Why is Rap so Popular
In this decade, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon sold 15 million plus copies. The soundtrack to the smash blockbuster movie Titanic came in second by selling 10 million units. The third leading album to reach multi-platinum status was Tupac's All Eyez on Me with 9 million copies sold. In 1998, one year after Tupac Shakur's record setting album sales, artist under the rap recording label of Def Jam were able to produce records sales in the 16 millions. The rap industry as a whole in 1998 recorded record sales somewhere in the neighborhood of seventy million. In 1999, with the year a little over halfway complete, the rap industry is on pace to double sales from 1998. Ten years ago, critics said rap would not survive the end of the century. Today, after reviewing the statistics, those same critics are trying to figure out what is the deal.On March 9, 1999, the Compaq Center was filled to capacity to witness the lyrical styling of Roc-a-fella's recording artist Jay-Z and the Ruff Ryderz star attraction DMX. Imagine an arena about the size of Madison Square Gardens filled, and a fully excited crowd focused in on a stage probably two hundred square feet in size. Hard to fathom huh? Think way past Beatlemania. Tens of
The debut album, Ruff Ryderz First Lady, by rap artist Eve, has been out for two weeks. Today on the Billboard Top 200, Eve's album has been number one for a week. By the end of the first week, the album had moved close to a half-million units. It is safe to say that rap music is here to stay. As long as there are issues that need to be addressed, politics, social conflicts, economics, or whatever, rap will endure. Rap has been evolving and it still is. From the concept of "Nommo" to It's a Hard Knock Life, Rap has been here from the start, and it will be here until the end. thousands of people chanting and screaming to the top of their lungs when the lights go out, and a sign illuminated with only three red letters and a man begins to growl like a dog. It's only a concert right? If you were to take out the main energy source of a machine, the rest of the machine would be practically useless right? During the period from mid-October 1997 to early March 1998, many thought this was the direction rap music was taking. In a span of less than five months, the two focal points of rap, Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace, also known as the Notorious B.I.G, were brutally murdered. These two events seemed to be very detrimental to the life of rap music. Instead of weakening rap music, the death of these two rap icons spurred the total opposite. The horrible events not only unified the rap industry; they also brought together a culture by sending an overwhelmingly powerful message. Just music? Rap is popular because it represents a culture. Have you ever heard the expression " art imitates life "? Well, the stories that are told through rhymes are similar to real life situations some people deal with on a daily basis. Since people can rela
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1188
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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