List of 6 Solo Rappers Who Went Platinum 10 Years After their Debuts

It is not easy to have a long lasting career in the Hip Hop music scene. I have heard people say that most rappers have a 5 year life span. So I always respect rappers who have been able to stay relevant on the scene for ten years and more; for you to be able to sell platinum (more than a million copies of your album) ten years after your debut says a lot about the quality of music you make.

T.I Gives Advise on Longevity in Hip Hop

Asides from the times spent in prison around the late 2000s/early 2010s, T.I has been consistently on the Hip Hop scene since he dropped his single, Rubber Band Man. That song was from his second album, Trap Muzik in 2003, and 11 years later, he is still a problem in Hip Hop. So, during his latest interview on Power 105.1 FM's The Breakfast Club interview, he was asked how he has managed to stay in the game for so long. And he answered with...



"I think that...most times men! Most celebrities and artiste come and go men. AlL the time men. They really think that it's about THEM. You know what I mean? They think that 'Oh yea, people just love...like ME. It's about ME.' It really is about what you...what you do. The service that you can provide. It's just like men! How much would you appreciate your dentist if he fucked up your teeth? (laughs). You know what I'm saying. How much would you appreciate your mechanic if he didn't fix your car? You know what I'm saying. As long as the service that you provide is that of a stellar quality, and above...above standards, then you gonna appreciate the person, and hold him in high regard. When that service begins to diminish, then you not gonna hold that person in high regard no more. And that's why you see people come and go so fast cos when they get that, they forget that it is about the quality of...of what they can present. The quality of the...the...the. You know, the work that they can provide to the people. And when they stop providing that quality of work, they feel they don't have to. They feel they too big. They feel...you know, entitled. And then that's when they disappear."




That right there is a crash course in Image Branding, and Marketing 101 all rolled up in one. This principles applies in all works of life. 

Why Do Rappers Have Expiry Dates

"Out with the old, in with the new." That's the mentality common with most hip hop listeners. For the last 5 years or so, people online have been making a fuss about Jay Z's age, and that he shouldn't be rapping at age 40. But of cos, he keeps selling millions every time he comes around with a new album. Why do rappers have an expiry date in the eyes of their audience? Why do musicians in other genre's of music like R&B and Rock keep making music late in their 50s and 60s, and yet, once a rapper reaches 40, the public believe he should hang it up?





First of all, you have to look at what Hip Hop is all about. Let's just focus on one of the elements of Hip Hop, which is rap. Rap music was birthed in the 70s amongst African Americans as a way of expressing themselves, and speaking about what they go through in the society, and just generally what the individual rapper goes through in his every day life. In the 80s, rap was more politically inclined than it is right now. You had the Public Enemy's, the Run-D.M.C's and the KRS1's speaking about society ills, and the black community, and using their music to educate the youths on the right part to take. Then in the 90s, the whole gangster rap genre took over the scene. It has extended to date, although it has many forms now, that element of the streets and having street credibility is still very evident in popular rap music of today. Whether it is Rick Ross doing the whole Mafioso Rap, or Kendrick Lamar narrating how a good kid made it through the mad city of Compton, there is still that element of celebrating the bad side of the black community...milking the negative side of the black community







As i said, there are variations of gangster rap music in hip hop. You still have new rappers like Chief Keef celebrating that life, and using that to get to stardom. Or you have rappers like Raekwon and Ghostface Killa rapping about their old coke stories. You also have the ones that brag about their money; about how they made it selling drugs, and now they are clean, and making money from their new hustle, which is music. There is still that bragging element in there...that character you can witness in a teenager or someone in his early 20s. Now, tell me why wont this rappers run out of content? Why wont rappers have expiry date when they keep talking about the same thing they were talking about in their teens, and they are in their late 30s and early 40s now?







This is the problem with Rap music. I think it is only Jay-Z that has been able to get away with this. I mean, he is wise enough to make good songs with good production, even though he is saying basically the same thing he has been saying the last two decades. He has been able to re-invent himself in a way that he kept his old fans, and got newer fans. But a lot of rappers have expired along the way. You can't compare other genre's of music which have issues like love, politics, world peace and the likes in their music, with a genre of music which is homophobic, and believes someone has to be a tough person in the streets for him to be considered a good rapper. That is not art. Art has nothing to do with street credibility or how much money you got. This is the problem with some rappers that have expired in the last couple of years. And that will also be the problem with a lot of current rappers who have that thug life mentality. It is only a matter of time before the audience start looking for the newer face on the scene.








Out of all the rappers that blew up in the early to mid 90s, I think it's only Jay Z, Nas and Snoop Dogg that are still relevant in today's Hip Hop scene. Snoop Dogg had to change and reinvent himself many times, but he is still around. Nas, just off the fact that he pays attention to deep lyrics and creative song concepts, and not just making the same type of music over and over again. Jay Z is a great business man, and he will always find a way to stay relevant; whether it is by jumping on one or two tracks from the hottest rappers at the moment, or making some huge moves outside music, that would keep people interested in his music and everything about him. This is not taking anything away from Jay Z's skills on the mic, he is a very skilled rapper, and one of the best to ever to ever do it; but it is not really the skills that sell him right now, it is the Jay Z brand that is selling.







So, in conclusion, who and who do I see in the current state of Hip Hop that would be around for a long time? The first person I would mention is Drake. Hate him or love him, Drake is going to be around for a very long time. Apart from being a good rapper, he can make good songs and he puts his emotions into his music. Point to note, he makes great "music", and not just rapping three "16" bar verses on a song every time. That is the problem with most rappers. They keep making the same type of songs, and talking about the same thing over and over and over. How do you expect to keep selling off that alone? You got to be creative. I am not saying every rapper has to sing on his song like drake, but there are a lot of ways to be creative and re-invent one's self but still stay true to what you are about. The problem right now is that there are a lot of very skilled rappers that can rap their asses off, but can't make a song to save their life.

Kendrick Lamar will be around for a long while too...off the fact that he is passionate about Hip Hop, he is not talking about what he is not, he is a good creative story teller, and also off his crazy delivery and wordplay. J.Cole will also be around for a while, because of the same reasons as Kendrick (maybe minus the crazy delivery). I think those are the three I can think of right now from this generation of rappers that will be here for a long time. Every other rapper that is hot right now, that is depending on street credibility or money and all that shit will be old news very soon. I think Hip Hop has to transcend all that celebration of the negativity in the black community. That is happening gradually, but the funny thing is that, most hip hop listeners want things to stay the same.

10 Studio Albums Long...That's The Definition of Longevity

I think any rapper that can be around long enough to drop 10 studio albums should definitely be recognised, and that's what inspired me to write this article. Rappers come and go, and since I started giving all my attention to Hip Hop in 1995, I have seen a lot of rappers come and go. In fact, the bigger they are, the harder they fall...Nelly, 50 Cent just to mention a few. I ain't saying this to diss this rappers, I am just pointing out something I noticed. I guess it's only a rapper like Eminem that be using i know who have experienced granduous success, and still remains relevant 10 years after he came in the game. Most of the rappers I am going to be listing that have had longevity in the game, never sold over the top with their albums. They all sold moderately, and stayed consistent with it. Maybe they sold a little more than they used to at some point, but they levelled back to their normal range, and stayed that way.



KRS 1, Jay-Z, Nas, Snoop Dogg & LL Cool J are rappers that have released 10 albums and more in the music industry. You have to give it to them. Even though Snoop hasn't been too commercially successful with his actual albums of recent, his singles still are relevant to today's hip hop listeners; you have to give it to the man. He dropped his first album, Doggystyle in 1993, and he recently dropped his 11th album, Doggumentary last year, .



KRS 1 has released 10 solo albums...or 16, if you count from when he was with BDP (Boogie Down Production). Criminal Minded with BDP was released in 1987, but his own first solo album, Return of the Boom Bap was released in 1993. Although a lot of new hip hop listeners might not know his works, he was one of the few rappers that laid a solid foundation for hip hop through the late 80s. His style was more of the conscious rap, and a lot of people don't want to hear the truth, so that explains why he is not too popular with today's hip hop audience. He still dropped an album 2 years ago- Back to the L.A.B.




Jay-Z is a phenomenon if you would ask me. When it comes to be consistent, I would have to place him high up there. He dropped his first album in 1996 (Reasonable Doubt), and dropped albums every year after that for 8 years straight, till he retired in 2003. Although the first two albums didn't go platinum when released, the success of his third album (Hard Knock Life- Vol.2, which sold 5 million copies) in 1998 made people go out and get the earlier albums; that's what i call grinding hard. And since then, all his albums have either sold platinum, or double platinum. All his 11 albums are Platinum certified. In case you don't know, an album being platinum certified means it has sold in excess of a million copies. And being Gold certified means selling over 500,000 copies.




Nas released his first album in 1994: Illmatic is considered the best hip hop album ever by some, but the album did poorly with sales. His second album, It Was Written (1996) had a more commercial feel to it, even though Nas still keep it lyrical. I say till this day, that if Steve Stoute hadn't found Nas in his housing projects in 1995, and schooled him on how to make hits, without straying away from his message, we probably wouldn't have known Nas as we know him today. It Was Written went on to be his highest selling album till date; selling over 2.5 million copies in the U.S alone. Illmatic finally went plat after the success of his 5th album, Stillmatic (2001). Altogether, he has 10 albums; 8 are certified Plat, one is Gold, and his 10th album recently dropped.




I don't think any other rapper stayed in mainstream hip hop for as long as LL Cool J did during his career. He dropped his first album, Radio in 1985 when he was just 17, and stayed relevant through the next two decades. He dropped his last album, Exit 13 (2008), 4 years ago...that's 23 years after his first album dropped. Now, that's what i call longevity. He dropped 12 studio albums altogether. The only two rappers that are on the way to beat that are Jay-Z and Nas. Jay is still dropping albums, and he has been in the game for 16 years. Nas just dropped his 10th album this year, which is 18 years after his debut dropped. Oh yea, i forgot Snoop; he dropped his first album 19 years ago, and is currently working on a new album. But the problem is that since he changed his name to Snoop Lion after going to Jamaica, i am not sure he is going to continue rapping. He might decide to start singing.





So, there you have it Ladies and Gentlemen; The Definition of Longevity. I think all these rappers need a round of applause. And yea, you need to go and check out their catalogues. If you want to start with KRS 1, i would advise you start with his albums with BDP back in the 80s...very informative pieces. I would say you get his 1989 album with BDP- Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop. With Jay-Z, get Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint (2001). With Snoop, go get that Doggystyle (1993) album; that's snoop at his finest. And you can go back to 1992 and get Dr Dre's The Chronic...Snoop is all over that album. As for Nas, get his first album (Illmatic), and Stillmatic album. With LL, go get his his Mama Said Knock You Out (1990) album, and Mr. Smith (1995) album.

Secrets To Longevity In Rap

I was just listening to the radio today and i heard an old Petey Pablo song, and remembered when he was really hot. He wasn't that big, but at a time, he was the hottest rapper out. A lot of rappers have come and gone in the last two decades in the rap game, and i would like to write on what and what i consider the secrets to longevity in the rap game. A lot of qualities get rappers noticed, and that might blow them up if they have the right marketing tool behind them, but it doesn't guarantee that they would be around for more than 4 years. I think 3 to 4 years is how long it takes the masses to get tired of a style or gimmick, and jump on the new band wagon.



A rapper like Chingy wasn't even around for up to 4 years. He blew up with his "Right Thurr" single in 2003, and then believed he could do it on his own, and ditched Ludacris and his Disturbing The Peace label...by 2006 no one really believed he was once as hot as he was in 2003. And he is not the only example...there are a lot of other rappers that have come and gone. As much as i like MIMS, he is also in that category. He was hot with his This Is Why I'm Hot single in 2007, but by 2010, he wasn't on anybody's top 10 or top 50 list of hot rappers.



The rap game is just like any other industry...to be successful in life and stay successful, there are some rules to follow. Number one is to be creative. Nothings kills creativity like competition. I'm sure you are wondering if i typed that well. But, it is true.Nothing kills creativity like competition. When you feel you have to compete with someone to be the best, then you would unconsciously be trying to make a better version of what people already consider success. In essence, you would be copying without knowing it. That can get you a hot song...or make you hot for a year, but it would never keep you in the game. You have to have confidence in yourself and believe that the world would appreciate your own form of creativity. That is, you have to do the the best of your ability. Like him or not, lil wayne did his thing for over a decade before the world noticed him, and he is now reaping his fruits. It was like he waited till the table turned and the part with all the food got to him.



If you look at rappers that have been in the game for more than 15 years, you know that they have this above quality. think of any rapper in the game right now that has been here since the mid 90s and you would notice he is someone that is comfortable in his skin...Busta Rhymes dropped his debut album in 1996, he is still around...Jay-Z dropped his debut in 1996, and he is still doing his thing...Raekwon dropped his debut in 1995, and he is still dropping albums that are critically acclaimed till this day...Nas dropped his debut in 1994, and he is still considered the best...Jadakiss and his L.O.X crew dropped their debut in 1998,and they are still respected, and being called to feature on songs every now and then. And, you can think of any other rapper in the game right now that has longevity, and check my claims.



Apart from being original and being creative, you also have to change with the time but still be yourself. Even someone like Nas who is praised for staying true to hip hop has never stayed the same. You can't compare his style/flow on Illmatic (94), with his 1999 albums. He said it himself- "i kept changing on the world since barbecue"...in case you don't understand that reference, the first song he had a verse on was the Main Source's 1991 Live at The Barbecue track. Nas doesn't have time for gimmicks, but it doesn't mean he doesn't switch up his flow, or change subject on every album. He always has something new to talk about in a different way not to bore you, but he always remains Nas.



The same way you might see Jay-Z doing songs with a Drake or a Kid Cudi, but he still stays true to his roots and what his fans fell in love with him for. Busta Rhymes might do a song with Chris Brown and Lil Wayne, but he is not trying to sound like Wayne...No! He is showing them why he is who he is, and killing them on the track. And the problem a lot of the rappers that have been getting in the game since the mid 00s is that they have little belief in themselves. They look up to an old rapper, and fashion their style to his, and hope to blow to stardom that way. Some of them do blow up, but don't stay too long on the scene.



The last secret to longevity in the rap game is to build a team...build a team around you of other capable rappers, before or after you blow up. It gives you a longer life in the game. I think Jay-Z is the master at this...but Cash Money have taken this to another level right now. I think they own 2012. They have built a team so strong that other teams like Rick Ross's MMG are aligning with them. They have Drake, Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes, Nicki Minaj, Mystikal, Bow Wow, T-Pain, Cory Guns...But, to go back to Jay-Z being a master at this. Just go down his memory lane. He came in the game off the popularity he got from having a track with Foxy Brown in 1996, and also having tracks and affiliations with Biggie. These two rappers were pretty hot at the time. And after Jay got his own fame to a level in 1998, he started building a team of rappers...Memphis Bleek, beanie Sigel, Amil, Young Gunz, Freeway...and the every other rapper that was ever signed to the Roca Fella team.




When rap started changing in the mid 00s, he reduced his association with the rappers that didn't want to change with time, and rappers that didn't understand his financial vision. And he started building a new team. Today, he has a new team, but the most prominent partner he has right now is Kanye West. Ofcos, a lot of people will disagree with me, but Kanye is the major reason why Jay can still sell as much as he does in this new era. And if you listen well to the Watch The Throne album, you would have to agree with me that Kanye out-performed Jay on most of the tracks on the album. I am not saying Jay can't make it without Kanye. Jay-Z will always be Jay-Z, Kanye is just a very helpful team member for him right now.




I see some of this new rappers building along this lines, but most of them are still in the box. I think you can use the principles i have mentioned in this post and march it against any rapper i didn't mention and see how it goes. I think the only rapper that didn't work with a team and has had longevity would have to be Nas. Of cos he had a team when he started off. But for the last 12 years or so, he has been on his own. But he is very original and creative. So, he might stay longer in the game than the rappers just getting in right now.