Eastcoast success has always worked by having a "lyrical playa" rapper at the center of things with more serious rappers around him. The lyrical Playa sets the high lyrical standard for everyone else to follow but he talked about stuff that would bring in the mainstream audience. By setting a high lyrical standard he got the rap audience focused on lyrics and that opened the door to deeper lyrical acts. First it was Kane and Rakim in the late 80's. Kane was the "lyrical playa" rapper he got everyone focused on his lyrical skill, but was doing it by talking about how straight he was, how much money he made, how many women he got, stuff the mainstream could eat up. Then their was Rakim who kicked it about pursuing the right path in life, "self knowledge" and all of that stuff. In the 90's the same was the case with Biggie and Nas. Biggie talked about dealing and women and Nas kicked knowledge.

The problem with alot of the Eastcoast now is that everyone is trying to be the next Nas, they think that is the key to bringing back the Eastcoast. it's funny because when Bigggie was alive, and afterward, everyone here was trying to be the next Biggie. Jay Z finally succeeded with it . Now in the post-Jay Z world everyone here is trying to be the next Nas. What the East Coast needs now is another lyrical Playa. Someone who is on point lyrically but who still has the Playa image. That is what gets people thinking about lyrical content and opens the door to the new "Nases". East Coast Hip Hop has never worked by the Conscious rapper being the center-stage act.

I see your point. Swag and lyrics. But the game has moved into a different direction. There are no future NY artists who have the potential to blow at the moment.

There are no future NY artists who have the potential to blow at the moment.

That was part of my point, one of the reasons for that very fact in my opinion is because most of them came up thinking that being a good emcee meant trying to become the next Nas.

That was part of my point, one of the reasons for that very fact in my opinion is because most of them came up thinking that being a good emcee meant trying to become the next Nas.

I don't think so. Look how many emcees have come and tried to do what Jay did. Same flow, same formula. You have to be original. There aren't any Nas' out there period. The only other guy from the east coast that's deep and talks about social issues is Talib and he's his own artist. Mos Def doesn't count because he stopped rapping all together.

Nas is in a class of his own. I haven't really heard any new arist come out that reminds me of Nas. The only person I can think of is Lupe.

Nas is in a class of his own. I haven't really heard any new arist come out that reminds me of Nas. The only person I can think of is Lupe.

No I meant TRYING to be like Nas, you know, cat's like Saigon, part gangsta, part conscious. Lupe is just a pure conscious rapper, that's different. I guess I'm also talking about the buzz around here, the way people talk, and the mindset of a alot of completely underground emcees in the area trying to make it.

have the biggest southern rap star die one way or another and then promote the **** out of new rappers calling them the next whoever that southern rapper is. sound familiar?

i dunno there is still a lot of good new york and rappers from the northern east coast. but its just not what the public is ****in with right now. saigon is one of the best lyricists out there but i dont think hell blow. pap is alright hes got that swag that woulda made him blow back in the day. i like dudes like them and joell ortiz whos pretty nice on the mic. but i dont think any of them will get to the likes of nas or jay z or whomever.

i dunno there is still a lot of good new york and rappers from the northern east coast. but its just not what the public is ****in with right now. saigon is one of the best lyricists out there but i dont think hell blow. pap is alright hes got that swag that woulda made him blow back in the day. i like dudes like them and joell ortiz whos pretty nice on the mic. but i dont think any of them will get to the likes of nas or jay z or whomever.

Yeah both Saigon and Joel Ortiz are in the Nas mold. Pap is sort of a demonstration of how the importance of image has been forgotten, he's a classic example of the emcee that believes that being a professional rapper is just putting lyrics together. That really isn't true if your not a conscious rapper.

They key clearly, is MF Doom.

They key clearly, is MF Doom.

trippin off the beat kinda
drippin off the meat grinder

The Key is Jay-Z's BP3 to be a huge success and for Jay to hype and sign other names to his rumoured Roc Nation label.. it starts at the top.

F*** east coast, south chillin on 220mph cruise control.

F*** east coast, south chillin on 220mph cruise control.

the south is still big... mainly because of weezy. Other then that right now you have TI, jeezy... bun b... who else is really active that is CONSTANTLY killing ****.
Other then who i just named.


i also forgot outkast

the south is still big... mainly because of weezy. Other then that right now you have TI, jeezy... bun b... who else is really active that is CONSTANTLY killing ****.
Other then who i just named.


i also forgot outkast

Those ppl are enough.haha. Turn your radio station on thats rap and wait 20min and tell me you don't hear one of them. I mean current music too.

F*** east coast, south chillin on 220mph cruise control.

Isn't it funny that Rap sales as a whole have been going down for the first time in years once the South started to reign?

There are a bunch of people that aren't thinking about the interests of Hip Hop itself and the industry is going to pay for it.

There are already more rappers jumping right from hip Hop into fashion and other businesses because they realize that is a safer bet for their future than Hip Hop is.

Only Built for Cuban Linx 2 will be a nice start...

East Coast get's more respect simply because they stick to a lyrical/flow formula. South is pure commercialism. I can't see anybody from the East blow up like Nas or Jay, but the South will fade quick and many of the emcee's will be forgotton.

Not unless the East Coast's finest get together and just blows the South out with a compilation album, showcasing what Hip Hop should be.

East Coast get's more respect simply because they stick to a lyrical/flow formula. South is pure commercialism. I can't see anybody from the East blow up like Nas or Jay, but the South will fade quick and many of the emcee's will be forgotton.

Not unless the East Coast's finest get together and just blows the South out with a compilation album, showcasing what Hip Hop should be.

Well there is no question that many commercial Southern Emcees will rise quickly only to be forgotten, but that dosen't mean the South itself will fade quickly. What has come to define the South's reign is not a collection of artists that rule the game, but one fly by night act after the other in a neverending line. The South can keep going for as long as they are not replaced by something better. I wonder if The East Coast has the discipline and principles to even try to stage a comeback or has commercialism consumed them too much as well. The east Coast is loyal enough to pure Hip hop to complain, but I wonder if it is loyal enough to risk money, and careers in order to bring it back. Pure Hip Hop and 'safety" don't go together, but much of corporate America is just about "safety". As soon as someone is unsafe enough to actually be creative, and begin to get attention, the corps swoop in and try to mass market it, only destroying that creativity itself. Only label owners willing to take a risk can really bring it back, ones with a real love.

It's like I said in another post, racism ironically helped Hip hop in the 80's. Back then, alot of the mainstream wasn't willing to market Rap no matter how much money it made, because it was "primitive Black street music". As a result, Hip Hop thrived as a million dollar underground economy that could stay loyal to the streets, and remain grassroots. We are in new territory now and so all of this is partially understandable, but it may lead to the fall of Hip Hop. What those of us who say hip Hop is dead understand is that Hip hop is the vanishing "culture" of a community, not a single underground rapper in a cheap studio making tracks. Hip Hop is the next generation...or maybe I should say, hip Hop may not be the next generation.

Before anything dies, it's spirit leaves. The spirit of Hip hop will depart from it before the industry dries up, but once it does, the second event is inevitable. I have seen a whole genre of music go from being EVERYTHING to being relatively small time (Rock music ) so i'm not as expectant as some younger Hip hop fans that Hip Hop will just always be where it is now because they have never known a time when Hip Hop wasn't big. Ofcourse that kind of stuff always looks impossible untill it happens. Meanwhile, everyone will just grab for what they can get.

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