anyone else think homeboy rap fell off after woodie died?

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May 2, 2009
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#2
People used to anticipate releases and be excited about the next hot album dropping, and there'd even be enough accumalted material from various artist in a given year that folks on here would name an album of the year/ mixtape of the year. Etc.... point being there was always good music out there for the fans. now days idk who is droppin what or when or if at all, everythings getting "pushed back" or scratched all together. Theres still homies out there droppin good albums but they're few and far in between. I've just about lost interest. The market is too flooded with crap as well.
 
May 2, 2009
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#3
I guess one reason that partly accounts for the disparity in albums dropping now compared to 5 or 6 years ago appertains to the fact that there isn't much money in being an independent rapper anymore. that's why you don't see projects dropping as frequently as they used to. who wants to invest in something that might not recoup the initial amount spent? let alone break even. and can anyone name 1 album that has dropped since the beginning of the year that's really worth buying? Im being serious here cause i honestly don't know whose doing what these days. lol, the HBR scene seems like a ghost town. And to answer the OP's question, yes, i think HBR has fallen off hard since Woodie died; although, i dont think it fell off because Woodie died. if that's what you were trying to ask. Some people like to insinuate that HBR fell off because woodie died. which is obsurd.
 
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Jul 21, 2002
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#4
I think there may be some weight to the fact that it fell off because he died. Arguably the most prominent label for HBR died with Woodie. He was the backbone of the label, handling production and a large part of the business aspect and he was the anchor of the label. There were plenty of artists that people would've liked to hear from on ECCR or see solo albums from but the chances of those happening completely diminished. Probably 3 of the top 5 norteno rappers were with ECCR, so yes I believe it is directly attributed to Woodie's passing.
 

recklessofgilaz

Im Gay until I log back in
Oct 30, 2008
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#6
Lil Coner & C-Locs collab album Smile Now, Cry Later was probably the last good homeboy rap album that came out from that golden age of homeboyrap after woodies passing. Seemed to me like everything slowed down after woodie died. I hoped that when Sir Dyno got outta jail that he would make a big comeback but was disappointed when I found out that he quit rap and became Christian. So I would agree that woodies passing was a major reason why homeboy rap has not been as good as it was but I can see it making a comeback if certain artists play their cards right
 
Jul 21, 2002
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#9
Around that time, it also became easier to record music in your home, so there was a flood of people that should never get behind a mic and flooded the market with awful music. The same is true for all rap music, but when there were only a few good homeboy rappers, that really was like the nail in the coffin, no pun intended
 
Sep 16, 2011
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#11
I think underground rap fell off in general once even poor people had internet access and download capabilities lol

Also, cheap recording studios made it eazy for everybody to start rapping so basically everybody on earth has a cd out now.

Woodie, 2pac, Mac Dre, Lynch, Masta P/TRU, C-Bo, Jacka, Big Tone and A-Wax were the only artists I ever anticipated the release dates for. Oh and Darkroom when I was 17 lol

Woodie was in the top 5 Bay Area gangster rap music producers in my opinion.
 

Mr G

Drunk Pot-Head
Apr 4, 2007
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#12
woodie died in march 2007.
since then this sentiment has been posted and expressed over and over again.
Woodie was a great artist i enjoyed for his whole career but he did not have his hands in anyone else's career but his own and the og. east co co artists so the whole genre couldnt
nose dive soley because he passed.
the few years leading up to his death werent dominated by him as far as HBR anyway..
lil coner, tito b, big tone, and deep sleep are the first people who come to mind as far as doing the most during that time and they didn't slow down because of woodie.
Times changed and so did everyones tastes & lives... it is what it is...
i firmly believe that had woodie stayed alive he wouldnt really be a factor now anyways..
he'd have to be in his upper 30s at least and the political content with too much paranoia undertones was slowly turning most of the core fan base away from his music as it is....
(thats my opinion anyway... might not be a favored one... buts its a real one..)
 
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Sep 16, 2011
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#13
woodie died in march 2007.
since then this sentiment has been posted and expressed over and over again.
Woodie was a great artist i enjoyed for his whole career but he did not have his hands in anyone else's career but his own and the og. east co co artists so the whole genre couldnt
nose dive soley because he passed.
the few years leading up to his death werent dominated by him as far as HBR anyway..
lil coner, tito b, big tone, and deep sleep are the first people who come to mind as far as doing the most during that time and they didn't slow down because of woodie.
Times changed and so did everyones tastes & lives... it is what it is...
i firmly believe that had woodie stayed alive he wouldnt really be a factor now anyways..
he'd have to be in his upper 30s at least and the political content with too much paranoia undertones was slowly turning most of the core fan base away from his music as it is....
(thats my opinion anyway... might not be a favored one... buts its a real one..)
I actually liked his paranoid political overtones lol

Lil Coner has some political overtones in his shit too.

East Co Co was the top of the line Northern Music of that time. The majority especially central valley music was kind of low budget and not always the best quality lyrics. Lowdown and Darkroom were hit or miss and put out 4 garbage songs to one good song.

Woodie put out 10 great songs to one just OK song. Thats the difference Woodie didn't put out very many bad tracks.
 
May 17, 2006
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#14
like i said before, i think its the fact that we heard enough to where its just not anticipated anymore. i remember drf blew it up for the centralvalley and was the hotness, and people wanted to hear whats next, then woodie, black n brown came around in late 90's and blew up for antioch and frisco. northern ghetto boys also blew it up for speedy loc. in 2001 cali thuggin blew it up for decoto. they were the first of the genre. salineros did the same with down by the bowl and then it died down. oh yeah and they hustled town to town and car shows
 
Props: ODIEOD14WG
Feb 1, 2011
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#15
I second the nasty north comment. Ppl need to check that camp out. I think its just quiet for now. Big tones dropping a new album this year but just the way salineros dropped down by the bowl and blew up is the way it goes. Anyday, or far from now someones going to break in onto the scene hit it from an angle it hasnt been hit before and be the next big thing.
 
Aug 19, 2004
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#16
Yeah, I remember getting pretty excited when I heard snippets for Northern Expozure 2. After that every comp was anticipated, then other artists were coming out and putting out, not just cool tracks, but memorable songs. Big Tone and Sav It Out were in the same category as East Co Co in terms of quality.

From the valley I was impressed with Baby Boy Ene's music, especially the progress he made from his first to second album.

The Nortelation came out at that time and everyone I know had that album. All good tracks from 14 Caliber, Tokztero, and others. Sleepy Santino had a good first album too.

There's some cool rappers out now, but whereas I used to think the "quality over quantity" applied to the music scene as well, it seems to be the reverse these days. I honestly have a hard time keeping track of all the new rappers popping up on youtube, doing their version of the latest radio hit or having Norte or Northern Cali as the song title.

Back when Woodie was alive I happened to listen to a lot of bay area and underground rap and no mainstream shit. Now for me it's the other way around. Mainstream artists have really experimented with new sounds, new lyrical topics, even producers like Kanye West are impressive lyricists.