New York’s Losing the Lion’s Share

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.

Men lie, women lie, but numbers don’t…

In 2007, 23 hip-hop albums debuted in the top 10 of Billboard’s top 200, 6 of which came from New York artists

NEW YORK ARTISTS

Hip Hop Is Dead, Nas

From Nothin' To Somethin', Fabolous

One Man Band Man, Swizz Beatz

Curtis, 50 Cent

American Gangster, Jay-Z

Music is My Savior, MIMS

GEORGIA ARTISTS

The Price Of Fame, Bow Wow

Cold Summer: The Authorized Mixtape, Young Jeezy Presents U.S.D.A.

T.I. Vs T.I.P., T.I.

Hustlenomics, Yung Joc

TEXAS ARTISTS

Get Money Stay True, Paul Wall

Underground Kingz, UGK

Ultimate Victory, Chamillionaire

ILLINOIS ARTISTS

Finding Forever, Common

Graduation, Kanye West

Adrenaline Rush 2007, Twista

FLORIDA ARTISTS

We The Best, DJ Khaled

The Real Testament, Plies

ALABAMA ARTISTS

Rich Boy, Rich Boy

TENNESSEE ARTISTS

Buck The World, Young Buck

VIRGINIA ARTISTS

Timbaland Presents Shock Value, Timbaland

OHIO ARTISTS

Strength & Loyalty, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

PENNSYLVANIA ARTISTS

B.A.R.S. The Barry Adrian Reese Story, Cassidy

Out of the 23 hip-hop albums to debut in the top 10 of Billboard’s top 200 in 2007, only 1 was from new New York artists dropping their first album.

MIMS

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GO TO NEXT PAGE TO SEE 2007 SINGLES

In 2007, 19 hip-hop singles reached the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100, 5 of which came from New York artists.

NEW YORK ARTISTS

“This is Why I’m Hot (Remix)” – Mims

“Last Night” – Diddy

“Make Me Better” – Fabolous Featuring Ne-Yo

“Ayo Technology” – 50 Cent Featuring Justin Timberlake

“Lip Gloss” – Lil Mama

GEORGIA ARTISTS

“Walk it Out” - UNK

“Crank That” – Soulja Boy Tell Em