What Happened to NYC Rap?
Biggie Smalls! The Wu-Tang Clan! Jay-Z! These are the names of some of the most notable rappers to come out of New York City in the 1990s. What are the names of the newest and most successful rappers from New York City in the last three to four years? Can you think of any? If you cannot, you have just realized how little influence New York City has on hip-hop these days. The hip-hop community has adjusted its focus towards West Coast rappers like Kendrick Lamar and Dirty South rap groups such as Young Money (YMCMB) and MayBach Music (MBM). Last month, two veteran rappers named Maino and Jadakiss released a song into radio airwaves called “What Happened.” The New York City rappers explore several reasons why the New York City rap-scene has fallen from grace in their new song. Jadakiss and Maino only touch upon an issue that the entire rap community has been debating for the last several years.
One reason Maino and Jadakiss believe to be a cause of the decline of New York rap is the reliance upon the legendary rappers of the city’s past. Jay-Z and Nas, for example, are two legends to which the New York rap community looks for guidance. Over the years, these rappers have maintained quality and purpose in their songs despite their age. People in the New York rap community and its fans look at these legendary rappers like the gods of hip-hop. Maino raps about this in his song when he exclaims: “N*&^% got a problem with Hov/ 15 years later, are we greater? Couple mill, skyscrapers/ And people still waiting for Hov?” (Maino). These lines illustrate this ever-lasting quality that someone like Jay-Z has in New York. The community continues to look up to these legends because no one new has come to become its new leader. While the rap scenes of the South, specifically Atlanta, thrive off of the success of newer rappers like Rick Ross or 2-Chainz, New York remains with its old relics.
“What Happened” showcases another issue that the New York rap community has faced: a lack of support within the rap community of New York. Since its beginnings, rap has always been a genre with a rather competitive nature. The battles between the East and West Coast are a prime example. Different factions of rappers competed against each other for dominance over the nation’s airwaves. This lack of cooperation has occurred even within New York through numerous beefs and rivalries. In the early 2000s, critics often blamed 50 Cent for being the initiator of several critical beefs; the infamous beefs 50 Cent had with New York rappers Ja Rule and Fat Joe have dismantled the community since. These beefs were so severe, the careers of Ja Rule and Fat Joe were nearly ruined in the process. In the song, Maino states the following about this lack of collaboration: “Cause we destroyed each other, we don’t support us/ We supposed to be a team but we not, we look sweet” (Maino). The beefs that occur among New York rappers have left the community weak and suspect to the influence of the of outside rap cultures.
Radio stations in New York City have not helped the rap community either. Maino and Jadakiss attack New York City’s radio stations by claiming that they do not support New York rappers. This is sadly true. The city’s two major rap stations, Hot 97.1 FM and Power 105.1 FM, are no longer hubs of local hip-hop. In an interview with Power 105.1, Cam’Ron, a popular rapper from the late 1990s and the early 2000s, said: “We don’t dictate hits anymore. The main places where hits are being dictated are from Atlanta and Toronto, so we start following the programs of other places instead of dictating the music.” (Cam’ron). This has a lot to do with the increasing popularity of rappers from the South and West Coast. If you were to turn your radio and put on rap stations, you would most likely hear songs by Kendrick Lamar or Drake, rather than those of local rappers in the underground. New York rap radio stations no longer air new rap from New York City. Power 105.1, for example, has become a national broadcast station with the popularity of iHeart radio. Hot 97.1 FM, a radio station that has prided itself in its association with New York hip-hop from its roots, has lost its credibility. Ebro, a DJ for Hot 97.1 FM, even claims that radio stations in New York do not support the rap community. He explains, in an interview Hot 97.1 FM had with Rap Radar, how Hot 97.1 FM no longer takes risks on underground rappers and plays what is hot to keep ratings up. Rap stations in New York have abandoned the principles that established them as the city’s main sources of rap in favor of profits. The rap community in New York is given little chance to spread its wings across the country without the support of radio. At this point, radio stations will not play New York rap until the city’s rappers become more successful and profitable.
Why is it that Southern and West Coast rap have dominated rap in New York? The issue for the rap community is that there are a greater number of new rappers coming out of these areas compared to New York. Manny Faces, the creator of the New York Hip-Hop Report, describes how the rap communities in these areas work differently: they collaborate together, big-time success by their rappers in the recent years have made these areas more profitable, and underground rappers have a home within the community. New York rap is not dead whatsoever; it has simply fallen from mainstream relevance. New York was one of the biggest contributors to rap for decades. The works by New York rappers in the 1980s and 1990s have shaped rap forever. Today, rappers like ASAP Rocky, French Montana, and Trey Ave are three of New York’s new faces of rap. They may not have the “East-Coast” feel like their predecessors, but they are the new generation of rappers who have been influenced by rap around the country. In time, New York will return to the rap scene and reclaim its right as the king of rap.
“What Happened”, by Maino ft. Jadakiss
Works Cited
Baker, Soren. Scarface Says New York Rappers Are “Following the Trend”. HipHopDX: 13 May 2013. Web. 10 November 2013
Breakfast Club. Cam’Ron Interview at the Breakfast Club Power 105.1. Power 105.1 FM. Clear Channel Media and Entertainment, 11 October 2013. Web, 2013 November 13.
Coleman, Jermaine. “What Happened”. Maino ft. Jadakiss. Produced by 2Much/ Sarah J. October 2013. Web, 12 November 2013.
Epstein, Juan. Hot 97 Interview With Rap Radar. Hot 97.1 FM. Hot 97 FM, 15 October 2013. Web, 2013 November 13.
Markman, Rob. Troy Ave Has One Simple Reason For New York City’s Rap Slump Brooklyn MC theorizes about why the city’s hip-hop scene lost its’ classic feel, on ‘RapFix Live.’ MTV: 7 November 2013. Web. 10 November 2013.
