CNN Predicts The Death Of Bling

Bryan Leach, vice president of RCA Records claims Hip Hop is being dulled of its shine. In this case, he is talking about the shine on rapper's necks, and attributing Rap's less gaudy fashion in recent times in part to the recession. In a recent story about the economic meltdown and the slip in Rap record sales, he opened up about the downfall of bling.

"Every major label has been laying people off," he noted. "This is not about just popping bottles and buying jewelry. Everyone's got to be responsible and mature."

A Nielsen report cited by CNN shows Hip Hop/Rap sales declined by nearly 20 percent in 2008, while Rock sales dropped by only 6.5 percent. According to the report, only Classical, Latin and Country music fell by a greater percentage than Rap.

"I don't see concrete stuff yet, you know, but I imagine you will see more rappers doing some less-gaudy things just because it would be out of step with the audience," noted author, journalist and BET correspondent, Tour. "The audience is struggling and striving, and then you're like, 'Look at my four diamond iced-out chains.'"

And while CNN cited Jeezy's observation that his son was "addicted to Polo" on "My President" as proof bling was dead, he explained his reasoning for naming the album The Recession [click to read] while talking to DX last fall [click to read].

"The whole recession concept was like, 'Okay, its fucked up out here but we gonna get through it. And heres some good music to get you through it,'" Jeezy explained. "And everything Ima give you is gonna be an anthem. Im not gonna sit here and try to rap you to death. So it wasnt really like I was gonna sit there and make 18 tracks about the recession. It wouldnt have made sense."