West Coast Connection Forum
DUBCC - Tha Connection => West Coast Classics => Topic started by: R-Tistic on May 04, 2003, 06:43:16 PM
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I always think about what happened with the West as far as rap is concerned, how it came in strong in 89 and got stronger, reached a peak in 93-94 but still stayed strong and then took a drop in 96 at Pac's death, then died off...came back in 99-2000, but since then has fallen off even harder.
I think there are three main reasons the West is looked at as bullshit right now.
First up, I think the East is one reason. Yeah u can say the East and the West are coo now, it's all love and that BULLSHIT but whatever. Even though the main artists respect the west coast, the companies and fans don't. As much as I respect Russell Simmons, the fact that when Gangsta rap ran the world, and he said "The West is killin US right now" pisses me off. If he is for the global development of hip hop, why the hell does it matter what coast is doin the best? I ain't guessin, I KNOW that east coast companies ignore the west regardless of how talented a rapper is.
2nd, the west coast is categorized worst than the South is. Whenever somebody from another coast hears somebody from the west who isn't Snoop Pac or Dre, they are like "oh thats some west coast bullshit" There are still people who like our shit but most don't care if it isn't those main three. Also, I noticed people down south usually like whatever is advertised 2 em on radio. It's funny how much they like "Beautiful" and "Chuuch to da palace" and those aren't even close to the best song on Snoop's album, but when u play some other songs from the CD many of them tend to act like it's wack just cause its not on radio.
3rd, is one that is obvious but never thought about. When it comes to east coast rap, not only is New York the major city in rap, but the other states and cities are strong too such as Phili, Jersey, even Boston. Down South is the most blacks, and the most buying power, plus Atlanta Miami New Orleans. Midwest even has Detroit Chicago St. Louis. But on the west, L.A. is the only place that really gets their music out to the rest of the country. The Bay area has a few artists but barely any of em are known and respected around the country...and other than the bay and L.A. NONE of the other major cities on the west have any rappers that have been big around the coutry. When will Vegas, Phoenix, Daygo, even Seattle and Portland, even get artists to blow up?
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I agree......its an image problem.....the west is average....and the east is hot....blabla
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To me, it seems like when artists leave a major label and go indepedant (mostly without a major distributor), they do not do as well and sometimes fall off or are forgotten....for instance:
Celly Cel
Spice 1
MC Eiht
Above the Law
C-Bo
Daz/Kurupt
I'm not taking anything away from these artists because I still buy their new albums and still enjoy their music. The thing is, to me at least, it seems when they go indpendant the quality of their music wanes and they do not move as many units. I think this is part of the reason of the west falling....too many major artists going independant.
The east on the other hand is all about major labels and distribution. You don't hear about many east coast rappers leaving a major label to do it indepedant; and if by some chance they do, they still have a major distributor pushing units.