If you’re like me you’ve had 101 arguments about hip hop with 1001 different people. Arguments are inevitable once questions like “Who’d be the best rapper if B.I.G. were still here?” and “What the heck was Nas thinking with Nastrodamus?” come up.

Undoubtedly, the most pervasive question in Hip Hop, the one that has been around since its earliest days, is: what is the difference between “mainstream” and “underground” rap music?

Of course, these are two terms that every rap fan has in their vocabulary; but I’d bet you a value-meal that most people don’t have a solid understanding of what the terms mean, much less the difference between them. Most casual hip hop fans would probably say something like the following:

Mainstream rap music sells; underground rap music doesn’t.

Seems plausible. Certainly, mainstream artists like those on the cover of XXL and Ozone Magazine sell more units than the “underground” artists that line their pages, right?

Not so fast.

Using that definition, it would be difficult to classify artists like Lupe Fiasco, whose “underground” career bears a strong resemblance to his post Food & Liquor “mainstream” career. And how about Talib Kweli, Pete Rock, and the long list of artists who have had sales success; yet never come close to mainstream acceptance?

It seems then, that there is more to the mainstream/underground distinction than just dollars. Perhaps being “mainstream” has to do with one’s message. After all, there is the Common misconception (pun-intended) that underground artists “keep it real” and refuse to sell-out. Somehow, underground artists tend to be perceived generally as deeper, more skilled and more authentic than rappers on TRL. Even artists themselves sometimes espouse this idea, as does Jay-Z on The Black Album:

"If skills sold, truth be told, I’d probably be, lyrically Talib Kweli. Truthfully, I wanna rhyme like Common Sense (but I did 5 mil); I ain’t been rhymin' like Common since." - "Moment of Clarity"

But this, too is an over-simplification. There are plenty of examples of brilliant albums (and artists) that are as mainstream as it gets; and just as many examples of underground rap music that is just plain trash.

What is needed, then, is a more precise measure of what constitutes “mainstream”. So, I decided to ask the question: just how mainstream is mainstream Hip Hop?

To answer it, I chose two major indicators of mainstream American culture: 1) celebrity rankings, and 2) Nielsen Soundscan figures.

Celebrity Ranking

We live in a society where Jamie Lynn Spears, Anna Nicole Smith, David Beckham and Kim Kardashian are more recognizable names than Ben Bernanke, Julian Bond, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and Ted Turner. Celebrities dominate more than the nightly news; they dominate our national conciousness.

Therefore, one indicator of just how mainstream Hip Hop is is a look at how celebrities from the world of Hip Hop compare to other celebrities in terms of popularity. Recently the folks at MSN (the folks that bring you Windows Live) created a celebrity ranking system that works by comparing the number of online searches for Hollywood figures, radio personalities, fashionista, athletes, politicians, and the like. Users can then view rankings that show each celebrity’s popularity status relative to other celebrities.

The results may surprise you.

As of this writing:

• Britney Spears is ranked #1.
• Only one rapper (Lil Wayne, #9) made the Top 10.
• Akon (#17) is more popular than Oprah Winfrey (#30).
• Michael Jackson is one spot above Janet Jackson (#49 & #50 respectively)

Overall, within the top 100 there are 20 celebrities associated with Hip Hop and/or R&B (including Vida Guerra but excluding Kid Rock). That means that only approximately 20% of society’s star power is attributable to Hip Hop.

Nielsen Soundscan

Nielsen Soundscan is an information system that tracks sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada. Sales data from point-of-sale cash registers is collected weekly from over 14,000 retail, mass merchant and non-traditional (on-line stores, venues, etc) outlets. Weekly data is compiled and made available every Wednesday. Nielsen Soundscan clients include all major and most independent record companies, distribution companies, artist managers, booking agents, concert promoters, venue owners, traditional retailers, online retailers and digital delivery companies. Soundscan began tracking sales data for Billboard on March 1, 1991. MTV, Vh1, CMT and all major media regularly use Nielsen Soundscan data as well.

According to the Recording Industry of America (RIAA), the list of the Top Ten best selling albums since 1991 does not include a single Hip Hop release. Its list of top selling artists has 15 artists ahead of Mariah Carey (at 61.5 million copies sold). Tupac Shakur is the first pure Hip Hop entry, at #43 with 36.5 million copies sold, followed by R. Kelly at #48 with 33 million. Eminem is #69 with 27 million, Jay-Z is #75 with 26 million, and the Beastie Boys round out the top 100 with 22 million.

That’s seven out of 100, and two of those (Mariah and the Beastie Boys) have catalogs that are mostly non-rap.

Therefore, it would seem that mainstream Hip Hop perhaps isn’t so mainstream after all. Based on these two indicators, it could be argued that although Hip Hop is in the main stream of America’s conciousness, it certainly isn’t a major contributor. Mainstream Hip Hop isn’t mainstream because of its influence on America; its mainstream because of America’s influence on it. Continued on page 2 »