Huge hits don’t spell success for new rap stars

Simplistic songs
But it’s not only record labels who are looking for ringtone raps to boost their coffers. Some in the industry blame rappers who are increasingly whipping together simplistic, catchy songs aimed at the ringtone market.

“About one or two weeks ago, one of the saddest things happened to me, when (an artist) played me a record and said, ’This would make a hot ringtone,”’ said Platt, president of west coast creative at EMI.

“Right now the state of where we are at in hip-hop, it’s different,” 50 Cent says. “I don’t think they want the lyrics to be complex — they want it to be simple, catchy. The Southern-based artist can be credited (with) that, because they’re dancing, so now your record has to pretty much be catchy. It doesn’t have to be super content, extreme content. It has to have a good rhythm to it and dance.”

Seventeen-year-old Soulja Boy says that’s what people want to hear these days.

“People don’t want to go to a club and hear (about) people getting shot or hear about your life story,” he says. “People want to ... have fun and dance and party.”

Playing the game
Still, Soulja Boy, on Interscope Records (a division of Universal Music Group), knows about the pitfalls of some of his predecessors, and is hoping not to fall into their lot. Already, he’s got a song “Soulja Girl” rising on the charts.

“When I did my album, I went into the studio (thinking), ’I gotta have each song on here where it will be good as a single,”’ he says. “I believe I came out with an album full of singles, so I’m good.”

Though Dupri admits that there have been times when he’s signed an “ringtone act” (Dem Franchize Boyz were his group when he was president of urban music at Virgin), he says there needs to be a balance between acts signed simply for ringtone success and long-term prospects.

“You have to try and play both sides of the game,” he says.

But for all the concern about what the future holds if the industry focuses on ringtone rap stars, Platt sees an even more worrisome aspect of their success.

“If it wasn’t for these singles blowing up, and some of the digital downloads and the ringtones, it’s kind of scary of where the business would be at this point,” he says, noting the rap genre’s 21 percent sales dive in 2006. “It’s a Catch 22. It’s not selling albums, but it is helping drive the genre further because there’s been no big (new) artist to carry it.”

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