Jay Z and 50 Cent Killed New York Hip Hop

Everybody know the Mecca of hip hop is New York, but East Coast rap has been on the low lately. The East don't have the hold on Hip Hop like they once did in the 90's and early 2000's. People have given many reasons for this, but personally I believe Jay Z and 50 Cent killed New York rap...they killed East Coast rap. It is now so bad that you have east coast rappers like A$AP Rocky & French Montana sounding southern.

So what happened? Around 2001, Jay Z orchestrated the first assassination of some of the most lyrically respected rappers on the East Coast. Some survived and others lost their status afterwards. Of course competition is sometimes good for Hip Hop, but Jay Z made it all about money and record sales...rapping- 'I sold what your whole album sold in my first week.' He was speaking to Mobb Deep with that line. He also had the line- 'I got money stacks bigger than you' aimed at them. The same track also has a whole verse aimed at assassinating Nas's character. As he was one of the most successful rappers at the time, Jay had a big influence in Hip Hop, and made most of his New York peers less relevant. He also succeeded in making album sales the benchmark for what is considered a dope rap album. At the time, he and his whole camp were going at The L.O.X (Styles P, Jadakiss & Sheek Louch). He also had a cold war with Fat Joe at the time. In fact, Jay went at New York rappers to eliminate all competition, but succeeded in making New York Hip Hop lose its relevance.






Fast-forward 2 years, 50 Cent came on the scene to end what Jay Z started. He first made sure he used all the resources in his power to make the world hate Ja Rule and Murder Inc, which was a New York movement. Then he went ahead to try and assassinate every New York rapper's career. He went at Jadakiss (and the whole L.O.X), Nas, Fat Joe, Camron, and even Jay Z. 50 Cent's favourite book is The 48 Laws Of Power (by Robert Greene), so it is evident he wanted that power all for himself. He had beef with Camron, and in order to completely destroy him, he used the divide and conquer strategy. He dangled carrots in-front of Cam's Dipset soldiers, Jim Jones and Juelz Santana, and made them betray their boss. After 50 had destroyed Murder Inc, on the music tip and in the streets, he also made enemies with any rappers that associated with Ja Rule (Fat Joe and Jadakiss...because they made a New York unity song with Ja). He made those guys his enemies, and also anyone that were associated with them.




50 Cent was selling Diamond (10 times platinum) at the time, and had the industry in his palm. He went as far as asking Jimmy Iovine to push back Styles P's album release or he would leave Interscope. He turned Remy Ma against Fat Joe. He made Hip Hop listeners believe album sales was everything, and made all the New York rappers that weren't selling as much as him lose relevance and respect. And as all this was going on, a united south kept putting out dozens of music, and slowly took over the scene.