Not so fast. It ain't dead yet.
The pundits have been saying for the past couple of years that the declining sales in rap music translates to a move away by fans from what has been one of the most popular genres of music. Not only are they wrong, but it has exploded and become the most popular genre of music for youth in a most unlikely place... France.
Eminem on Skyrock
A musical phenomenon by the name of Skyrock has emerged in France. A national radio network and media company based in Paris, Skyrock has been playing French rap music since 1996, with the result that France has become the #2 market in the world for rap. It has also made Skyrock the #1 radio network in France for listeners under the age of 35 and the most important influence on the French urban music scene. Add the wildly popular, number one personality Difool, and the network has huge impact.
French rap music?
Similar to their American counterparts, French artists have embraced rap as a means of expressing their views of the world in general and French society in particular. The U.S. rappers are primarily African American, while in France, rappers include whites, Muslims, North Africans and blacks.
The emergence of French rappers has been quite unique in all of Europe, since there have not been many radio stations specializing in rap music anywhere in Europe outside of France. Skyrock is, in number of daily listeners - 4.2 million - the #1 rap radio station in the world.
Concerts sponsored by Skyrock frequently draw upwards of 50,000 fans, their nightly show Planete Rap, focused on French rappers, is the #1 radio show in France during its time period, and its Planete Rap magazine, covering all aspects of the French rap scene, is the most popular music magazine of any genre in France, with close to 1,000,000 copies sold.
International rap artists like Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, P. Diddy, T.I. and 50 Cent consider a visit to Skyrock an essential stop on their tour and frequently record custom versions of their songs for exclusive airplay on the network. Even Nicolas Sarkozy, who understands the importance of reaching this audience, stopped by for a chat a few days before being elected President of France.
Pierre Bellanger, founder and CEO of Skyrock, sums up the success of his company by saying: "Skyrock comes from the free radio movement that toppled the state monopoly in the early eighties. That's our spirit. Skyrock is popular free speech of the new generation. That's why we broadcast, and it made us number one."
For Laurent Bouneau, General Manager of Programs and creator of the rap format at Skyrock, "There is a new trend in France and the U.S. in Rap, with a more friendly style... happy, open, generous and less gangsta. The artists are Drake and B.o.B in the US and Sexion d'Assaut in France."
So back in the USA, why are so many in the music industry saying rap is in decline?
Consider these facts:
Last year, three of the top selling albums on Billboard and iTunes were rap.
Rap remains the third most popular genre in the US with respect to music purchases, according to the RIAA's consumer study. The latest statistics, for 2008, show rap with 10.7% of the market. Rock leads all genres, with country just edging out rap.
So what's all the commotion about?
One of the theories about the drop in U.S. rap sales is that fans of the genre are more likely to use file sharing to download the music illegally. There is some evidence to back this up; for example, the most recent chart from Big Champagne, a company which analyzes and reports information about the sales, broadcast and consumption of music, shows that almost all the songs in the top 30 are rap.
And other signs point to the continued strength of rap.
Jay-Z was one of the headliners at Coachella this year, one of the most important annual rock festivals, and was the talk of the industry.
And just in the last month Eminem's new album has topped the Billboard charts four times.
By Kristian Dowling. Getty Images Entertainment.
So ignore the pundits. Rap is alive and stronger than ever... and not only in America.