hollywood divorce incorporated

An interesting side note/response to 'Hollywood Divorce' by mr. buttercups.

I was talking to my buddy wig, an audio engineer, who relayed a conversation he had with one of his bosses, a seasoned vet of the studio game. This guy, i'll call him joe, said that one of the reasons that hip-hop took off like it did was that the big wigs of the music business saw how little money was needed up front and, accordingly, how much profit could be had.

After hearing that, it sounded like this could be an instance of the chicken and the egg syndrome: was it that hip-hop showed serious promise in its ability to make money and then the execs grabbed a hold, or was it as joe described. Either way, from a business standpoint, hip-hop his straight buttah. you don't have to pay musicians or studios like you would in a rock, country, r&b or band from any other genre that is recorded live. producers, who do get paid a good bit, come to the studio with their beats in a midi, the rapper spits a few verses and a hook, and your done. you can pop out a new album in breakneck speed, as we have seen from the likes of nas, jay and others who give us one a year.

couple that with hip-hop's enormous popularity throughout the planet, and you got the billion dollar industry that it is today.

and this is not to say that their is a lack of genuine artistic talent/creativity, its presence is the anchor of the biz. however, the ceiling for profit, the ability to bash out one hit wonders with little/unknown rappers and big/bigger named producers (like 'throw some d's on that bitch'), along with just enough incredibly talented performers/writers/musicians holding it down consistently, has definitely pushed hip-hop forward at its breakneck pace.

sadly, hip-hop has become pop or is at least in its pop stage (?'hip-pop'?). little kid rappers are being churned out like boy bands, top 40 playlists spin the same fergi songs over and over, and the biz is ready and willing to run hip-hop into the ground. however, hip hop has put its footprint on music for good, and even when its dead and gone (if that ever happens) there will be innumerable genre's that come out of it and new styles incorporating hip-hop within genres already founded. but ya know, even with all of this, i still love it and rarely want to listen to anything else...so it sure as hell ain't dead yet.