Tuesday, August 16, 2011

New York hip hop needs another Roc-A-Fella Records

By The Voice
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

During the mid-1990s, Roc-A-Fella Records built a seemingly-unstoppable dynasty. The business sense of Damon Dash, paired with Jay-Z's marketable style built a solid company. It was through Roc-A-Fella, that kept New York hip hop on top. Aside from Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek was also a solid star in his own right.

However, Roc-A-Fella Records reached their peak when they began signing Philadelphia artists. Even though they were at their biggest with the artists signed through State Property, they were well on their way to becoming a second-generation Def Jam. Much like many other successful independent record labels, Roc-A-Fella suffered from internal conflict.

It should come as no surprise that New York hip hop has struggled since this decline. Currently, the biggest artists from New York are Fabolous and Maino. While Fabolous receives radio play all over the country, Maino is close to becoming a regional artist again. During the Roc's peak, there were several other movements, but Jay-Z was clearly the biggest New York artist out. Not only was he New York's biggest artist, he was the biggest artist in the game and other labels began following the Roc-A-Fella method.

Even with all of the new talent coming from New York City, they are still being dominated by the South and the resurgent West Coast. For New York hip hop to reign supreme, they need that one label to come out and set trends. Recently, The Diplomats reunited and Cam'ron helped facilitate a deal that placed the entire record label, Diplomat Records, under Interscope Records. While this is a big deal for Dipset, it does little for New York hip hop, as 50 Cent has been signed to Interscope for eight years with minimal success on his newer releases.

Another label with another star needs to emerge from the ground up in order to solidify the New York hip hop movement. When we say "New York hip hop needs another Roc-A-Fella Records," we are not saying copy what they did. Instead, we are saying a new label needs to come out with something original and their own style and re-solidify New York hip hop.

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