New York’s Losing the Lion’s Share – 2007 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.
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
“Shortie Like Mine” – Bow Wow Featuring Chris Brown
“Runaway Love” – Ludacris
“Big Things Poppin’” – T.I
“Party Like a Rockstar” – Shop Boyz
FLORIDA ARTISTS
“Shawty” - Plies
“Low” – Flo-Rida
ILLINOIS ARTISTS
“Stronger” – Kanye West
“Good Life” – Kanye West
MISSOURI ARTISTS
“Pop, Lock, and Drop It” - Huey
ALABAMA ARTISTS
“Throw Some D’s” – Rich Boy Featuring Polow da Don
LOUISIANA ARTISTS
“Ay Bay Bay” – Hurricane Chris
OHIO ARTISTS
“I Tried” – Bone Thugs
Out of the 19 hip-hop singles to reach the top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100 in 2007, only 2 were from new New York artists.
MIMS
Lil Mama
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