S. Samuel
Former Firm rap member, AZ, recently linked with SOHH to reveal his prediction for the new year in hip-hop.
The New York rapper predicted his upcoming album, Doe Or Die 2, would be one of many elements bringing back the hip-hop unity around the Big Apple.
“Hey listen, I know I’m putting an album out next year so hopefully for 2010, the whole New York vibe will get back where it’s supposed to be,” AZ told SOHH. “You know, and like I said, the bar [will] get raised for hip-hop.” (SOHH)
Rap legend Rakim also told SOHH about his prediction of hip-hop experiencing a massive change in 2010.
“Wow, I’m looking for a drastic change in hip-hop,” Rakim told SOHH. “I’m hoping this is the time where I think the awareness of hip-hop and the awareness in the street will take off. We had a lot of fun with rap these last few years, rap’s been growing, we’ve been going through that period, you gotta give it room to do that. The South embraced it and next it’s gonna do something else, who knows what. I think it’s been going through so many changes, it’s gonna be a big change [this] year. I hope it’s for the good.” (SOHH)
Cam’ron recently spoke on rappers like Jay-Z helping to place New York rap back on the map.
“Jay-Z done made it look real good,” Cam said in an interview. “Jay-Z just sold 530,000 so it’s still looking good. Whenever there’s ever anybody out in New York still doing over half a million in a week, it’s still available. I don’t really f*ck with Jay but I got mad respect for anybody who makes money and anybody who still sells that much records after having a lot of albums out. Jay-Z really definitely did help out New York a lot.” (Hip Hop Beef)
New York rapper Saigon previously discussed the difficulty rappers around his area have with getting recognition.
“All of us got caught up in the emergence of the South movement,” Sai said about the delay of New York rap newcomers. “All of us came on the scene when the South was really makin’ their move to take over. The record companies was like ‘F*ck the New York n*ggas, the South sh*t is where it’s at.’…All labels look at are radio spins really. If you can get a record up to 400, 500 spins on your own, they gonna come give you a record deal right away. They don’t even have to listen to the song, they just need to see how many spins you got. Us from New York, you’re not gonna get 500 spins on your own unless your name is Jay-Z.” (Q The Question)
Check out AZ’s 2010 SOHH prediction below:
