How Come Mid 90s NY Rap Didn't Sell?

[antarticp]

as far as illmatic goes it didnt do big numbers due to bootleging ... but imo its all about promotion ... by time snoop debut came out people already knew who he was and was anticipating his debut ... plus they are from cali ... major population difference ...

but all in all everyone reached platinum status post debut ... so this is sort of like a moot point comparing west coast to the east coast albums listed ...

 

[Louis Devinear]

Because no one knew who nas was. You're making it seem like every west coast rapper was selling 5 mil every album. It was basically just three guys, tupac, dre and snoop and it took tupac three albums before he really started moving units.

Nah Coolio went plat on his first album It Takes a Thief and 2X plat with Gangstas Paradise (Fantastic Voyage and Gangstas Paradise were huge in Boston)

Regulate...G Funk Era went 3X Plat

Lethal Injection went Platinum

Dogg Food went 2X Plat

Bottom line West Coast rap was outselling East Coast rap until 97 when Puffy took over. Bad Boy sold 30 Million units in 1997 because they had a formula; they sampled hits from the 80s and had a R&B chick sing the chorus. But what I want to know is how come albums like Illmatic, Only Built For Cuban Linx and The Sun Rises In The East weren't making people go to the record store and copping.

because you're not listening. All the rappidy rap shit just wasn't what people was tryna party to

Why?

And its not all about party music. If an album like Illmatic or Cuban Linx gets 5 mics in The Source, yeah it might not be party music but its still good music regardless.

I think the answer I'm looking for is that East Coast producers weren't putting any sub-bass in their beats. Whoever posted that Jeru the Damaja track pretty much explained it.

Puf Daddy figured it out. He put the sub-bass in the One More Chance (remix) and it was all Bad Boy from that point forward.

Cause everything don't resonate with everyone.

That's why

 

[DR. JEK]

This is part of a @5grand series of threads where he poses a question with an obvious answer to make it look as if you are admitting that since west coast music was more popular than east coast boom bap with the casual music buying public that boom bap is some how more intellectual and legit than music from any other region...

I'm from the west and we hold old school hip hop in high regards... get off your isolated high horse...

He one of them jealous cats after all these years that nobody fucked with the fu schnickens except him. They was too busy bumping "Regulators" by Warren G and he still in his feelings 20 years later

 

[5 Grand]

Well at the end of the day the albums I named;

The Sun Rises In The East

Hard To Earn

Illadelph Halflife

Doe or Die

Reasonable Doubt

36 Chambers

Only Built For Cuban Linx

Midnight Marauders

Those albums are all 5 mic classics in my book. I'd put every one of those albums right up there with Doggystyle, Regulate... The G Funk Era, It Takes A Thief, The Chronic or All Eyes On Me. Apparently people in the other 49 states disagree with me.

 

[Louis Devinear]

Well at the end of the day the albums I named;

The Sun Rises In The East

Hard To Earn

Illadelph Halflife

Doe or Die

Reasonable Doubt

36 Chambers

Only Built For Cuban Linx

Midnight Marauders

Those albums are all 5 mic classics in my book. I'd put every one of those albums right up there with Doggystyle, Regulate... The G Funk Era, It Takes A Thief, The Chronic or All Eyes On Me. Apparently people in the other 49 states disagree with me.

Wtf are you really arguing right now?

I'm from nyc. And I know NYC music don't appeal to everyone.

It's that simple.

 

[5 Grand]

Well at the end of the day the albums I named;

The Sun Rises In The East

Hard To Earn

Illadelph Halflife

Doe or Die

Reasonable Doubt

36 Chambers

Only Built For Cuban Linx

Midnight Marauders

Those albums are all 5 mic classics in my book. I'd put every one of those albums right up there with Doggystyle, Regulate... The G Funk Era, It Takes A Thief, The Chronic or All Eyes On Me. Apparently people in the other 49 states disagree with me.

Wtf are you really arguing right now?

I'm from nyc. And I know NYC music don't appeal to everyone.

It's that simple.

I'm not arguing anything. I'm just saying that I think those East Coast albums that didn't do well commercially are as good as the West Coast albums that did well commercially. Its not an argument, its just an opinion. Take it or leave it but don't respond with any hostility or Ad Hominem attacks.

 

[kingblaze84]

My theory? NY wasn't promoting their artists right, compared to how the west was doing it. Beat selection I think is the 2nd biggest factor, let's be honest some of the east coast beats back then were sub-par, with some exceptions of course. But promotion in the east was weak compared to that of the west at that time. Rappers in the east were nice in the mid 90s, so it's not cuz of talent.

 

[CapitalB]

I'm wacking you cause you hate Nyc music.

You was wearing flannel shirts, raider hats and Jheri curls.

You still the big homie though.

West west y'all

lol i actually fuck wit East Coast rap..

not that era tho..

overall i fucks wit the South above all..

but early 90s to mid u got anything negative to say about the West kill y'self!!

i started fuckin wit the East round time it was safe for Puffy to come out of hidin.. that whole shiny suit era shit.. Missy and them.. Jay vol. 3 and on..

butttttt they was gettin money.. and havin bitches..

u notice the trend??! lol

 

[Louis Devinear]

I'm wacking you cause you hate Nyc music.

You was wearing flannel shirts, raider hats and Jheri curls.

You still the big homie though.

West west y'all

lol i actually fuck wit East Coast rap..

not that era tho..

overall i fucks wit the South above all..

but early 90s to mid u got anything negative to say about the West kill y'self!!

i started fuckin wit the East round it was safe for Puffy to come out of hidin.. that whole shiny suit era shit.. Missy and them.. Jay vol. 3 and on..

butttttt they was gettin money.. and havin bitches..

u notice the trend??! lol

Foh bro.

 

[CapitalB]

lol im jus sayin!!?

 

[CapitalB]

look..

im a tell yall like i told my NY P pa'tna..

well we aint as tight no more but thats neither here nor there..

he from Brooklyn and i had to tell hin the difference between us and yall NY niggas..

first difference is yall lives suck!! hahaha

yall overcrowded.. yall live on top of each other and public transportation is ur mode of travel..

u niggas put on ur headphones and listen to music to escape ur hell.. hence that fantasy mafia bullshit.. metaphors and similies and so on.. the instrumentation and so on..

what u got to understand anout us Cali niggas..

we got nice weather.. good weed.. and bad bitches..and we drive fast cars or old schools..

9x's out of 10 we in our car seein as thats our mode of transportation.. and 9x's out of 10 we got some bitches in it or our niggas.. we drinkin and drivin.. hot boxin and talkin our shit..

and if its the bitch in the car wit us we poppin our shit..

we aint listen to the lyrics.. if we paid more attention to what Nas was sayin then the bitch then we wouldnt be gettin the pussy like yall niggas. hahahaha

guess im sayin all that to say that yall listen to music to escape hell..

we listen to music to embrace our heaven..

this shit be the soundtrack to our lives. lol

ur welcome.

 

[a_list]

Well at the end of the day the albums I named;

The Sun Rises In The East

Hard To Earn

Illadelph Halflife

Doe or Die

Reasonable Doubt

36 Chambers

Only Built For Cuban Linx

Midnight Marauders

Those albums are all 5 mic classics in my book. I'd put every one of those albums right up there with Doggystyle, Regulate... The G Funk Era, It Takes A Thief, The Chronic or All Eyes On Me. Apparently people in the other 49 states disagree with me.

Wtf are you really arguing right now?

I'm from nyc. And I know NYC music don't appeal to everyone.

It's that simple.

I'm not arguing anything. I'm just saying that I think those East Coast albums that didn't do well commercially are as good as the West Coast albums that did well commercially. Its not an argument, its just an opinion. Take it or leave it but don't respond with any hostility or Ad Hominem attacks.

Yo, why are you leaving out shyt like Tical, RTD, Mr Smith, IWW, The Score....u dont think those are up to par?

I'm reading some of the most cockamamie bullshyt in this thread, b...lol

 

[5 Grand]

Well at the end of the day the albums I named;

The Sun Rises In The East

Hard To Earn

Illadelph Halflife

Doe or Die

Reasonable Doubt

36 Chambers

Only Built For Cuban Linx

Midnight Marauders

Those albums are all 5 mic classics in my book. I'd put every one of those albums right up there with Doggystyle, Regulate... The G Funk Era, It Takes A Thief, The Chronic or All Eyes On Me. Apparently people in the other 49 states disagree with me.

Wtf are you really arguing right now?

I'm from nyc. And I know NYC music don't appeal to everyone.

It's that simple.

I'm not arguing anything. I'm just saying that I think those East Coast albums that didn't do well commercially are as good as the West Coast albums that did well commercially. Its not an argument, its just an opinion. Take it or leave it but don't respond with any hostility or Ad Hominem attacks.

Yo, why are you leaving out shyt like Tical, RTD, Mr Smith, IWW, The Score....u dont think those are up to par?

I'm reading some of the most cockamamie bullshyt in this thread, b...lol

I see people all in their feelings. But I'll play along;

Tical - It was considered a disappointment. People might like it now but at the time it wasn't hot. It got a lukewarm reception. And if you say otherwise you weren't around.

Ready To Die - It was commercially successful so it doesn't really support the point I'm trying to make

It Was Written - same as above

The Score - same as above

These are the albums I was referring to in my O/P

The Sun Rises In The East

Hard To Earn

Illadelph Halflife

Doe or Die

Reasonable Doubt

36 Chambers

Only Built For Cuban Linx

Midnight Marauders

^^^ Me and my friends used to smoke blunts to those albums, and mix tapes that had songs from those albums.

But I kinda figured out the answer to my own question. Basically people liked sub-bass and the stuff we were listening to didn't have sub-bass.

We liked mix tapes because they were blunted. They always had a DJ yelling over them. Thats what me and my boys from New York were into.

 

[its....JOHN B]

look..

im a tell yall like i told my NY P pa'tna..

well we aint as tight no more but thats neither here nor there..

he from Brooklyn and i had to tell hin the difference between us and yall NY niggas..

first difference is yall lives suck!! hahaha

yall overcrowded.. yall live on top of each other and public transportation is ur mode of travel..

u niggas put on ur headphones and listen to music to escape ur hell.. hence that fantasy mafia bullshit.. metaphors and similies and so on.. the instrumentation and so on..

what u got to understand anout us Cali niggas..

we got nice weather.. good weed.. and bad bitches..and we drive fast cars or old schools..

9x's out of 10 we in our car seein as thats our mode of transportation.. and 9x's out of 10 we got some bitches in it or our niggas.. we drinkin and drivin.. hot boxin and talkin our shit..

and if its the bitch in the car wit us we poppin our shit..

we aint listen to the lyrics.. if we paid more attention to what Nas was sayin then the bitch then we wouldnt be gettin the pussy like yall niggas. hahahaha

guess im sayin all that to say that yall listen to music to escape hell..

we listen to music to embrace our heaven..

this shit be the soundtrack to our lives. lol

ur welcome.

Lol this dude, at least he's not a complete lie like s2j and 95% of these clowns frontin on the ic

 

[a_list]

Well at the end of the day the albums I named;

The Sun Rises In The East

Hard To Earn

Illadelph Halflife

Doe or Die

Reasonable Doubt

36 Chambers

Only Built For Cuban Linx

Midnight Marauders

Those albums are all 5 mic classics in my book. I'd put every one of those albums right up there with Doggystyle, Regulate... The G Funk Era, It Takes A Thief, The Chronic or All Eyes On Me. Apparently people in the other 49 states disagree with me.

Wtf are you really arguing right now?

I'm from nyc. And I know NYC music don't appeal to everyone.

It's that simple.

I'm not arguing anything. I'm just saying that I think those East Coast albums that didn't do well commercially are as good as the West Coast albums that did well commercially. Its not an argument, its just an opinion. Take it or leave it but don't respond with any hostility or Ad Hominem attacks.

Yo, why are you leaving out shyt like Tical, RTD, Mr Smith, IWW, The Score....u dont think those are up to par?

I'm reading some of the most cockamamie bullshyt in this thread, b...lol

I see people all in their feelings. But I'll play along;

Tical - It was considered a disappointment. People might like it now but at the time it wasn't hot. It got a lukewarm reception. And if you say otherwise you weren't around.

Ready To Die - It was commercially successful so it doesn't really support the point I'm trying to make

It Was Written - same as above

The Score - same as above

These are the albums I was referring to in my O/P

The Sun Rises In The East

Hard To Earn

Illadelph Halflife

Doe or Die

Reasonable Doubt

36 Chambers

Only Built For Cuban Linx

Midnight Marauders

^^^ Me and my friends used to smoke blunts to those albums, and mix tapes that had songs from those albums.

But I kinda figured out the answer to my own question. Basically people liked sub-bass and the stuff we were listening to didn't have sub-bass.

We liked mix tapes because they were blunted. They always had a DJ yelling over them. Thats what me and my boys from New York were into.

Never in my feelns b, just asked a question...Yo, you got me by some years, but I know the deal....Cant front, I didnt really fool with Tical, but that doesnt negate the fact that it was multi...I get it my older bros were on the same shyt smoking blunts, bagging shyt up listening to Enta Da Stage, Hard To Earn etc...Little to no Westcoast got played...But yo, on the real, 7 out of the 8 albums you listed went gold or better..Just so happens that Westcoast shyt was more popular at the time...Tryna figure this shyt out, tho, is ya gripe really about how much these cats didnt sell or a style that you dont seem to like sold more?

 

[CapitalB]

look..

im a tell yall like i told my NY P pa'tna..

well we aint as tight no more but thats neither here nor there..

he from Brooklyn and i had to tell hin the difference between us and yall NY niggas..

first difference is yall lives suck!! hahaha

yall overcrowded.. yall live on top of each other and public transportation is ur mode of travel..

u niggas put on ur headphones and listen to music to escape ur hell.. hence that fantasy mafia bullshit.. metaphors and similies and so on.. the instrumentation and so on..

what u got to understand anout us Cali niggas..

we got nice weather.. good weed.. and bad bitches..and we drive fast cars or old schools..

9x's out of 10 we in our car seein as thats our mode of transportation.. and 9x's out of 10 we got some bitches in it or our niggas.. we drinkin and drivin.. hot boxin and talkin our shit..

and if its the bitch in the car wit us we poppin our shit..

we aint listen to the lyrics.. if we paid more attention to what Nas was sayin then the bitch then we wouldnt be gettin the pussy like yall niggas. hahahaha

guess im sayin all that to say that yall listen to music to escape hell..

we listen to music to embrace our heaven..

this shit be the soundtrack to our lives. lol

ur welcome.

Lol this dude, at least he's not a complete lie like s2j and 95% of these clowns frontin on the ic

"a complete lie"

shit im tryin to figure out what i gotta lie and front about on here?? lol

shit if u ask me im too real for my own damn good. smmfh..

many have tried me..

even the fag u mentioned..

amd they all have failed. lol

 

[Go figure]

Read thru the thread n 99% of it is ppl being biased to the side theyre on, not surprising.

West coast was harder, faster, catchier.

East coast was more conscious, slower, grittier.

U never had to decipher a west coast rappers lyrics so it was more simple. But no one tryna hear Nas in a club.

It really that difficult?

 

[its....JOHN B]

Read thru the thread n 99% of it is ppl being biased to the side theyre on, not surprising.

West coast was harder, faster, catchier.

East coast was more conscious, slower, grittier.

U never had to decipher a west coast rappers lyrics so it was more simple. But no one tryna hear Nas in a club.

It really that difficult?

Not biased deathrow is all classic to me I didn't start getting into early to mid 90's ny hip hop till later in the 90's/early 2000's and it's just better quality/timeless music to me, that doesn't mean everything that was sarcasm on the last page I wouldn't pick Sun rises in the east over Chronic or Doggystyle

 

[CapitalB]

<--- jus wanted the 100th post.

 

[CapitalB]

Read thru the thread n 99% of it is ppl being biased to the side theyre on, not surprising.

West coast was harder, faster, catchier.

East coast was more conscious, slower, grittier.

U never had to decipher a west coast rappers lyrics so it was more simple. But no one tryna hear Nas in a club.

It really that difficult?

Not biased deathrow is all classic to me I didn't start getting into early to mid 90's ny hip hop till later in the 90's/early 2000's and it's just better quality/timeless music to me, that doesn't mean everything that was sarcasm on the last page I wouldn't pick Sun rises in the east over Chronic or Doggystyle

good!! cause i was worried about u for a minute. lol