HOUSTON, March 18 (UPI) -- Houston rapper Rob G has joined the increasing ranks of disheartened hip-hop fans who are calling for the music genre to regain its once impressive form.
The rapper, whose major-label debut album is due out later this year, told the Houston Chronicle that such criticism of hip-hop is rooted in the fact that the genre has become increasingly "commercialized."
"The artists are losing their essence," he said of the current music landscape.
"In the past, we used to sell the rapper, not the song."
The comments by "The State of the Streets" rapper echo claims made by several popular rappers as of late, including his fellow Houston native Chamillionaire, the newspaper said.
The Grammy-winning musician previously detailed the fall of hip-hop in an underground album.
"Remember when you used to be able to go 4 or 5 million sold? Now, everybody having trouble to go gold, man," he said on the mixtape. "But I can't blame no artist.
I blame corporate America for the downfall of rap."
Whatever the case, the Chronicle said that currently the top spots of U.S.
charts are being monopolized by tender ballads rather than hip-hop tracks.
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