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For the record industry, it is certainly terrible news, but it doesn't go without saying that the materialistic "gangsta" trend of rap could not last forever. Unfortunately, it appears the record labels' big answer is not to tone down, but to man up. They are signing more and more carbon-copy acts in such a way because they need that one big song from them. Did more than 500,000 people buy MIMS's debut solo album? No, but 500,000 people did buy the ringtone for "This Is Why I'm Hot".

And while this drop could be construed as great news for genre purists who think rap was never worth its weight anyway (AKA ignorant types not realizing that rap is just as much of an art form of thought as rock, pop, etc.), this is starting to become terrible news for the artists themselves. Several rap records, including Pharaohe Monch's Desire (which did receive a release in May) and Talib Kweli's Ear Drum (which as of this writing, has leaked out to the internet, but still has no concrete release date) have been delayed heavily in 2007 due to fear of lack of sales by the major labels. Other artists like Clipse encountered problems last year getting their records released, only for them to garner massive acclaim among critics in the industry.

Now, I'm perfectly aware that every industry will always have their crappy acts. And that's not to say hip-hop will stop having smarter artists, either, even if you have to go beyond the major label scene to check it out. However, as a major rapper pointed out last year on his well thought out message album Hip Hop Is Dead, rap might just survive if they carry on tradition.

Learn more about this author, Trey Irby.
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