By: Gabe VanArmanIn 1997 Paula Cole asked the world, “Where have all the cowboys gone,” in hope of finding a decent man to marry. I stand here today posing a similar question …. “Where have all the gangsters gone,” in hope of one day becoming an enthusiastic rap fan again. Where have the modern day Biggie’s gone? When is an album going to come out and take us all by storm?
Today’s rap game resembles a sequin covered vest; all flash no substance. The 90’s were the heyday of the rap game, and is now sliding down the charts and will soon be gone forever.
Growing up I was a white kid in an urban setting, and rap music was where it was at. Jay-Z was putting out platinum records like Yale pumps out crummy politicians. In the 90’s everything seemed to be going well, rappers will still going platinum and topping the charts. They also stood in society as pop culture icons. 
Things were good. At this time Richard Nickels , rap manager said in a TIME article, "Hip-hop seemed dangerous; it seemed angry. Kurt Cobain killed himself, and rock seemed weak. But then you had these black guys who came out and had guns. It was exciting to white kids.” This edge is what attracted people, young and old, white and black, near and far to this new genre. This edge was profitable. Between 1992 and 1998, one record company, Death Row Records, churned out 11 multiplatinum albums, despite the death of the highest selling rapper of all time. Tupac has sold over 75 million both dead and alive. Even with his death, Tupac has grown into Elvis status. Everyone knows who Elvis was, and people still debate whether or not he is really dead. The same goes for Tupac.
At the time of successful rap: -Biggie and Tupac were still alive -Sean Combs went as Puff Daddy and didn’t have a TV show -People threw up the Wu Tang sign like they were an actual member -People actually knew who Public Enemy was.
Rappers used to make statements with their raps, they used to tell stories or struggles or how things were. Public enemy was one of the best to make these statements, but today rappers and politics go together like motor oil and ice cream. Granted, Paul Wall spoke of some politics in his song “Grillz” with Nelly when he addresses a democratic presidential candidate in the following classy, comical, and creative passage about his tooth coverings:
“On da top in da bottom; Gotta bill in my mouth like I’m Hillary Rodham”
Click here for the whole Nelly Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7p0YLQLMN8
There are many ways to show that one has money, but buying shiny tooth coverings seems to be a little over the top. If they want something shiny in their mouth, how about they brush their teeth like the rest of us, and flash those pearly whites. Their mother’s would be proud.
Songs today don’t mimic the classic rap ideals such as being “Notorious,” having or making “Changes” or wanting to “Fight the Power.” But instead they reward people for talking about buying women drinks, saying “yeaaaaah” like they have no sense at all, and attempting to spell soldier as “soulja.”
Silly dances such as those presented to us by Soulja Boy are taking front stage as actual music that may have any meaning or quality gets overlooked.
For an expert opinion on this matter, I turn to my best friend and rap connoisseur Robert Byrnes. He is a Norristown native, and a straight up G. If there is a rap album coming up, he already has it and has formed an opinion on it. He feels, “I think rappers back in the day rapped more about life’s problems and real life situations....things that actually troubled them or struggles they went through. Whereas today it’s all about partying, drinking, f*$@#in bitches, and doing drugs...Except for 50, he did get shot 9 times.”
The whole idea of partying, getting women, and having a good time is a topic that has been exhausted. Not just by the rap genre, but by all genres. Yes, these are things that are relatable, and being relatable is something that yields success, but there is only so many times you need to hear about a party where you met a girl and did the lights-out version of the “hokey pokey.”
There just isn’t anything new to rap about, and its just the same old rubbish being recycled, and with more technological beats and flare. 
Rap used to thrive on badass’s doing gangster and sensationalistic acts. Tupac shot at the police, Snoop’s been brought in for drug and gun charges, and Biggie sold crack. Now rappers are marketed on their “branding ability.” All that seems to matter is how well can they move products, or how many products can I get my face on?
I am not the only one who has noticed this. Nas has realizes that the rap game is dead. There is only so much bling, flash, and profanity one society can take. After a while, it gets old like any DMX song. He exposes rap's lack of originality on his album Hip Hops Dead. Here is a quick passage from the album titled single:
"Everybody sound the same, commercialize the game / Reminiscin' when it wasn't all business / They forgot where it started / So we all gather here for the dearly departed.
To him, the game is already dead, and he is providing a eulogy in rap form. That is original, and today it is the double truth.
Nickels also said in the same article that “It's collapsing (now) because they can no longer fool the whit
e kids. There's only so much redundancy anyone can take." This is apparent when you look at the numbers. The last record in the “rap” genre to go platinum was someone who doesn’t fit into this “redundancy” pattern. It comes from someone who still holds true to the “exciting,” and “angry” edge rap was known for in the 90’s. The last album to go platinum under the rap genre was indeed Mr. Slim Shady with his 2004 album Encore. Encore sold 711,000 copies in its opening week and still claimed the #1 spot on the Billboard Top 200. On December 17th of that year the album was certified four times platinum. It only took that album one month to reach that point.
Webster defines "sell out" as "to betray one's cause or associates especially for personal gain." I define sell out as 50 Cent. Yes he did get shot in the face, and that's pretty gangster, but then he turns around to do crap like this and advertises Vitamin Water. It's not even for a product that can remotely be considered rap related. It's water for crying out loud!
You would have never seen Biggie, Tupac, or Big Pun sell out in the middle of their career.
Let's take a look at another "sell out." Here is one major or ex- player in the rap game, Suge Knight. He is the co-founder and CEO of Death Row Records. After years of successes for artists including Tupac, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tha Dogg Pound, Death Row Records hit a brick wall and crashed after Knight's incarceration on parole violation charges in September 1997. This can also be pinned as the point where the lack of dough in the pockets became an issue. Knight is now a bankrupt ex-con, who is $137 million in debt and facing a civil trial in which the family of murdered rap star the Notorious B.I.G. The family claims that Christopher “Biggie Smalls” Wallace was gunned down in 1997 by hit men hired by Death Row as part of an East Coast-West Coast rap feud. When this rivalry died, so did the rap game. Things just went downhill from there.
Suge is also planning to withdraw the entire Death Row back catalogue and bleep out each and every instance of the word "nigger" in its songs. "To me, it's never too late to change," he told The Washington Post in an article this April.
THAT IS NOT GANGSTER. You cannot censor artists who shaped the entire game. Without them, there would be no game. That would be similar to going back and changing the words of the Star Spangled Banner. If change is such a big thing in his life, how about changing your way of life before you got thrown in jail? Maybe he should call Vitamin Water or get a show on VH1?
On that note, VH1 and MTV has slowly poisoned America and the rap world with their visual cyanide pills, aka reality shows. 
Flavor Flave, Salt n Peppa, and Da Brat have all had appearances on reality shows, and have made utter fools of themselves showing their desperation to get back into the spotlight. They were all respected members of the rap game at one point.
Not everyone gets the point though. Just like eggs, rappers do have a shelf life. No one can stay in the game forever, unless you are immortalized by epic East/West coast rivalry shootings.
Once their careers are over, I have no problem with them dabbling into other business ventures. Only few people can pull that off and still be successful. One of my favorite rappers, and one of the first rappers, Rev. Run has done this in a tasteful way. Once his career was over, and music wasn’t bringing him the success he wanted, he stepped aside. Popularity did not keep him in the dark though. MTV is actually responsible for doing some good here with a reality show. The show "Run's House" is in its fourth season, and acts as an example on how rappers can make the transition from rapper to a real life productive member of society. 
Sometimes rappers stay in the game too long and that is when bloggers write: "Rappers…when you turn 30 you really need to go sit your azz down somewhere; dress like a grown man; pull your pants up; lose the ball caps, hoodies, fake bling, ring tones, sneakers and learn how to speak in complete coherent sentences.”
Growing up and evolving seems to be something the rap culture and people in the culture are having a hard time dealing with. And as I recall my classes about Darwin my freshman year, those who cannot evolve will not remain to exist.
To officially join Nas, Vickers, and Nickels in burying the rap game, I would like to say a couple words before we bury this old friend of mine. If the game wasn’t dead now, I believe I have officially killed it here.
Rap ain’t no better than a cheap grandma sweater
With sell outs like 50, Suge, and Da Brat
Garth and Kenny, and a little Tobi Keith
Things have died off like Biggie and Pac
It never really caught up
So this is how it goes for all them pimps and hoes
This is a final word to Big Bird
The game is dead
Because we all know better,
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