WHO REALLY RUNS NY?

With the current state of hip hop, and the popularity of the South, who runs New York?

About a decade, East Coast hip hop was at the peak of popularity, with the West Coast as the main competition. The Southern movement hadn’t happened yet and the Midwest hadn’t gained national exposure from the likes of Eminem and Kanye West. Jay-Z and DMX were two of the biggest icons in hip hop and were running the game. Fast forward 10 years…Jay-Z is doing quite well for himself but many people claim that he’s fallen off lyrically, isn’t in touch with the hood anymore, or has gotten soft because of Beyonce. DMX is accused of being ignorant, a crack head, and hasn’t made classics like he used to. Ja Rule had his time but has been out of the public eye as much as he’s tried to be in it after the beef with 50 Cent and Eminem.

Right now, it’s undeniable that hip hop lives in the South. The south currently runs the game, with Wayne at his peak, Jeezy, T.I., Khaled, and even Fat Joe moved to Miami. However, with Wayne getting arrested for drugs and weapons repeatedly, and T.I. possibly going to jail, we don’t know how much longer the south is going to last. Everyone else the south has isn’t quite a super lyricist…but that doesn’t matter these days. We have the likes of Gorilla Zoe getting popular, while dudes like Red Café don’t get the attention they deserve.
So with the current state of hip hop and New York’s influence…who really runs New York? About a decade ago, whoever ran NY was a big deal. Now days, it’s a position highly regarded only in New York…with the South in the public’s attention, not as many people care. Here’s a list of possible candidates who could take the crown:

1. Jay-Z – The man is worth half a billion dollars and is still going. He’s matured and has business ventures in things other than rap. People criticize him for “grown up” rhymes, but he can finally rap about what he wants to without compromising his sales. For Jigga man, it’s no longer about the money but the art.

2. 50 Cent – Curtis Jackson has built his home on the internet at ThisIs50.com and is dropping hardcore gangsta rap on his own internet venue since BET and MTV only supports southern snap hits. 50 still maintains his power hold, influence, and is worth over 100 million dollars. With the Unit looking like it was about to fall off completely, they came back with two hot mixtapes and brought the name G Unit back into the eyes of the world.

3. Nas – Nas has been dropping gimmicky album titles to stay in the public eye, but Nas always proves his lyrical superiority over the MC’s in the game. He stands up for his hip hop views and defies southern influence, while pissing off southern MC’s without even actually attacking their style of music. Nas keeps it real and true to what he believes.

4. Juelz Santana – Lately, Juelz has been bringing the metaphors and punchlines in his lyrics. He’s reaching his peak and showing why he’s the real deal when it comes to a modern NY emcee. What hurts him is his lack of positioning in the Jim Jones/Cam’ron conflict, but he tries to stay true to his music instead of taking political sides.

5. Diddy – Diddy is known to make more pop rap hits, but Diddy gets his money and sets the tone for other businessmen in NY rap. Diddy is in the race to be a black billionaire with Jay-Z and 50 Cent and Diddy isn’t falling behind by any means. Diddy may not run the musical aspect of NY hip hop, but there’s no question of his business influence.

There are a lot more that I could add to this list but these rappers stand out in a certain area, whether musically, lyrically, business wise, etc. I didn’t include Fat Joe because he doesn’t seem to even affiliate himself with New York anymore. He wants to affiliate himself with Khaled and the South so he can’t be King of NY in my opinion.

Everything in hip hop happens in cycles. New York was once on top, and it shall happen again someday, but others have to have their chance to reign as well.