many due to the fact that this post isnt the shortest post Ive ever seen....lemme say this.....

Yeah you will always have a couple here and there that dickride (No Lance Bass!) the south or whatever is "hot" at the moment. And let it be known that collaboratiing with people aint what I mean. Its when you cater to and purposely (better yet, FORCEFULLY) change your shit up to try and fit in.

If we had more diverse outlets that cared about good music or even providing a leveled playing field as opposed to the trends and what will draw people in for advertising dollars (i.e. ANY Clear Channel or Radio One station, BET, MTV, etc.), I dont think we'd be hearing this bullshit about NY falling off.

NY HipHop music has not fallen off. The proper and even coverage of it given by most media (even the hood approved kind) has though. It's the well-rounded coverage of it yall....or lack thereof. The South is on fire right now. Everyone has their turn. Shit's only fair. Granted that some turns are longer than others. But shit comes back around. Dont worry. Think for yourself. And whatever you do.........

"Dont believe the hype" - The Great Chuck D