# Light At The End of the Tunnel - Rap Sales Off 21% **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 1, 2007, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-rap-sales-off-21/394205 "2007-03-01T20:22:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2007, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-rap-sales-off-21/394205/1 "2007-03-01T20:22:42Z")
[Can it be](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,255606,00.html)? Is the long national nightmare coming to a close? What sea-change happened to deliver us from this horror? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-rap-sales-off-21/394205/2 "2007-03-01T20:29:40Z")
Oh, like the Boy Band era was so much better. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-rap-sales-off-21/394205/3 "2007-03-01T20:30:10Z")
It’s because kids these days aren’t hard anymore. They’re too busy listening to Emo crap about getting beaten up by jocks and teased by cheerleaders. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-rap-sales-off-21/394205/4 "2007-03-01T20:31:45Z")
I would say this might just be another example of online _a la carte_ music purchases damaging record sales. It might be more hip-hop fans are buying their music online than in previous years. Internet access is probably in homes today that just five years ago it would’ve been seen as an unnecessary and frivolous expense. Plus, the Emo thing. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2007, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-rap-sales-off-21/394205/5 "2007-03-01T20:32:08Z")
It only took seventeen years for Vanilla Ice to kill rap. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2007, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-rap-sales-off-21/394205/6 "2007-03-01T21:42:23Z")
I think the gangsta thing is finally getting stale. Rap and hip hop aren’t going away, but in a couple of years gangsta rap is going to be looked at the same way hair metal is looked at today–an example of the excess and artistic bankruptcy of its era. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2007, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-rap-sales-off-21/394205/7 "2007-03-01T21:52:21Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] What sea-change happened to deliver us from this horror? 😃 [/QUOTE] “It was Beauty that killed the Beast”. So what sales are up anyway? What is the next big thing in music? BTW: Was rap as bad as disco? I know I disliked disco even more. I am still waiting for some new group to change music like the Beatles or Floyd or Zeppelin did. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-rap-sales-off-21/394205/8 "2007-03-02T00:11:43Z")
[QUOTE=vibrotronica] I think the gangsta thing is finally getting stale. Rap and hip hop aren’t going away, but in a couple of years gangsta rap is going to be looked at the same way hair metal is looked at today–an example of the excess and artistic bankruptcy of its era. [/QUOTE] Ummm..Gangsta Rap hasn’t been around really since the late 90s. Jay Z doesn’t rap about Aks and drive bys.. He raps about Bentley’s and suits. ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-rap-sales-off-21/394205/9 "2007-03-02T06:17:31Z")
That article is terrible. I’m surprised it’s an AP article and not an editorial by some reactionary idiot. This is the worst part: > [@](#): > > Even the mayhem that broke out in Las Vegas during last week’s NBA All-Star Game was blamed on hip-hoppers. “(NBA Commissioner) David Stern seriously needs to consider moving the event out of the country for the next couple of years in hopes that young, hip-hop hoodlums would find another event to terrorize,” columnist Jason Whitlock, **who is black** , wrote on AOL. (bolding mine) What the fuck? Why on earth does this writer feel the need to point out that the guy being quoted is black? Here’s another gem: > [@](#): > > And then there’s the criminal aspect that has long been a part of rap. In the '70s, groups may have rapped about drug dealing and street violence, but rap stars weren’t the embodiment of criminals themselves. That stuff didn’t enter hip-hop until the 80’s. This writer doesn’t know what he/she is talking about. I do agree with a lot of the criticisms leveled against certain segments of hip-hop culture. ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-rap-sales-off-21/394205/10 "2007-03-02T06:37:48Z")
I found a recent interview with Chuck D (from Public Enemy) in which he discusses, among other things, the problems with hip-hop today. I think a lot of you will agree with what he says: [Part 1](http://www.stereowarning.com/2007/02/public_enemys_chuck_d_says_start_snitchin.html) [Part 2](http://www.stereowarning.com/2007/02/chuck_d_interview_still_black_still_strong_snitch_cop_hip_hop.html) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-rap-sales-off-21/394205/11 "2007-03-02T06:43:41Z")
Kids don’t like rap music so much as they like whatever pisses their parents off the most. Rap music does that on \*so \*many levels. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-rap-sales-off-21/394205/12 "2007-03-02T09:57:28Z")
Maybe the infinite number of monkeys typing rap “lyrics” on the infinite number of typewriters have finally started to repeat themselves. 😃 Or just that yesterday’s underground music is today’s popular music is tomorrow’s old people’s music. Though somehow I can’t picture Flava Flav playing Vegas to blue hairs… ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-rap-sales-off-21/394205/13 "2007-03-02T13:19:47Z")
Now I have Starlight Express’s “Light At The End Of The Tunnel” in my head: There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Though the inside might Be as black at the night At the end of the tunnel there’s a light. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-rap-sales-off-21/394205/14 "2007-03-02T13:41:46Z")
I think I’ll wait for a source other than Fox News before I think too hard about this. ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-rap-sales-off-21/394205/15 "2007-03-02T13:55:54Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] Now I have Starlight Express’s “Light At The End Of The Tunnel” in my head: There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Though the inside might Be as black at the night At the end of the tunnel there’s a light. [/QUOTE] Forget Rap, the most heinous crime against music is the Lloyd-Webber “musical”. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-rap-sales-off-21/394205/16 "2007-03-02T14:55:24Z")
[QUOTE=Fiver] I think I’ll wait for a source other than Fox News before I think too hard about this. [/QUOTE] How about [Yahoo News](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070301/ap_en_mu/music_rap_backlash)? Or the [San Diego Union](http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070301/news_1n1rap.html)? It’s a story on the AP wire. FOX just had the easiest link to it. So start thinking. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-rap-sales-off-21/394205/17 "2007-03-02T16:41:37Z")
Not liking “rap” is to me like not liking “rock” or “gospel” or any broad term to describe a wide range of art and artists. There are so many sub catagories out there - Freddy Mercury vs. Ozzie Osborne or Phil Collins or ToTo. All rock and all different. Talib Kwali vs. The Ying Yang Twins or CeeLo (of late part of Gnarls Barkley) or Jay Z. All rap and all different. The Charlie Daniels Band plays different “gospel” than Mary Mary and they don’t sound anything like Petra. I like a lot of rap - I’m 49 and came up with the Motown sound - there are some songs that I don’t like at all but there are excellent writers out there - excellent MCs - they’re just not heard on mainstream radio. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-rap-sales-off-21/394205/18 "2007-03-02T16:47:50Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] How about [Yahoo News](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070301/ap_en_mu/music_rap_backlash)? Or the [San Diego Union](http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070301/news_1n1rap.html)? It’s a story on the AP wire. FOX just had the easiest link to it. So start thinking. [/QUOTE] I don’t care who announced it, the party is one here! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-rap-sales-off-21/394205/19 "2007-03-02T16:49:37Z")
[QUOTE=jali] Not liking “rap” is to me like not liking “rock” or “gospel” or any broad term to describe a wide range of art and artists. [/QUOTE] So? I don’t like country or folk or disco either. I have no problem not liking a wide range of artists. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-rap-sales-off-21/394205/20 "2007-03-02T18:05:49Z")
1964 - The Beatles played the Ed Sullivan show and rock 'n roll was officially here to stay. Grandparents rolled violently in their graves and curmedgeonly white guys over the age of 35 torqued themselves into steaming piles of disgust, predicting the end of society as we know it. Twenty-eight years later it was 1992 and rock and roll was being played at political rallies. There was not a single person left on the planet who felt threatened by it. 1979 - The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” is a mainstream radio hit. _Rap_ and _Hip Hop_ become well known terms. Grandparents rolled violently in their graves and curmedgeonly white guys over the age of 35 torqued themselves into steaming piles of disgust, predicting the end of society as we know it. Twenty-eight years later it’s 2007 and curmudgeonly old white guys still jump on every chance to insult hip-hop, including putting quotations around the word “music” when speaking of it, and thinking of new and clever ways to subtley attack its quality, by saying things such as, “Rap? More like **C** rap!” Conclusion: People hate rap because it’s made by black people. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-rap-sales-off-21/394205.md?page=2)