"August 11, 2023, marked the 50th anniversary of the legendary party organized by DJ Kool Herc in the Bronx, considered the birthplace of hip hop. Coinciding with the anniversary, events, articles, threads on X, and Instagram posts followed, celebrating not only the legacy of one of the most important cultural expressions in history, but also confirming that hip hop in its musical, aesthetic, and even sociopolitical manifestations had become a near-hegemonic discourse, from the streets of Los Angeles to Paris fashion shows."
"Two and a half years have passed since that anniversary and hip hop has lost 24% of its sales share in the music industry, its share of the streaming pie has shrunk to 19%, and more than half of those streams come from older releases."
"Kendrick Lamar in 2024 with his global hit Not Like Us the climax of his highly publicized feud with Drake and his brilliant album GNX, had almost single-handedly sustained hip hop's commercial and socially mainstream relevance. Last year, his Grand National Tour, alongside SZA, was a global event that grossed $360 million."
"The scene has become so self-absorbed that a few weeks ago the legendary 50 Cent warned that little coherence, little inventiveness, and few sales characterize the current state of hip hop, with even prominent cultural figures declaring that it had been a long time since any rapper had excited them."
Hip hop celebrated its 50th anniversary in August 2023 as a near-hegemonic global cultural force, with strong album releases and widespread cultural influence. However, by 2025, the genre experienced significant commercial decline, losing 24% of its music industry sales share and shrinking to 19% of streaming share, with over half of streams from older releases. Kendrick Lamar's 2024 album GNX and hit single Not Like Us temporarily sustained mainstream relevance, and his Grand National Tour with SZA grossed $360 million. Following that tour's conclusion in December, hip hop faced a sharp comedown with little new innovation, coherence, or commercial momentum. The genre struggles to produce leading figures comparable to Eminem, Jay-Z, Kanye West, or Kendrick Lamar, leaving the scene self-absorbed and lacking excitement.
#hip-hop-decline #music-industry-trends #streaming-and-sales-metrics #cultural-dominance #artist-relevance
Read at english.elpais.com
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