ATL and the South have been running the rap game for over 20+ years, but even NOW people are still in denial of that fact. Let’s not forget that in the 00s, people still derided “ringtone rap” and pretended every mixtape rapper from NYC (Papoose, Saigon, Troy Ave, etc.) was about to bring New York back and show the south that it wasn’t “real hip hop”

The South been running the game from about 2003-til now ish, NY had 1973-1991 and then again from 97-2002. The west coast 92-96.

Hot 97 and other radio stations killed New York Hip Hop. Radio stations weren’t showing love to the people in their own backyard. They weren’t giving Nas any spins and that’s why he was beefing with them.

It was Puff and Bad Boy. That era of bling over everything, king and behind the scenes black balling other artists from the city opened the door. The beef weakened the East and West Coast. Andre 3000 met the quota as a lyrical MC that nobody could front on. Then Hot 97 started the garbage with Summer Jam and EBRO, a north Cali guy bullying NY rappers that refused to kiss the ring. He started programming more Southern and West Coast Hip Hop strategically bringing down New York right under our noses.

The Fall Of New York Hip Hop started when Def Jam in particular, was taken over by Jay Z. He would not push Method Man, LL Cool J, Redman, DMX and others but instead wanted to go with new blood. Artists like Jeezy, T.I. and others from the South. He could have promoted the vets that were from NY/NJ.

NY radio stopped playing NY artists. Also New York artists started copying the sound, slang and culture from other areas. For example, when someone from NY says “fuck 12” referring to the police, that shit is Atlanta slang and basically applies specifically to Atlanta. It refers to the 12 districts of Atlanta and the 12 cops patrolling each district. That’s just 1 example. New York used to set the style and trends that other regions used to emulate. It feels like it’s reversed now. Also record labels started pushing artists from the south and other areas. They also wanted to dumb down the lyrics and New York artists in the heyday were all about lyricism and having their own unique style/sound while doing it.

When NY cats started adopting Southern styles that’s when NYC fell off. The South had a DOMINANT run for a long time. It’s fading a little but still cannot be denied. Meanwhile the current NY Drill scene is really from LONDON. London producers came to BK to pop off & brought this sound w/them. RIP Pop Smoke. NY was sounding like everything but NY. We lost who we are and don’t know our history. A civil war and NYC don’t have legit good programming anymore. NYC corner everybody was rapping and wanted a deal. Now, NYC is about being something or someone else instead. Be yourself.

Yes Jay-Z was a part of the fall. In Everyday a Star Is Born, he had a chance to call out a NYC rapper, on a track with Jay Cole and he said if Wayne continued, he would pass him the torch. I think Cash Money artists were fun and Wayne was gimmicky like Eminem. Another thing that killed NY hip hop was the fall of the night life. Venues would pay artists to pack their clubs. Then the clubs got too greedy, handing off expenses to the audience with no free drinks before xyz. So, the club scene also played a role in artists wanting to build an audience for themselves. Or perform at certain venues.

The Southern rappers were smart enough to work together and get bread together, while NYC was just battling everything themselves…the South had music it was only a matter of time……NYC doesn’t like nobody.

The fall of New York was 50 Cent beefing with all of NY, while sounding Southern with Dr. Dre at the helm of the beats. He literally divided NYC and was beefing with all top NY artists. The drama became the forefront then the music. NY rappers spent the early 2000’s and 2010s trying to out-rap each other. The South dominated during this time because they MASTERED writing catchy songs that were memorable. Jay Z was able to maintain during those times because he mastered BOTH. He’s nice with the pen AND he is a hook GENIUS. MIMS and Dipset got the memo early. French Montana, Bobby Smurda, ASAP Ferg and countless others followed suit. Southern production and simple hooks became the draw and eventually the industry standard.

If you look at it, before the so-called “South take over” all New York’s biggest songs were club records. Every hit and anthem were recorded so you could play in the club. Around 04/05 ish the south was crankin out club music left and right and shit was hitting. Same time New York was really making music for the club like that and when we did, we swore it was Southern music. For example, Mims – this is why I’m hot, 50 Cent – Candy Shop, Fat Joe – Lean Back, etc.

NY fell off because it’s missing an era. Max B, Chinx, Stacks, Juelz, Uncle Murda, Maino, Shea Davis, Banks, Papoose, J Hood, French, JR Writer, Mims, Saigon, and Vado was supposed to take NY to the next level. Due to unfortunate circumstances, it didn’t happen. I call it the lost generation of NY rap. That’s the era that was waiting for Jay 50 and Puff to grab them and they got caught up in radio politics due to relationships and being signed to certain DJ’s. A lot of them felt like the younger ones coming up were competition instead helping them shine. Also, a lot of artists from NY when it was transitioning didn’t know how to adapt to a new sound and relied on radio spins.

But I want to know what yall think. What are your thoughts on the fall and decline of NY Hip Hop, which led to the rise of the South having a stronghold on the rap game?

TLDR; The New York infighting/beefs, egos and not respecting the talent of the south back then, as well as the South bringing new artists, fashion styles and beats to the mainstream, while New York stopped innovating and lost their wave when the industry filtered and diluted their particular sound, all led to the decline and fall of New York Hip Hop and the takeover of the South in the rap game.