Everything hip hop is dynamic and spontaneous. Artists battle on stage to gain huge audience, the price going to the one who receives greater crowd approval. Nothing about hip hop music is scripted, during battles the lyrics are often created on the spot, in response to the one blasted to the crowd by an opponent. Though an approval could be resounding, the audience is known to be ruthless and quick to react. There is a certain rush in hip hop battles that sets it apart.
The mystique about hip hop music rises out of the artists need to be listened to, their desire to be heard. The fact that the roots of the music lie in the streets of an impoverished inner city system makes it almost ironic that it was the fact that the founding artists were branching out into other ways to make money that wound up bringing the music into the mainstream spotlight. With its obscene words, hip hop music caught the ears of an audience in need of something new, growing much more and even becoming a guilty pleasure for some.
Previous artists like The Notorious BIG, P. Diddy, Ice T, Ice Cube, and Eminem brought talent, creativity, and even their drama to the spotlight which then made the fans wanting for more. The turf wars between artists and factual run ins with law enforcement just added dimensions that other artists, in spite of their classic popularity, had never achieved before. More people who wanted to know the music created an entire sub-culture and sales, fueled by notoriety, boomed.
The rise of female artists began, surpasssing records of their own and fighting for their right on the hip hop stage among the dominant males of the music. Artists like Queen Latifa, Mary J. Blige, and Little Kim introduced a bold and sleek new flavor to the conventionally violent and offensive nature of the men’s music. Others rose to fame and fell, being attracted to making easy money led them to career or even life ending choices.
Music downloads and other changes in the industry were repressing the hip hop frenzy. Record labels created during the craze were closing left and right. Telivision shows, movie making, launching clothing lines, were just few of the many endeavors that caught the attention of former artists as they turn away from the music they paved way for.
The buzz about hip hop music fading, it was beginning to look like there was not going to be a place for the genre any longer in the new millennium to come. Instead, it triggered a transformation on the conventionally violent genre. Now, instead of insulting women, artists like TI, Ludicris, Neo and others, sing to the women, leading back to where they came from. They honor their originators in a manner not seen often in the music industry.