With the story of Memphis Rap understood. Many people such as myself. Questioned as to why the unique sound of Memphis Rap ever went away. It seemed like such a short yet prosperous period considering that there were over 300 different tapes released from 1993-1998 alone. Yet many of these artists like Shawty Pimp, Lil Grimm and DJ Sound seemingly disappeared after about 1998. This left many of us fans searching for a reason why the majority of these legendary artists would seemingly disappear.
Well the answer is much more simple than how the scene started. Towards the mid-late 1990s the Southern rap scene was not only growing rapidly but also developing. Around 1996, Hip-Hop mogul and multi-millionaire Master P. Took note from Memphis artists. Regarding the frequency in which they drop their albums & applied such consistency with his label, No Limit Records, based out of New Orleans, LA. No Limit quickly became a powerhouse in the industry. Releasing 23 albums in 1998, which sold a combined 15 million. Not to mention, Cash Money Records with Juvenile and a young Lil Wayne were not too far behind.
Once the money started rolling in for southern rappers. The major record labels would immediately flock to the emerging Southern market with hopes of finding untapped talent. They would now sign Memphis rappers to deals and effectively end their underground releases. Once the major labels found out about the underground Memphis scene they wanted in. Once under a label, artists are generally controlled and managed. Meaning they obviously can’t drop their albums the same way they did in the underground. Local artists would begin to chase the popular sound as rap evolved and the money arrived for both Atlanta and New Orleans artists.
The major killer for Memphis however was ultimately the year 1999, when Atlanta had officially surpassed Memphis in the Rap industry. At this time, Ludacris and Lil Jon had just both just came out with their debut Crunk albums. A term that had been used in both Atlanta & Memphis until it was given to Atlanta as their official sound. On top of that T.I. had now just signed a major deal with Arista. As well as, Goodie Mob being more relevant than ever. And of course Outkast, who were now considered a household name and were bigger than Eightball & MJG. The only 3 major artists from Memphis who were known outside of the south at this point (from my perspective) were Eightball & MJG, Three 6 Mafia, and Tela.
What that meant for 2000’s Memphis was effectively an entire decade of chasing the popular sound. As much as I loved underground artists like DJ Squeeky. It became apparent around 2000. That the mainstream was now the objective for most rappers. That’s not to say that there still wasn’t good music being made in Memphis. Playa Fly, Kingpin Skinny Pimp, and MC Mack continued to make good music after this and many years subsequently. However by the year 2004 came around all the originality that Memphis Rap once had from the 90’s was now nowhere to be found. Artists may still make good music but now it sounded like anything else coming from the South at that period. Many rappers such as La Chat for example seemed like they had to dumb-down their unique voice and talent in the mid 2000s to try and appeal to a new audience.
Change in a region or music genre, especially Hip-Hop is obviously unpreventable and natural. Memphis Rap at it’s peak from 1993-1998 was extremely unique and region-specific. There will be nothing in Hip-Hop which can match it’s originality. From the beats, rapping, sampling or even the physical distribution. And of course the famed white-paper label forever associated with 90s Memphis Rap.
