New York’s Losing the Lion’s Share – 2004 Recap
In the wake of XXL’s 10 Freshmen for ’10 cover, one question kept coming up: What happened to New York? For hip-hop’s first 25 years, the music’s birthplace created dozens of stars. From the Bronx’s KRS-One to Manhattan’s Doug E. Fresh, Brooklyn’s Notorious B.I.G., Queens’s 50 Cent and Staten Island’s Wu-Tang Clan, each borough produced its own legends. Even outlying provinces like Long Island and Yonkers got in on the act, expanding New York rap’s borders with the likes of Public Enemy and DMX.
But that was then. Over the past seven years, the well has gone dry. Since 50 Cent detonated onto the scene with his eight-million-selling megabomb Get Rich or Die Tryin’, New York newcomers have been having a hard time blowing up. In fact, since 50 made his mark in 2003 with both his solo debut and G-Unit group album (Beg For Mercy), only a handful of local rappers have managed to debut in the top 10 of Billboard’s Top 200 albums chart: Juelz Santana (2003’s From Me to U), Sheek Louch (2003’s Walk Witt Me), Loon (2003’s Loon), Lloyd Banks (2004’s The Hunger for More) Tony Yayo (2005’s Thoughts of a Predicate Felon) and Mims (2007’s Music Is My Savior). And only Lloyd Banks (2004’s “On Fire”), Mims (2007’s “This Is Why I’m Hot,”) and Lil Mama (2008’s “Lip Gloss”) have had a first single break the top 10 of the Hot 100 singles.
In XXL’s May issue, which is on stands now, we went searching the five boroughs, as well as Long Island and Yonkers, in search of some answers as to how New York fell into a hip-hop drought. But over the course of the next few days, we’ll give a year-by-year breakdown of the music that came out of the Big Apple and how it stacked up against the rest of the hip-hop nation. Yesterday, we covered 2003’s stats, now we dig into 2004.
Men lie, women lie, but numbers don’t…
In 2004, 34 hip-hop albums debuted in the top 10 of Billboard’s top 200, 14 of which came from New York artists
NEW YORK ARTISTS
The Pretty Toney Album, Ghostface
Tical 0: The Prequel, Method Man
To The 5 Boroughs, Beastie Boys
Kiss Of Death, Jadakiss
The Hunger For More, Lloyd Banks
True Story, Terror Squad
Godfather Buried Alive, Shyne
Amerikaz Nightmare, Mobb Deep
Welcome Back, Ma$e
The DEFinition, LL Cool J
The New Danger, Mos Def
Real Talk, Fabolous
R.U.L.E., Ja Rule
Street's Disciple, Nas
MISSOURI ARTISTS
Suit, Nelly
Sweat, Nelly
Hood Hop, J-Kwon
Powerballin', Chingy
GEORGIA ARTISTS
Crunk Juice, Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz
Urban Legend, T.I.
The Red Light District, Ludacris
ILLINOIS ARTISTS
Kamikaze, Twista
The College Dropout, Kanye West
PENNSYLVANIA ARTISTS
Split Personality, Cassidy
The Tipping Point, The Roots
MICHIGAN ARTISTS
D12 World, D12
Encore, Eminem
NORTH CAROLINA ARTISTS
Still Writing In My Diary: 2nd Entry, Petey Pablo
TENNESSEE ARTISTS
Living Legends, 8Ball & MJG
Straight Outta Ca$hville, Young Buck
TEXAS ARTISTS
U Gotta Feel Me, Lil' Flip
LOUISIANA ARTISTS
Tha Carter, Lil Wayne
FLORIDA ARTISTS
Thug Matrimony: Married To The Streets, Trick Daddy
CALIFORNIA ARTISTS
R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece, Snoop Dogg
Out of the 34 hip-hop albums to debut in the top 10 of Billboard’s top 200 in 2004, only 1 was from a new New York artist dropping his first album.
Lloyd Banks
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SEE NEXT PAGE FOR SINGLES STATS FOR 2004
In 2004, 24 hip-hop singles reached the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100, 5 of which came from New York artists.
NEW YORK ARTISTS
“Lean Back” - Terror Squad
“Dirt Off Your Shoulder” – Jay-Z
“Breathe” – Fabolous
“On Fire” - Lloyd Banks
“Wonderful” – Ja Rule
MISSOURI ARTISTS
“Tipsy” – J-Kwon
“One Call Away” – Chingy
“My Place” – Nelly Featuring Jaheim
“Over and Over” – Nelly
GEORGIA ARTISTS
“Salt Shaker” – Ying Yang Twins
“Splash Waterfalls” – Ludacris
“Roses” – OutKast
“Lover’s & Friends” – Lil Jon Feat. Ludacris & Usher
ILLINOIS ARTISTS
“Slow Jamz” - Twista
“Overnight Celebrity” – Twista
“All Falls Down” – Kanye West Featuring Syleena Johnson
LOUISIANA ARTISTS
“Slow Motion” - Juvenile
NORTH CAROLINA ARTISTS
“Freek-a-Leek” – Petey Pablo
TEXAS ARTISTS
“Sunshine” – Lil’ Flip
MICHIGAN ARTISTS
“My Band” – D12
“Just Lose It” – Eminem
PENNSYLVANIA ARTISTS
“Hotel” – Cassidy Feat. R. Kelly
FLORIDA ARTISTS
“Let’s Go” - Trick Daddy
CALIFORNIA ARTISTS
“Drop it Like it’s Hot” – Snoop Dogg Featuring Pharrell
Out of the 24 hip-hop singles to reach the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 in 2004, only 1 was from a new New York artists.
Lloyd Banks “On Fire”
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