Hip Hop is under fire and the music execs don’t like it. Hip Hop CD sales continue to tank as it faces sever criticism of sexicism and depraved lyrics. Top music executives planned a private meeting on the future of hip hop but the meeting was canceled and the music gatekeepers have been silent.

Execs are scared to death of censorship as it could severely damage sales in the already plummeting hip hop world that is facing a backlash from consumers. Plus, CD sales are being gobbled up by digital downloads. This is the PERFECT STORM.

“They want this whole thing to go away and keep doing what they’ve been doing, which is selling records,” said Don Gorder, chair of the Music Business/Management Department at the Berklee College of Music.

Although many music execs are silent others are listening to consumers and taking action:
Ebony magazine pulled the rapper Ludacris from its June cover. Verizon dropped Akon after the underage sex scandal. Hip hop magazine ‘The Source’ has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Warner Music Group vice president Kevin Lilies appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s show and acknowledged “there’s a problem.”

Still, most music executives have turned down requests to openly discuss the future of hip hop and its depraved content. Sony, chairman Andrew Lack and chief executive Rolph Schmidt-Holtz have turned down all requests for interviews. Eric Nicoli, head of EMI declined to talk about the matter.

The absolute truth is that ‘Executives’ bonuses are tied to sales and they don’t want to destroy this market. Unfortunately denial doesn’t change reality.

The bottom line is that the population got bored with hip hop/rap and have moved onto something else.