Dear Hip-Hop Collectives
via Billboard.com
Another "Jay" has been added to the Roc Nation roster. It was announced yesterday (Nov. 12) that New Orleans rapper Jay Electronica signed with Jay-Z's personal imprint, joining acts J. Cole and Willow Smith at the recently formed label. And to celebrate, Jay-Z threw a lavish party at New York club The Box that neither Jay E, nor anyone else in attendance, would soon forget.I'm going to go out on a limb in saying this, but it's always been true: Hip-hop is a team sport. From it's inception, rappers have been getting down with crews as a way to not only gain an opportunity in hip-hop, but for a chance to stay relevant and rake in that cash. Crews like the The Sugar Hill Gang, The Furious Five, Juice Crew, Run DMC and N.W.A. and others began the trend of group dominance, but it wasn't until the mid-90s, when hip-hop started becoming corporate, that rappers began finding strength in numbers.
The event -- which kicked off at about 10:15pm and drew head-turning guests like Beyonce and Omarion -- was a three-ring circus that included sexy burlesque dancers, an aerial gymnast, a Russian hula-hoop master and a girl whose "talent" was having men shoot arrows at balloons that were strategically positioned over her privates. But despite all the eye candy, the Jays still managed to steal the show.
Jay-Z, decked out in a sharp black suit, took the stage and told his guests about his "goal to reintroduce magic back into hip-hop, the love, the wizardry." With that, Jay introduced "Mr. Jay Electronica, the official Roc Nation signee" to the thunderous applause of the audience.
Groups like Death Row, Bad Boy, the Wu-Tang Clan, and Leaders of the New School, based around record labels, showed that a good team could dominate the airwaves better than any one person. Posse cuts were rampant, with tracks like 'Bring Da Ruckus' and'Scenario' giving listeners a maelstrom of flows, lyrics and ideas from different rappers to sink their ears into. The Bad Boy Family, with its huge stable of artists like Biggie, The LOX, Faith Evans, Ma$e, Criag Mack, 112 and others made it so that if you weren't down with a specific team, you weren't getting any play. Towards the end of the 90's teams like Ruff Ryders solidified that tenet, going platinum on behalf of Yonkers. Even the early 2000s saw teams thrive, with the Diplomats, Cash Money and G-Unit dominating the re-emerging mixtape circuit.
Enter 2010, and we are having another resurgence of groups. The middle of this past decade was lukewarm in terms of hip-hop's reach, and for good reason. Headliners were the name of the game, as solo artists looked to regain some of the posture that being in groups had taken away. Ironically, a handful of those solo artists are nowhere to be found, while groups are coming back. Take a look at the most popular songs of the past year or so. $50 says that they came from a Roc-a-fella, Cash Money/Young Money, GOOD Music, 1017 Brick Squad or Slaughterhouse Artist.
Lil' Wayne started it. By signing Nicki Minaj, Drake and a host of other up-and-comers, it made the market a little bit harder to break into. The Young Money label has thrived ever since. Even if their group releases have been sub-par, the solo releases under that imprint have come out to tremendous publicity and accolade. The same can be said about Kanye West's GOOD Music imprint. Before the summer was over, most people couldn't name an artist on that team besides Ye, Common and Big Sean. A few months later, with the signings of Pusha T and Cyhi the Prynce, Ye has put together a formidable starting 5. Even Ye's big homie Jay-Z has taken part in hip-hop's arms race, signing J. Cole, Wale and now Jay Electronica. Today, success in hip-hop is just as much about who you're rapping with as it is what you're rapping about. By being part of a team, you give yourself more access to resources such as producers, studios, features and better promotion. Just ask artists who are unaffiliated how many units they honestly see themselves pushing and it will become clear.
This team-building in hip-hop doesn't come without it's caveats. First of all, it's evident that among these teams, there is always a star player. For Young Money it's Wayne, for GOOD Music it's Kanye and for Roc Nation it is Jay-Z. These designations open the group up to a power struggle, especially when the student can be, or is, better than the teacher. When it comes to label dynamics, no matter how talented one is, the bigger name always gets the press. J. Cole, Wale and Jay Electronica, while they will get a good deal of the spotlight, will always be under Jay-Z. Drake and Nicki Minaj will always be Lil' Wayne's younger siblings (ironic, considering his status and Baby's 'son'). Pusha T will now be considered Kanye's protege, even if he's been in the game longer. What happens if the subordinates are unhappy with that position, a la Juelz Santana circa 2006? Will it be a situation where their musical career is siphoned off to the highest bidder, or will they just have to find their own way out from Big Brother's watch?
The hip-hop arms race is clearly a result of labels being hesitant to take chances on one person. Artists are quick to latch on to a 'movement' in the hopes that it will take them to another level of success. The problem is, how to balance one's individual aspiration with the success of the team. Every team in hip-hop history has broken up because of egos and money, and nothing more. How do artists know whether they are in it for the right reasons? Better yet, if they aren't, how can they work together? Busta Rhymes, Ice Cube, Young Buck and Beanie Sigel are all examples of artists who were excommunicated because their wishes outreached that of the group. Will the groups of today be destined for that same fate?
My final concern with you, oh great hip-hop collective is whether this era of collaboration will last. As much as I have my questions, there is no question as to whether hip-hop music has thrived because of it. One look at the success of Kanye's GOOD Fridays is enough proof. Ye brought together artist upon artist upon artist to make some of the biggest records of the past year. Will that be the formula for success in the near future? Whatever the case, it seems like the hip-hop collective is back and will be for a while. As commemoration for the hip-hop collectives of the past, check out some of my favorite posse cuts in hip-hop history (not in chronological order):
