Hip-Hop has historically existed as a male-dominated industry. Being a reflection of urban life and struggle, past Hip-Hop artists have been forced to maintain a certain level of masculinity in order to be accepted by their urban communities. Old school rappers who talked about love were often viewed as soft or corny. Because of this perception, the existence of love in Hip-Hop is a fairly new concept.

As the movement has gained support and recognition throughout the world, love has become an increasingly common theme in Hip-Hop music and poetry. However, the taboo still exists. Even today, Hip-Hop artists and poets present their love stories in a manner that allows them to maintain socially acceptable identities. Hip-Hop stories about love must still meet the masculine ideology in which the movement is rooted in order to be perceived as real and true.

The purpose of this study is to analyze Hip-Hop love narratives and how artists present these love stories in order to construct socially acceptable identities. I believe personal narratives are closely tied to the construction of identities. It is through personal narratives that people can recount life-changing events, realize socially acceptable behavior and create individual identities.

I have researched and studied several Hip-Hop love songs and analyzed the lyrics as text and poetry. In my research, I have found five common narrative forms used by Hip-Hop poets to tell their love stories: contrasting, perceptual, spiritual, conversational and metaphoric. These five narrative forms are used not only to present the story correctly, but also to maintain positive perception among a society that might view this sensitivity as weak or disrespectable. I plan to demonstrate each of these narrative forms and show how the poets use them to tell their love stories while establishing acceptable identities.

The Contrasting Narrative

One of the most common forms of Hip-Hop love stories is the contrasting narrative. Many artists use Hip-Hop music and poetry to tell stories about the negativity surrounding their urban environments. The contrasting narrative allows the poet to express his or her love story as a contrast to this negativity while constructing an acceptable identity because that negativity is real and understood in urban communities.

A great introductory example to the contrasting narrative would be the following passage from Method Man’s “All I Need”:

Back when I was nothin’You made a brother feel like he was somethin’That’s why I’m with you to this day boo no frontin’Even when the skies were grayYou would rub me on my back and say “Baby it’ll be okay”

In this song, the poet uses the contrasting narrative to show his love for someone who stood by him when “skies were gray.” He speaks of his love interest as someone who helped him get through troubled times, thus providing a positive contrast to his negative surroundings.

Another example of the contrasting love narrative can be seen in this passage from Guru’s “All I Said”:

This world is crazy, she’s supposed to help me stay saneSupposed to help with the pain, supposed to help me maintain

In this song, Guru uses the contrasting narrative to share his view of what love should be. He admits that his “world is crazy”, and that his love interest is the one person who can make it bearable.

In “She Tried”, Bubba Sparxx uses the contrasting narrative to tell a story that actually recalls his love being there for him when he was in trouble with the law:

A fly country girl, just workin’ them giftsShe’s my queen, was a virgin I guessBut I ain’t never ask and I ain’t never tellBut Betty had the cash every time I went to jail

This song further illustrates the use of contrasting narratives to express love. Though the poet confesses spending a lot of time in jail, Betty was always there to bail him out, again acting as a positive contrast to his troubles.

The Perceptual Narrative

Another common narrative form of Hip-Hop love stories is the perceptual narrative. Like the contrasting narrative, the perceptual narrative is based around the negativity that surrounds the poet’s life. But instead of presenting this love as a contrast to that negativity, the poet uses this narrative to explain how that love changed his or her previously negative perceptions. This narrative form also allows the poet to construct a socially acceptable identity due to the acknowledgement of the negativity of urban life.

In “Jazzy Belle”, Andre of Outkast uses the perceptual narrative to tell of how his love changed his former perception of women:

Went from yellin’ crickets and crows, witches and hoes to queen thangsOver the years I been up on my toes and yes I seen thangs …Now I’m willin’ to go the extra kilo-Meter just to see my senorita get her pillowOn the side of my bed where no girl ever stayHouse and doctor was the games we used to play But now it’s real Jazzy Belle…

In this song, Andre talks about a personal change of perception caused by love. He admits that at one time he thought of women as “witches and hoes.” But “now it’s real”, and he has a new perception of women as “queen thangs.”Another great example of the perceptual narrative can be found in the following passage of Black Star’s “Brown Skin Lady”:

I don’t get many compliments, but I am confidentUsed to have a complex about, gettin’ too complexYou got me, willin’ to try, looked me in the eyeMy head is still in the sky, since you walked on by

In this example, the poet admits to having relationship issues, but tells of how love helped him to overcome these issues. The poet’s love interest helped him to change his perception of love and fear of “gettin’ too complex”. In “Ms. Fat Booty”, Mos Def further illustrates this point by demonstrating the perception of other men and speaking to his love on how he is different:

Yo, let me apologize for the other nightI know it wasn’t right, but baby you know what it’s likeSome brothers don’t be comin’ rightI understand, I’m feelin’ youBesides, ‘Can I have a dance?’ ain’t really that original

In this song, the poet uses the perceptual narrative to acknowledge that some men “don’t be comin’ right”, but that he has a different perception of women than these other men.

In “Come Close”, Common uses the perceptual narrative to express how love has made him change from his old ways:

I want to build a tribe wit youProtect and provide for youTruth is I can’t hide from youThe pimp in me May have to die with you

Although the poet used to be a “pimp”, an urban term for a man who romances a large number of women, he tells of how his love interest has changed his actions and perceptions.

The Spiritual Narrative

A third common form of Hip-Hop love stories is what I like to refer to as the spiritual narrative. The spiritual narrative relies on the poet’s characterization of love as a kind of godly being, spiritual force or royalty, often with the feeling that the story teller has to protect that force. The spiritual narrative allows the storyteller to construct an acceptable identity by characterizing love as spiritual or perhaps even predetermined.

A great example of the spiritual narrative can be found in this passage of The Roots’ “You Got Me”:

Somebody told me that this planet was smallWe use to live in the same building on the same floorAnd never met beforeUntil I’m overseas on tour And peep this Ethiopian queen from Philly Taking classes abroad

Here, the poet uses the spiritual narrative to describe the time, place and emotions that his love was founded on, speaking of them as if they were somehow meant to happen. He also refers to his love interest as “this Ethiopian queen from Philly”, using the royal characterization so common in spiritual love narratives.

In “Love Language”, Talib Kweli also uses a spiritual narrative form and refers to his love as a kind of royalty:

Now if they call you out your nameThen that’s a different thingAnything but Queen I’ll go to war like a King

This example shows the protection aspect of common spiritual love narratives. The poet feels it is unacceptable for anyone to “call you out your name”, or in other words, use derogatory language toward his love. If someone were to do so, he would “go to war like a King”, thus maintaining his masculinity.

In “Mind Sex”, Dead Prez uses the spiritual narrative to talk about love introductions:

African princess, tell me yo’ interestsWait, let me guess boo, you probably like poetryHere’s a little something I jotted down in case I spotted you aroundSo let me take this opportunity

In this song, the poet uses the spiritual narrative to tell a story about the introductory conversation he had with a love interest. He refers to her as “African princess”, once again showing the tendency of poets who use the spiritual narrative to refer to their love interests as royalty.

The Conversational Narrative

The fourth common form for Hip-Hop love stories is the conversational narrative. The conversational narrative allows the poet to recite or recreate a conversation with his or her love and present it as play-like story about a specific love experience. Conversational love narratives are typically characterized by introductory speech and compliments, and are most commonly used as tools to tell a story about a first meeting or impression. These narratives allow the storyteller to construct an acceptable identity mainly because they often include many smoothly-structured compliments, and make the poet look like a cool ladies man.

A great example of the conversational love narrative can be found this passage from Dead Prez’ previously mentioned “Mind Sex”:

Pardon me love but you seem like my typeWhat you doin’ tonight? You should stop by the siteWe could, roll some weed play some records and talkI got a fly spot downtown Brooklyn, New York

In this example, the poet is reciting the conversation between himself and a love interest. As with many conversational narratives, it is based around meeting someone for the first time. The poet is telling a story about a girl he met that “seem[ed] like my type”. He then inquires “What you doin’ tonight?”, and follows with a list of charming speech in an attempt to create a social relationship with the girl.

In a similar narrative, “Beautiful Skin”, Goodie Mob uses the following conversational narrative to retell the first phone conversation he had with his love interest:

This is Carlito from a couple of days ago, you sound tiredForgive me if I’ve called you too lateBut what better time to relate mind-states?

Where could I begin?Has anyone ever told you ‘You got beautiful skin’?

This example further illustrates the use of introductory language in conversational narratives. The poet asks his love interest if she would like to “relate mind-states”, or get to know each other. He then tells her that she has “beautiful skin”, an often successful introductory complement given to women.

Cee Lo uses the following conversational narrative in “Slum Beautiful”:

Look at you, unbelievably, brilliant beautiful youYou’re looking deliciously divine darling you really and truly doThe very thought of has got me running at the speed of loveExploring everything about you from the ground to the God above

In this song, the poet uses the conversational narrative to speak directly to his love interest through the song. Note the wide range of compliments offered in this passage, as well as the charm, again illustrating a common aspect of the conversational narrative.

The Metaphoric Narrative

This fifth form of Hip-Hop love stories is possibly the most fascinating. It is the metaphoric narrative. The metaphoric narrative is used when the poet speaks of love in a metaphor of some kind. The most popular and socially acceptable form of metaphoric narrative is using Hip-Hop as the metaphor. Many followers of the movement view Hip-Hop as a driving force of love and happiness in their lives. Thus, many metaphoric love narratives revolve around Hip-Hop itself.

A good example of such a metaphoric narrative is the following passage from Black Eyed Peas’ “Rap Song”:

Yo, she got hips to hopAnd she ain’t goin’ popShe like a record that I wanna rockWhen I’m rollin’ in my ride cruisin’ down my block

In this example, the poet actually uses a unique play on words and speaks of a love interest as a Hip-Hop metaphor. He relates this person to “a record that I wanna rock”.

The group further extends the metaphor in the following passage:

She like a beat that makes me wanna grab the micShe like the lyrics that I wanna reciteShe like the old school mic with the cableYou can bring your records and I’ll bring the turntable

Again, the poet relates his love interest to other things he and his audience love, including “old school mic with the cable”, reciting lyrics and spinning records on a turntable.

Another great example of the metaphoric narrative is in The Roots’ “Act Too … Love of My Life”:

Learnin’ the ropes of ghetto survivalPeepin’ out the situation I had to slide throughHad to watch my back my front plus my sides tooWhen it came to gettin’ mine I ain’t tryin’ to argueSometimes I wouldn’ta made it if it wasn’t for youHip-Hop, you the love of my life and that’s true

This passage is unique because it utilizes both the metaphoric and contrasting narrative techniques. The poet refers to Hip-Hop as “the love of my life”, while simultaneously showing how that love created a positive contrast to the tough “ropes of ghetto survival”. The poet admits that he “wouldn’ta made it if it wasn’t for you”, showing that his love for Hip-Hop was and is a driving force in his life.

And that leads us to the most popular metaphoric Hip-Hop love narrative of our time. In “I Used to Love H.E.R.”, Common Sense uses the metaphoric narrative to express his love for Hip-Hop. He starts off the narrative with the following passage:

I met this girl, when I was ten years oldAnd what I loved most she had so much soulShe was old school, when I was just a shortyNever knew throughout my life she would be there for me

In this example, the poet starts off telling a story about a girl he met when he “was ten years old”, and how she was always there for him. The poet continues to use the metaphoric narrative to speak of this girl, including the good times and hardships they faced together. Not until the end of the poem does the listener actually realize that the entire song is a metaphor. The song ends with the following passage:

I see rappers slammin’ her, and takin’ her to the sewerBut I’ma take her back hopin’ that the stuff stopCause who I’m talkin’ bout y’all is Hip-Hop

In this song, the poet used the metaphoric narrative to tell a story about the love of his life, the struggles she faced, and his desire to save her. In the end, he admits that this love is not a real person, but instead his love of Hip-Hop.

The presentation of Hip-Hop love narratives is a very difficult task. In order to talk about love and still construct a socially acceptable urban identity, artists tend to implement one of the five successful love narrative forms. I believe that our society’s analysis of Hip-Hop music and culture is lackluster at best. The Hip-Hop love narratives presented above could provide a great basis for linguistic and sociolinguistic studies. Not only are they presented in a variety of styled narrative forms, but they also include deep thought, perception and analysis of the urban environment that characterizes an increasing majority of American society. Through the analysis and study of these love narratives, linguists could come to a greater understanding of and appreciation for the Hip-Hop vernacular, literature and, ultimately, culture.

Works Cited / Discography

A Tribe Called Quest. People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm. Jive Records, 1990.

Black Eyed Peas. Bridging the Gap. Interscope Records, 2000.

Black Star. Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star. Rawkus Records, 1998.

Bubba Sparxx. Deliverance. Interscope Records, 2003.

Common. Electric Circus. MCA Records, 2002.

Common Sense. Resurrection. Relativity Records, 1994.

Dead Prez. Let’s Get Free. Relativity Records, 2000.

Goodie Mob. Still Standing. La Face Records, 1998.

Guru. Jazzmatazz Streetsoul Vol. 3. Virgin Records, 2000.

Method Man. Tical. Def Jam Records, 1994.

Mos Def. Black on Both Sides. Priority Records, 1999.

Outkast. ATLiens. La Face Records, 1996.

Outkast. Stankonia. La Face Records, 2003.

Talib Kweli & DJ Hi-Tek. Train of Thought. Rawkus Records, 2000.

The Roots. Things Fall Apart. MCA Records, 1999.



By: Nathaniel Long

About the Author:

Learning how to produce music is something that is fun and allows you to be creative, it’s frees the mind, body and soul and allows your emotions to come out in the creation of music. Producing music is always a challenge to someone who hasn’t produced music before but don’t feel pushed back because your friends can already make hot music, you can too and I have some information that will get you making music as soon as you want.

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By: Jay Bailey

About the Author:

Maria Taylor has already released a number of music hits with the introduction of her first album. She is the epitome of indie-chic, and she can sing. And play guitar, drums and piano. Oh, and she is dating Conor Oberst.

Taylor released her solo music album, “Lynn Teeter Flower,” recently, the same time that her beau released his “Four Winds EP”, which includes five songs plus a cut from his upcoming eighth album “Cassadaga.” The songstress has been recording music half her life and has been an integral member of Azure Ray, Now It’s Overheard and Little Red Rocket; the first two music bands still exist but are currently on hiatus. Two other Taylor sisters and two guests serve as the music band for this new music album produced by Spoon drummer Jim Eno. Many blogs about indie rock music artists get confused that when it comes to Saddle Creek artists so many get confused about their anecdotes. Some authors touted that Taylor sings backup on songs for The Faint and Bright Eyes. Just so everyone is clear, the appropriate way to use this nuanced information is to say that she sang on a friend’s music album. Saddle Creek and the larger indie rock music world is chock full of incestuous band member swapping and guest appearances.

Taylor’s music album was recorded over a period of four weeks in Athens, Ga. with a band member of Now It’s Overheard partner in crime, Andy LeMaster as well as in Omaha with Saddle Creek engineer extraordinaire Mike Mogis. The music album goes between harmony driven pop-rock songs and melancholic acoustic musings. The aptly named opening track “A Good Start” features Taylor’s ethereal vocals advising a friend to quit running from the world. Very emo music, people think, but in fact it is considered indie rock music.

The upbeat melody of “A Good Start” juxtaposes starkly with the next music track, the acoustic and introspective lo-fi cut “Clean Start.” The down-tempo songs continue for a few tracks, but come to a screeching halt with the dance-worthy beats of “Irish Goodbye.”

Taylor creates a Rilo Kiley-ish work but stays true to her distinct, otherworldly vocals. There are even traces of rap music from a man named RIG, which oddly enough doesn’t disrupt the power of the song, but helps break up the track. Two tracks stand out as profound music compositions. The simple guitars and mellow drums of “No Stars” are augmented and joined by piano and bass as each successive verse builds on the previous. The ambling track “The Ballad of Sean Foley” was co-written by Oberst. The lyrics are all Oberst, but the music is all Taylor; her voice even serves to fill in the holes of his warble. This effect can be felt when listening to Bright Eyes’ new single “Four Winds.” Oberst’s voice is at its classical best with Taylor holding him up.

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By: Groshan Fabiola

About the Author:

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By: smokedout

About the Author:

You appeared for the audition, but did not make it yet again? Never mind. It is definitely not the end of life. You can still live your passion in music and yet make a decent living. While you may not be singing or strumming the guitar like you always wanted to, you will be in touch with the one thing that matters most to you – music. All you need is an internet connection and a little basic knowledge of computers.

After all, this article is not to make you morose, or to make you give up your passion. It is about much more – how not to let your failure overtake you. To look for alternative options if one does not work out. So what if you could not make it to the top of the charts, or even didn’t get selected for the local club program. Look for other options to exploit your talent.

One of the ways you can change your line and still be in touch with your passion is affiliate marketing. There is money to be made on the net, and you may just be getting started.

So what is affiliate marketing all about?

There are millions of websites – it is a virtual universe out there. Each of these websites is trying to vie for the attention of the viewer. A fair number of these are commercial websites that are interested in selling something to the viewer, but would like to get more viewers to increase their chances of a sale. This is where you come in.

In step one, sign up as an affiliate of the website. To keep in touch with your passion, you could choose one which sells music software. This way you would also get to know the latest in the world of music downloads. The site could be offering paid or free music software, depending upon its policy and ultimate objectives. Now as an affiliate, your job is to get traffic to the site.

Affiliate market works in two basic levels – one is by directly crediting any sales that the visitor directed by you to your account. The second method is to get more affiliates for the website, which in turn gives them a compounding effect.

One good way to make affiliate marketing work is to have a link on your own website for the visitors to click and get to the target website. Having gone through your website, the visitor will be credited to you by virtue of a special affiliate number the website would assign to the link.

Now if this visitor decides to download music from the site, you automatically get entitled to a share of the profits. The share will vary with the site, and varies greatly. Try to go for the more popular sites even if they offer a less share, as the chances of a sale being made are greater in their case. Popular sites like eBay and Amazon make much greater sales than their lesser known counterparts.

So don’t worry if you are not able to make it directly in the music world – you can still be in touch and earn your living at the same time.



By: Sarika Kabra

About the Author:

Hip hop is dying and the influence of 2pac on the urban music business will be the name of this cancer that is killing it slowly. This stronghold was first strengthened by the glory and fame that 2pac had received from his gangster tales of life as a thug from his music, plus this thug persona in his real life. Which helps every real life non rapping thug idolize and identify with some one from the hood that is loved and respected, but really this trend started to become a problem way before 2pac started rapping. As this started with N.W.A where their tales of drug dealing gangs and murder gave a voice to real thugs every where.

But it gets serious here as the popularity grew for N.W.A and they went on to sell lots of records and gain lots of respect and when you grow up in the hood or basically any where that is considered poor, respect is the most important thing because even if you still don’t have money you can still have respect and my point is if you dont know how to earn respect in life or music, alot of people just copies the person with the most respect and do what they did to earn the respect they got.

Its Greatly understood and agreed upon that imitation is the greatest form of flattery, but reality shows us that it can be the easiest way to make money, but only to a certain point as you seen people loved 2pac for all his tattoos and now you see every single up and coming rapper with tattoos, even LIL Wayne has tattoos on his face, so lets all copy that cause 2pac was the greatest and we all want to be the greatest right? Plus he smoked weed all day, so imma smoke weed all day, he was starting music industry conflicts or beefs, and so im gonna start music industry beefs but, the down side to this is that when Tupac was alive there was only one Tupac.

So that made him interesting and respected and loved by the real rap fans, but now you have at least 85% of the rappers that are rapping to some sort of degree affected by this negative 2pac influence on there music plus at the same time the music they are recording is mostly bull crap, but trip this, even Jay-Z as of this last year, had to go back and do a drug dealing record because he knows that he has lost the respect that he probably never even had, in an attempt to gain the respect that Tupac had and probably still has.

Now the effect that the thug/ drug dealer/ murderer image has on hip hop in regards to sales for the simple fact that in this day and age the actual people that are buying records in america and over seas are not gang members, they are actual hard working people as this style of music is just merely a form of entertainment where the thugs/gangbangers in real life are only 1 percent of the united states population and a majority of these thugs do not buy CDs from out of the stores any way, so why do rappers and record companies produce these types of records still to this day, after countless amounts of artist continue to see a fall in sales.

Hip Hop needs to die and when i say that, I mean this current state of hip hop will not make it into the next decade and i’m talking about the tupac influence on hip hop, where the fans are ready for something new and real and something they can relate to because for every rapper to have had killed somebody, been shot, sold drugs, and have smoked and/or drunken drugs is stupid and needs to be laid to rest, before it affects any one else.

But in 2007 we have seen the desire for change first hand with the CD sale competition between 50 cent and Kanye West, where Kanye Wests clean cut image out sold 50 cents gangster watered down 2pac image, that we do want a change and if our uncle hip hop cannot get well and fully recover from the Tupac infection that has spread through out 85% percent of his body. Then we need to pull the plug, let him die peacefully, and make way for the next generation of hip hop.



By: ShonnyBoy

About the Author:

During The Pirate Bay trial, the music industry placed the blame for the decline in their revenues squarely on the shoulders of file-sharers. Their logic is clearly flawed, but it could sway the verdict if no alternative explanation is presented. So, if piracy isn’t to blame, then what is *actually* killing the music industry?

According to Per Sundin, CEO of Universal Music, the decline in music revenues in the past 8 years can be fully attributed to illegal file sharing. If this were actually true, many of us might even respect his decision to go after pirates as fiercely as the music industry is doing right now. However, the past 8 years have seen a lot more changes in the landscape of home entertainment than Per Sundin would like to admit, and some of those changes have had a massive impact on music profitability – much more so than any amount of piracy.

Let us refresh our memories and take a look at what actually happened during and just before the past 8 years:

1. First, the explosive rise of computer and console gaming. This competitive ‘third element’ has appeared in the entertainment landscape, beaten both music and movies to the curb and taken a huge cut out of the music industry’s revenues. Consumers don’t have infinitely-deep pockets, and billions of ‘recreation dollars’ that used to go almost exclusively to music, are now going into gaming.

2. International trade agreements have allowed consumers to buy their music across borders, rather than accepting local prices on music based on the ‘relative wealth’ of nations, rather than the actual value of the product.

3. New forms of distributable media, most notably MP3s but also CDs, have become mainstream. These new media don’t degrade over time and rarely break at all, making music rebuys a thing of the past, and allowing the second-hand market for music to thrive and expand – both of which take a cut out of the music industry’s former revenues.

4. Radical technological innovation has taken place in the field of music creation, processing, mixing, and mastering. Recording hardware, CD burners, music software, and media encoders have evolved to the point where most artists can actually afford decent-quality equipment to do their own recording and producing. Furthermore, this has fostered literally thousands of smaller, specialized studios that are challenging the ‘Big 4? with lower prices, better terms for artists, genre-specific expertise, etc. Successful artists can now leave the big labels and start their own recording outfits on relatively modest budgets. Naturally, super stars like The Beatles or Frank Sinatra have always had this option, but the recent technological advances have lowered the bar drastically. This development is depriving the ‘Big 4? of many of their former cash cows, who now use the major labels for their advertising and distribution infrastructure alone.

5. The World Wide Web has become an omnipresent force in the world, allowing cheap, end-to-end distribution of digital music, increasingly cutting out the corporate music distributors, who deal in trucks and CD covers, rather than bytes and bandwidth. With iTunes leading the way (very successfully ‘competing with free’, I might add), billions of songs are now purchased digitally rather than physically, no longer necessitating the big labels’ distribution networks.

6. The total number of radio stations, music television networks and other ’streaming’ sources of music has grown exponentially, giving music fans a huge selection of free (and legal) music options. Satellite radio, DAB, and internet radio broadcasts have made it trivial for consumers to simply tune into a channel broadcasting the exact sub-genre of music that they feel like listening to (they can even have a stream created for them dynamically, e.g. on Pandora), making the *purchase* of music entirely optional for the casual listener.

7. A massive selection of entertainment alternatives (home computing, console gaming, mobile devices, etc.) have appeared in the home, effectively marginalizing music as an activity. 15-20 years ago, youths would regularly visit each other just to listen to music together; today, that is virtually unthinkable without some form of activity involved, such as playing Guitar Hero or Rock Band, or dancing at a concert.

8. And finally, the music industry itself has embraced the opportunities of digital media, at last letting consumers buy *single* tracks at a time rather than forcing entire albums full of ‘fillers’ on them. Looking at the RIAA’s own sales figures for the past 10 years, there is a *direct* correlation between the break-off in album sales and the introduction and increase in single track digital sales. Looking at the actual numbers, it is abundantly clear that the vast majority of consumers never wanted to buy full albums in the first place, but were merely forced to by the lack of affordable single-track media. Now that the digital revolution has arrived, countless millions of 16-track album sales are being turned into 1- or 2-track sales, *decimating* the former revenues on music. THIS is the real reason why the music industry is hurting.

In other words: The “it’s common sense” argument that the music industry is peddling in their attempt to tie the declining revenues to piracy, simply doesn’t hold. It is not as clear-cut as the industry believes; the true reason for the decline is something they are still unwilling to face, but will have to face sooner or later:

The fact is that the music industry’s revenues have been artificially inflated for decades because of limited consumer options. The last 15 years of innovation have lifted those limitations, effectively leaving the music industry with an obsolete, defective business model of monopolized production technology, forced album bundling, and almost nonexistent competition in the realm of home entertainment. What is happening now – the decline of music profits and the piracy witch hunt by the music industry – is merely the panicked struggle of a dying business model, a complacent industry’s refusal to accept its diminishing role in a digital world. The pirates are not the reason, and the decline is the not the disease. It is the cure.

This is a guest post by Jens Roland. Jens is a computer scientist by training, but a technology forecaster by trade. He has worked at international think tanks as a consultant and researcher in emerging technologies and has written more than 300 articles and a book on the subject.

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DATA: Net value of shipped music, in billion dollars

1991 7.83

1992 9.02

1993 10.0

1994 12.1

1995 12.3

1996 12.5

1997 12.2

1998 13.7

1999 14.6

2000 14.3

2001 13.7

2002 12.6

2003 11.9

2004 12.3

2005 12.3

2006 11.8

2007 10.4

(source: www.ayubs.weebly.com annual reports)



By: tatar job

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From baggy jeans and bling blings to classic gangster-inspired suits and bowler hats, a distinct and evolving fashion style has always been an indispensable element of the hip hop industry. Hip hop fashion traces its roots to the clothing style of African-American youths. Since then it has drawn its influences from hip hop scenes in different parts of the United States, from California to New York, as well as from various elements of underground and popular culture.

One of the earlier clothing styles in hip hop was the sportswear coupled with conspicuous jewelry which became the signature look for old school rap. Tracksuits, bomber jackets, berets, Doc Martens, and sneakers were some of the common apparel then. Men sported gold chains while women wore large gold earrings. The sports apparel of Adidas, Nike, and Le Coq Sportif were some of the commonly patronized brands in the 1980s. The 1990s saw the growing popularity of more sportswear from Tommy Hilfiger, DKNY, Polo, Calvin Klein, and Nautica. This particular fashion style became known as the urban streetwear and was further supplied by such brands as FUBU, Ecko Unlimited, Walker Wear, and Boss Jeans.

The emergence of gangsta rap as a sub-genre of hip hop fueled another fashion statement, this time inspired by the clothing styles of street thugs and prison inmates. Gangsta rappers started wearing baggy pants, bandannas, and tattoos. Not a few conservatives reacted negatively to the sagging pants and low-hanging waistlines. A religious group tried to combat the fashion style by giving out belts while others sought to make it illegal.

Other hip hop personalities opted for the classy gangster look and wore double-breasted suits, bowler hats, silk shirts, and alligator-skin shoes. This Mafioso-inspired image was popularized by the Notorious B.I.G. and Sean Combs a.k.a. Diddy, with the latter becoming known as the Shiny Suit Man.

Recent trends in hip hop apparel show the influence of hipster and preppy styles. Oversized shirts were replaced with tighter-fitting short-sleeved shirts, tracksuits were traded for sports coats, and tighter denims were favored over sagging jeans. Some of the popular accessories are large belt buckles and skull and skeleton ornaments. Decorated hoodies, fitted caps, and trucker hats are also commonly worn.

Heavy jewelry has also become an enduring mark of hip hop fashion, symbolizing an ostentatious display of fame and wealth. Known in hip hop slang as bling bling, these flashy accessories became ubiquitous fashion icons and common semiotic elements in a lot of music videos. Gold jewelry was the craze in the 80s but it was eventually edged out by silver and platinum. Grills or removable metal teeth coverings also became popular among celebrities.

With the development of hip hop fashion, rap artists eventually ventured into the clothing business and started producing their own labels. The rap group Wu-Tang Clan has its Wu-Wear, Damon Dash and Jay-Z have Rocawear, and Diddy has Sean John. Diddy also bagged the 2003 Menswear Designer of the Year Award given by the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Other hip hop personalities with their own clothing lines are Eminem, 50 Cent, Russell Simmons, Kimora Lee Simmons, and OutKast.



By: Kristien Wilkinson

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One word describes the CD Blueprint from Jay-Z… AWESOME!

I wish it weren’t the case but, it’s not everyday that I get a CD from an artist that I can just pop in and comfortably listen to from beginning to end. There is usually a song or two that I just can’t force myself to get through. Not at all the case with Blueprint. Every track is enjoyable and was pretty easy for me to listen to from start to finish.

Blueprint is a nicely varied, mix of 13 tracks that are very well written songs by this clearly outstanding artist. With many of the songs displaying a lot of the kind emotion that makes for a really great listen. Clearly drawing from what I can only imagine are him own personal experiences. At different points touching on the most real emotions like love, heartbreak, pain, failed relationships and unattainable romance. They’re all here.

If you’re a Jay-Z fan, or just a fan of Rap music this is a CD your collection simply should not be without.

While the entire CD is really very good the truly standout tunes are track 6 – U Don’t Know, track 8 – Heart Of The City (Ain’t No Love), and track 13 – Blueprint (Momma Loves Me).

My Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 1 – The Ruler’s Back. This is a great track!

Blueprint Release Notes:

Jay-Z originally released Blueprint on September 11, 2001 on the Roc-A-Fella Records label.

CD Track List Follows:

1. The Ruler’s Back 2. Takeover 3. Izzo (H.O.V.A) 4. Girls, Girls, Girls 5. Jigga That N***a 6. U Don’t Know 7. Hola Hovito 8. Heart Of The City (Ain’t No Love) 9. Never Change 10. Song Cry 11. All I Need 12. Renegade – (featuring Eminem) 13. Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)

Personnel includes: Jay-Z, Eminem, Q-Tip, Slick Rick, Biz Markie (rap vocals); Josey Scott (vocals); Victor Flowers (organ); Bink (programming). Producers include: Kayne West, Just Blaze, Trackmaster, Timbaland, Bink.



By: Clyde Lee Dennis

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To understand history from rap, you to must two things: Rap is talking with rhyme to follow rhythm or knock beat. Hip hop is culture, road streets (way of life) for people who area identifies, loves, and esteems.

Most book, Event of TV and history of telling that rap is made in Bronx, but this not fully correct. American rap which we know is started around 1970 in Boogie down Bronx. To understand as a whole, we must return to past, Started in Africa, Gospel.

Let us returns to the root, in African – to be more specific, the culture there immortalizes history of they are in couplets rhyme and hymn. Because there is many terms, many there is linguistic vernaculars and terms of they frequently not forgotten. So, to take care of history and legend they apply song and rhyme to tell it. Because white skin slaves merchant come and dissociates them from their family and tribe.

Original Africa peoples brings story and rhyme they are with European slave merchant, they (merchant of slaves) never permits the slaves to speak using “Mother language” ( language original of Africa) the slaves merchants thinks that they plan to make riot, although they are enchained. But they are allowed to sings, this makes the living slave feels better, the woman slaves in raping and frequently pregnant by crew (the slave merchant assistants).

Woman slave is made as bonus for the crew. Journey of like this can eat finite time one month. And if there are any around 1000 slaves, 600-700 safes, that is if the journey is good. And the woman slaves pregnant they will get or better price (because there are addition of baby in woman slave).

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By: Andri Irawan

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