i dont think its completely dead, but it seems like it. And i think it is getting better lately as ppl like lupe fiasco can get some shine without being gangsta. The issue is that the mainstream only plays the sex, drug, and violence music and they push that as before like 80s and 90s, you could be yourself like for example young m.c., who rapped about being in the principals office, etc. and have a record deal. Now you gotta be hard and a gangter and b.s., and we know damn well, if you rapping it is very rare you in the streets like these rappers claim. the funny thing is that if you really from the hood, you know that what makes rappers gangster, is actually what all of us ppl that grew up in the hood go through every day. if you from the hood at some time or other , you hustled, fought, shot a gun, had a gun, whateva it may be. anyway, i miss things like when big daddy kane was around, he didnt claim to be a gangster but he got that same kind of respect and he would dance in the videos and no one would clown him for that.

@Keyser: No worries man I love having discussions We are all entitled to our opinions; that's what makes life so great. Trust me I don't take it to heart. I have have my own beliefs on the free downloading of music that I rather not share just because it would differ from the topic. However if there ever is topic on it, I'll take you on in a discussion battle

We are back on topic keep them coming!

the hip hop we knew is still there it's just overshadowed by the mainstream hip pop, as someone called it. Hip hop by definition is meant to evolve "with the times" more than any other genre whether we like its evolution or not. Thats what makes it hip. I feel that once you peel away the mainstream that so many of us don't enjoy or even despise you notice that hip hop is trying some new stuff. That's how evolution works. progress can't be made without the chance of the opposite result. hopefully hip hop will fluctuate in different directions slowly improving over many years. As a genre it is still pretty young. Maybe this is the equivalent of the rebellious and mistake driven teen years.

nothing last forever so yeah in the mainstream its dead. but the good thing is it has been reborn into something new. the challenge is finding a way to reinvent traditional hiphop and make it exciting again.

It's hard topic i have heard some stupid raps in the last couple years about spending 5 stacks on a handbag and crap like that. Plus whats up with all the face tattoos lmfao i am a fan of tattoos i have many all with meaning and a story, but these guys are getting fuckin ducks on their face and then covering it with LA look at game his face has changed more than his feelings towards 50 cent,  battles now are starting to sound more like school yard bitching. I am glad too see a real rapper like tech n9ne getting more shit poppin with bigger names, Eminem comming back stronger than ever. R.I.P too Nate Dog a wicked hook man like that just died in the hospital having money troubles with his doctor bills , while little busy susy and fuck off get to have chains and watches worth more than a 3rd world countries 20 year food budget.  Like cmon people if you think this is evolution its not its media consumption no one has a greezy message anymore no one has that sad hood song you play when your boy dies. They only have songs about gucci and and gwap lmfao like for real... people are diggin this? these are just my points you wanna hate go a head i aint phazed  im blazed bring the hot tracks back

In my opinion, hip hop isn't dead nor did it go anywhere.  For me, the best stuff was always underground.
Music is, as a rule, formulaic.  All of it is, that's how we are able to characterize it as "classical, rock, dubstep, house, or whatever."  To say that hip-hop is dead is like suggesting jazz is dead.  What happened is it moved from being a music form no one thought was financially valuable (even though it was popular) to one that is unquestionably an economic powerhouse music genre.  
It's a matter of personal taste, but, generally speaking, whatever is the "most popular" of anything is gonna be "standardized and somewhat dumbed down (simplified)", that is a consequence of mass production.  A company can't just massively (or easily) generate a Thelonious Monk or a Stevie Wonder, a Lightning Hopkins or a Rakim, so most just don't base their business model on having ultra-talented performers that can leave and take their "goose-who-lays-the-golden-egg" talents with them.  Sure, it's great to contract a super-talented artist, but even the greatest artists make flops, too.  The industry wants hits, at all costs.  Of course, there's nothing wrong with a hit, except, many times a hit will be based on what was previously a hit!  So much for originality...because originality doesn't always sell.
That said, even back in the 80s, when I first started listening to hip-hop, the most "unique" underground crews didn't get airplay in my market.  In fact, many people not living in New York or California HAD to seek out hip-hop to listen to...period!  I remember when there wasn't a "dirty south" and everybody talked bad about southern hip-hop. Still, now that the "hit formula" sounds a lot like styles I've been hearing outta Miama booty clubs for decades, underground southern hip-hop STILL ain't really getting airplay!  Most "black" hit music, in general, is danceable, club stuff, high energy/fast tempo tracks.  But, there are tens of thousands of hot hip-hop acts that are bangin' that won't ever get airplay OR fair pay!  I'm definitely glad that Puffy Daddy and 50 Cent can earn millions, but to me, nothings changed.  The best acts still do it for love, cause, for them, there's no money in it! lol

A company can't just massively (or easily) generate a Thelonious Monk or a Stevie Wonder, a Lightning Hopkins or a Rakim, so most just don't base their business model on having ultra-talented performers that can leave and take their "goose-who-lays-the-golden-egg" talents with them. Sure, it's great to contract a super-talented artist, but even the greatest artists make flops, too. The industry wants hits, at all costs.

THE BOTTOM LINE.

this site is some bullshit it always fuckup fuck this shit i going to start my one of my owen better than tis shit fuck yall eat a dick bye bitch

^^^ woke up on the wrong side of bed? lmao

Well personally hip hop in its most literal context is dead, it is not nearly the same anymore and I am not sure if it ever will be.
Many reasons for this exist in my opinion. Firstly for more experienced persons, you know about this topic, Loudness Wars. For people who dont know it, it is the when producers/mixers whoever .. try to make the track louder and louder by bringing up th sound peaks to as close to 0dB as possible so that it sounds loud but so it doesnt clip. Now for experienced mixers that know sound dynamics they know that this isnt a good thing cuz it still creates distortion in the track because it causes the limiter to smash all the frequencies that want to go above 0dB. Back in the day producers never mixed nearly as close to 0dB as they do now so music had a certain clarity to it back then, not that it doesnt have clarity now it is just the feel is different, not to mention that back then they use to record with analog versus the digital that they use now. Analog sounds had a certain level of warmth to it that is much different to the colour that digital recordings have now. Thats far as it goes technology wise
In terms of content that has changed drastically too. Even up to the late 90s hip hop was way different that it is now. Hip hop was more so about the message and the content usually resided withing the realm of hardship and adversity. Persons use to rap about making 'it' rather than how much they made. It was more about breaking free of the struggle rather what they owned, who they slept with or how much money they were willing to spend on foolishness, Sure there was the gangsta rap era which was ushered in by dr dre but his sound was unique and while the content may have changed the sound connected with the listener and so still was what we considered hip hop. Hip hop during this era was poetry. Now hip hop has this commercialized sound it, its something along the lines of something that you cant put your finger on but you know is there, and it is more or less in most hip songs in this era, this is where all the sub genre's come in that someone earlier spoke about earlier. The heavy compression, the use of DAW's to make music. synth and synth after vst after vst. All these contribute to the change in what we label hip hop. Not to mention intellectual rap has gone straight out the window and is close to non existent at this point Everyone wants to rap about money, girls, guns weed what they are driving who they are having sex with or who is hating on them. Not to mention that it seems that stupidity is the new cool thing now and everyone is jigging and dancing to rubbish, if people took the time to actually listen to what they were hearing they would soon pause their Ipods and ask them self what the heck they really listening to, ('Pretty boy swagg") dont ask me what that means because I am clueless. The one thing I am sure of is that in another 10 or so years this era will be a thing of the past and a new craze will have been ushered in. What I think is important is that we honour the old and respect the new, just because we may disagree with the content and the method of production gives us no right to laud anything over one genre or another. We should value diversity and try to allow everything to co exist. Honour the old, respect the new.
Winds of Change - eMC

In the beginning, innovative, unique, avant garde hip hop artists made squat (if they got that much). Today, innovative, unique, avant garde hip hop artist make squat (if they get that much). Nothin's changed, no, REAL, hip hop hasn't gone anywhere, there's just a whole lot more stuff calling itself "hip hop" than ever before. Check ya crates, it's still going strong! PEACE 2 DA UNDAGROUND!!!!!!!!

OK here is my thought... When i started listening to hip hop it started wtih 2pac so i listen to old school even though im a teen.Hip Hop isnt dead they should just name todays hip hop :New Skool. They fucked it up and thats it.