Whatever happened to groups?

[Mygla]

How come we don't see no groups like NWA, Geto Boys, CMW and Public Enemy, or even duos like Outkast, Dogg Pound, Eastsidaz and Gang Starr anymore?

I think that's part of the problem in rap these days... the individuals gets to much attention.

And when a group actually comes out, it's a a group with a superstar in the front of it (D-12, G' Unit), there's hardly any groups with all "equal" band-members nowadays....

just a random tought...

[Sanford - V. President of the Dangerous Crew Movement]

group = piece of the pie.

individual = you get the whole cake.

[d-nice]

group = piece of the pie.

individual = you get the whole cake.

True. And labels now unless you start off as a group, would rather have solo acts. The days of piggy backing a crew or group into the game off of solo success (em, nelly, 50, etc) are almost gone.

[weedhead]

Well aleast snoop is trying.

[d-nice]

Well aleast snoop is trying.

Yeah that is the cool thing about indie. You control what you want to put out. The last group to get signed to a major I can remember was the Fixxers.

[StevenQBosell]

group = piece of the pie.

individual = you get the whole cake.

True. And labels now unless you start off as a group, would rather have solo acts. The days of piggy backing a crew or group into the game off of solo success (em, nelly, 50, etc) are almost gone.

Damn Sanford, I never really thought of that, but it's true.

But honestly, how many of these "Piggy Back" groups ever had a real "star"

Biggie had Junior MAFIA, and although Gay azz Ll' Cease's first solo album was TIGHT (The Wonderful World Of Cease or something) it was slept on because he was in jail, and got no promotion. You could prolly call Lil' Kim a mild success, the most successful of all the members of JM

pac had Thug Life and Outlawz; Members of Outlawz kept dying, and the only name I remember from Thug Life was Big Syke.

Eminems D12 was the only "artist groups" album I actually enjoyed since Junior Mafias Conspiracy. And even from D12, my favorite dude from the group died (RIP Proof)

Perhaps the labels have finally realized that stuff likeTha Lunatics, D12's last set of crap, and acts like State Property, Flipmode Squad and Terror squad will never sell well.

The hardcore fans of the main artist will buy the record, but thats about it.

[d-nice]

Yeah because at one time the formula was to pick out a artist from a group and try to get a solo deal. Very few groups are getting signed or trying to get signed that way. Now it just seems like the trend is to get 2 or more well established solo acts and put them together. Which almost never works because then the chemistry has to be worked on. You have a couple like a Westurn Union that really click from the jump but most don't even record music together anymore. That is something that is missing from hip hop as a whole, no chemistry. Everything is e-mailed in or done in segments and pieced together.

[StevenQBosell]

Everything is e-mailed in or done in segments and pieced together.

Yeah, that aspect amazes me;

I can understand if you have "dead man vocals" (BIG, Pac, Eazy, Pun, etc.) where YOU HOPE the artist know the dead man acapella, and rap thier way around the acapella ON TOPIC.

LOL and that is the trend, taking established stars and amking them into groups. Snoops thing and the Fixxers are a bit dfferent, but I can see the execs brainstorming "hmmm Milton... we need a mega group... how bout DMX and Lil' Scrappy?! They'll sell MILLIONS!"

Don't these execs remember "The Firm"? Good album, but the whole thing just felt uninspired... D~Nice is right, there's gonna be a lot of these contrived groups forming to get a quick buck...

[d-nice]

It's dumb but these labels are cutting down the amount of acts on payroll and just would rather have big names get together to do it. It sucks for a group coming up that has years of experience as a group to go to a label that wants to split them up. These days, I would go indie and build a buzz that way so that once the group has a following, the majors would rather sign the group.

[K.Dub]

Don't forget Luda's DTP

[GunMaster G-9]

i thought Maylay King T Young Dre and some others made a group... released a track call wes indeed or something... and g-unit n shit arent they groups?

[3331]

people just skip that stage altogether anymore and do everything their way from the start. it would seem smart except for fact that a lot of groups sound better then their individual artists.

[Sanford - V. President of the Dangerous Crew Movement]

group = piece of the pie.

individual = you get the whole cake.

True. And labels now unless you start off as a group, would rather have solo acts. The days of piggy backing a crew or group into the game off of solo success (em, nelly, 50, etc) are almost gone.

Damn Sanford, I never really thought of that, but it's true.

But honestly, how many of these "Piggy Back" groups ever had a real "star"

Biggie had Junior MAFIA, and although Gay azz Ll' Cease's first solo album was TIGHT (The Wonderful World Of Cease or something) it was slept on because he was in jail, and got no promotion. You could prolly call Lil' Kim a mild success, the most successful of all the members of JM

pac had Thug Life and Outlawz; Members of Outlawz kept dying, and the only name I remember from Thug Life was Big Syke.

Eminems D12 was the only "artist groups" album I actually enjoyed since Junior Mafias Conspiracy. And even from D12, my favorite dude from the group died (RIP Proof)

Perhaps the labels have finally realized that stuff likeTha Lunatics, D12's last set of crap, and acts like State Property, Flipmode Squad and Terror squad will never sell well.

The hardcore fans of the main artist will buy the record, but thats about it.

$hort had a great group of artists with the Crew.  but it shows if your leader doesnt really have good business skills, the group will never get their shine...whether the artists in that group were talented or not.  shit, look at Game and BlackWallstreet.  he was able to collect so many rappers together, but nothing ever materialized.

[T-Dogg]

Putting a group together out of established solo acts or "piggybacking" is in my opinion a weird way to do business anyway. The truely successful groups that have become staples in the rap game were all successful groups first, and the solo careers jumped off after (if they did). N.W.A., Wu-Tang Clan, Outkast, Run-DMC, Cypress Hill, Gangstarr, Tha Alkaholiks...

[d-nice]

Putting a group together out of established solo acts or "piggybacking" is in my opinion a weird way to do business anyway. The truely successful groups that have become staples in the rap game were all successful groups first, and the solo careers jumped off after (if they did). N.W.A., Wu-Tang Clan, Outkast, Run-DMC, Cypress Hill, Gangstarr, Tha Alkaholiks...

Yeah all the greats started off that way. And for a while groups like that would be signed but now it seems like they either want to split it up and do business with one person in the group or just not sign them at all.