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A neat article regarding the convergence of pop and rap

I didn't read enough to see if this was mentioned yet, but I also suspect that a lot of this has to do with the fact that

1. Trends change in music, and
2. We are currently in a transition phase from the hip hop generation towards the next big sound in music.

Music trends and music chart dominance goes in phases, and every time one is coming to an end, it does sort of "spill in" to the next big sound. For example; Remember when the rock n roll era was coming to an end and you started hearing rock and roll elements in early rap and old school pop music before the next wave of sound took over? Remember how disco sort of spilled over into the early days of house music? Remember how the old school pop and dance sound spilled over into the earlier days of hip hop? Remember when the early days of modernizing rap and r&b hits still had the Paula Abdul, Pebbles...etc type sound, but with today's style of singing with a rap verse filled in?

Do you remember when the multiple boy/girl band groups started to sound more urban before dying off to make way for the hip hop trend that came along? Now we're moving more towards an electro-pop and dance sound and hip hop elements are making its way into that sound as the transition unfolds.

Also, a lot of things used to be simply called "pop" when they first emerged and dominated the charts then were given their own official genre names later on. I'm sure today's electronic pop and dance will more than likely get a name for today's modernized sound the same way booty bass, freestyle, euro dance...etc all "earned" those specific names for those sounds back in the day. Light rock, retro, and new wave I believe were also once pop. There were a few sounds that have seemingly managed to live out their whole lives keeping one name, like blues, rock n roll, jazz, reggaeton...etc. However, most (American) mainstream genres started out as "pop" first. Lastly, I'm sure much of what used to be simply "rock n roll" is now classic rock. I wonder if this will also be what becomes of hip hop hits 1990 - 2008 as well - classic hip hop.....
 
By the way, I wouldn't even pay attention to the comments. Like YouTube and Yahoo! News, the comments section is like bait for people who are either haters, or ignorant people who don't use their brains to think before posting (and also unfortunately probably stand up at the polls during election time to vote when they probably also don't even have any idea why they are voting for who they are voting for in the first place, either..)

This one person mentioned that if Tupac and Biggie were alive, then this whole pop / rap sound could never have happened to begin with. in other words, all natural trends and phases in music would've COMPLETELY STOPPED and NEVER TOOK PLACE, IF Biggie and Tupac were alive, and I'm not sure how he knew, but somehow that poster just supernaturally knows exactly what would've happened if they were alive!

I find that funny - in a sad way though. What kind of thinking process is taking place in that guy's brain? This same type of limited thinking is probably what is also being used when that person shows up at the polls to vote. Yes, I know Tupac and Biggie were huge for hip hop, but... simply put, this doesn't mean that if they were alive, they'd be the first two people to stop the natural evolution of musical trends and phases in music! I'm also pretty sure that out of all rappers, they wouldn't be the only two who would absolutely refuse to try other sounds. Besides, how does anyone know that out of all rappers, both of them would've managed to stay on top of the game through 2010? Yes, there were some who managed to stay up for a few decades while others disappeared after the first 10 years, but no one can accurately guarantee that Tupac and Biggie would've ABSOLUTELY MADE IT if they were still around.

And judging by some of their posts, Outkast must have been one of the worst groups ever since pop and rap are the scum of the earth according to them. I don't mind people leaving comments of opinions (or even protesting or arguing...etc) but I do mind when people do not think first before acting.

"The "formula" couldn't work if people like Pac or Biggie were alive. They weren't sellouts."
- Jon S.

How in the world does he know what musical formulas could or couldn't work based purely on the presence of life in anyone's body? And who says there aren't people "like" Pac and Biggie alive? THINK about it..... from the comments I've seen on YouTube to Yahoo! News to the World Cup pages... it makes me wonder if some people are truly that dumb? it's one thing to leave opinions, but I believe the more upset your comments / reactions to certain things are, the more factual they should be. Lastly, you can't say that just because a lot of questionable quality material came out recently that ALL the artists and producers of that time and genre are garbage.
 
I haven't read the article, but I'd like to bring this up:

It is the convergence of pop and rap that is killing the Urban format and - to a point - the Rhythmic format, as well. I had this discussion with one of my mentors who owns a cluster (including an Urban) in the Deep South and he made a very good point in that the Urban and Rhythmic formats are becoming very homogenized. Case in point, California Gurls... ten years ago, you would be very unlikely to see a "hardcore" (even though Snoop, at this point in his career, doesn't really fit the definition of "hardcore") rapper on a bubblegum pop song. But, now that it is so common, the Urban and Rhythmic stations are running out of records that they can play and own. They are able to keep their more "street" audience, but the convergence of rap and pop is pulling the large portion of their audience that might not like 24/7 "thug" or "street" away and sending them to a CHR/Pop.
 
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