Why “Hip Hop’s Decline” Is Misleading

I talked to Def Jam CEO Tunji Balogun about the state of hip-hop.

“Genres are ephemeral. There are country artists who are full-on rapping over 808 beats… I still hear the sound in all these other artists and genres.”

There’s been a lot of talk about the decline of hip-hop. The stats and market share may back that up, but where other genres and countries release music that uses hip-hop production style or cadence but isn’t labeled as hip-hop, is the genre truly in decline?

Or are the labels and categories just outdated?

This clip is from our Trapital Summit. Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/fCCViZjFpb4

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