RAPPERS MAKING COMEBACKS.

A lot of rappers are trying to make comebacks into the music industry, but the two that readily come to my mind, are DMX and JARULE. Back in the late 90's, this two were selling millions. Even with the beef they had, they still managed to sell millions, individually, without affecting each others fan base with the verbal assaults they shot at each other. And then, all of a sudden, the gradual decline in the sales of their albums started to bother me, and also their record labels. And when you are on a downward turn like that, labels tend to pay less attention to marketing your project, and this makes the case worse. Ja and X went from platinum selling rappers to not even able to go GOLD (500,000 COPIES) rappers.

It was such a shame when they stopped selling, and had to go underground, but i am happy to hear that the two artist have squashed their beef, and they are trying to make a comeback. SWIZZ BEATS said he guarantees that X is back on his grind, and working effortlessly, passionately in the studio. I am happy for that, cos x had not been sober for a while now. He started doing drugs, and almost lost it. I can remember he went to jail for impersonating a federal agent or something like that, and there was a time he stole a car. Why would he want to do stuff like that if he was normal.I am happy to hear the old x is back.

On ja, i think he also has a chance, cos i think he really loves the rap game and wants to come back. I wish him all the best, and i wonder what formula he plans to use. The rap game has changed, and even his old formula was washed up before he left the game. And i think he has to let the 50 cent beef die, and just do his thing. He should just try and focus on making good music. I heard him on the remix of MAFIA MUSIC, and he spat some venom at 50, i think he should channel that energy into making some real good music (beef free).

A couple of other artist have tried coming back, and some have been successful, depending on how you see success, cos it is a relative term. REDMAN and METHODMAN made a comeback collabo after their 99 BLACKOUT album,earlier this year, and they did okay. They debuted at the top 10 on the billboard top 200, and people seemed to love the album. The album's total sales was well over 200k copies, even though it didn't go gold, it was okay for the weak promotion the album got, and also the fact they had not dropped anything as a duo in the last 10 years.

But not every rapper has been lucky with comebacks. COOL G RAP, the rap veteran of the late 80's and early 90's, dropped a comeback album about 2 years ago, and he sold just 900 copies in the first week in stores. I didn't say 900k, i mean 900, not even up to 1000 copies. He had to do an interview on HIPHOPDX.COM, to try and re-establish himself in the eyes of the youths. Trying to tell them who he was back in the days. Although he is your favorite rappers favorite rapper, it does not mean he can give new bread of rap listeners what they consider good rap.

And there are rappers that seemed to have been around for years, through all the era's, and are still doing okay. I think it is easier to have a good selling album, if you have not really gone anywhere through the years, even if you have not infused any of the modern day gimmicks into your music, at least, your name would not be strange to the market. The likes of Nas, Jay-Z, Jadakiss, Busta Rhymes, Styles P, Ghostface killa, LL COOL J...have been in the rap game for more than 14 years now, and can still make an album that people can recognize with.

I don't know if it would work, i mean the rappers trying to make comebacks, and i don't know if that is the best idea for them, or maybe it would be best to just venture into some form of business other than rap, so that what people remember of them as classic would remain like that. I say that because of a rapper like RAKIM, who was the Nas of the 80's, facing his peers like KRS 1, COOL G RAP, and BIG DADDY KANE. I respect his legacy, and a lot of people see him as the god of rap, but if he drops an album, and people consider it wack because of the bad sales it would do, then that would be a stain on his name. Of cos, we all know that Ra would always be a lyrical beast, but that is not what the generation of youngsters that listen to rap now want to listen to. They have their DRAKE, KID CUDI, CHARLES HAMILTON, KANYE WEST, LIL WAYNE...and so on.

It would be great for the old rap listeners, but the rappers themselves should not think they can compete with all the present chart toppers.