People That Listen To Real Hip Hop Don't Buy CDs

Yes, that's a sad fact. People that listen to real hip hop don't buy CDs, they just illegally download them on the Internet, even before the album drops. And I must confess, I am also guilty of this. I remember when Nas's Life Is Good dropped last year, I was eagerly waiting for information on how much it would sell in it's first week. I ended up being a bit disappointed cos it sold 140k first week, and I believed it would sell at least 200k first week. After being bitter for a while, I thought for a second...I am a fan, and I illegally downloaded the album, and I am sure about a million other Nas fans did the same thing. Think about that; Who is then meant to make it go plat when all the fans are illegally downloading the material?






I think I can give myself a little excuse for this. I leave in Nigeria, and there are not many stores that stock
CDs.And the few that stock CDs get them late. The market for bootleg CDs in Nigeria is incredible; more than three quarters of the population buy bootleg CDs. Okay, enough about Nigeria. In most cities in America, you have big stores in strategic locations where these CDs are stocked, and yet fans don't support the artists...they would rather download it illegally, and bitch about the sales when it tanks. Why is this so? Why can't we go out and support these rappers that are putting in so much work to make this real rap albums?

Rappers like Talib Kweli, Ghostface Killa, Mos Def, Saigon, Styles P, Sheek Louch sell under 50,000 copies total with their albums, but I am pretty sure they have more than 50k fans. It's just that their fans don't pay for their music, they illegally download them. Then those people that Illegally download music will be all day on the blogs and on twitter bitching about Macklemore & Ryan Lewis moving massive units. It is simple, Macklemore's fans go out and buy his music, that's why he does so well. If you love the music your favourite rapper makes, then go out and support him...by his CDs.





It's great that it's a little better now; rappers like Kendrick Lamar and J.Cole have been able to appeal to the masses with their music, without losing their identity, and that has translated to commercial album sales for the two. Kendrick's "Good Kid, M.A.D City" is just about 40k short of hitting the one million mark, and J.Cole's Born Sinner is at a three week total of 440k copies sold right now. Things can only get better from here on. I hope.