I went to a show a couple of months ago in Philly with a notable rapper headlining. And the crowd wasn’t big, at all. A few days later, I hit the same venue for an EDM show. It nearly sold out. To say that hip-hop is dead is a bit much. Rappers that are signed to majors still have roots in publishing, and big artists are making money in different ways. From advances for their own ventures to endorsements, pockets are being lined. But the money that is being made for live performances in electronic music is mind-boggling. This is because the market is simply bigger.
The big question is “WHY?” There are tons of reasons that the rap market has been slowly dying off, we've decided to go into detail. Don’t think I'm uneducated or biased, I had a college radio show that played drum & bass and hip-hop for four years, and was the first person to market the “thugstep” sound that saw Down South rap and dubstep mashed together. This was six years ago. The soundwave for a section of Mobb Deep's "Shook Ones, Part II" is tattooed on my arm. I'm old. I’ve been around and here is no hesitation in my ability to say that EDM is crushing hip-hop right now. Here are 10 reasons why.