The music business is not an easy one, although some artists have found it pretty easy to shoot to the top with just one single. However, staying there has been no picnic and they’ve quickly fallen off. These artists have had a fleeting relevance; so fleeting that some of their names have momentarily escaped the grasp of our memories. Their efforts to wrangle their ways back into relevance have been largely futile. Ladies and gentlemen, here they are: the rappers who have plunged deep into the musical wilderness.
Lil Romeo – My Baby
Unlike his father, Master P, who garnered much success as a rapper, Lil Romeo will always be known for only one single. Released in 2003, ‘My Baby’ is indeed Lil Romeo’s only baby that showed him the gleams of fame and saw him do well on the charts. Everything else he released after that was not good enough and his 5 minutes was soon over. Blame it on puberty.
Audio Push – Teach Me How to Jerk
There’s one thing about rappers who are brought to relevance by making a song about some fad or trend like a dance move or other: they quickly fade into obscurity, leaving only the memory of that trend that gave them the shine. What happens is that when the dance move goes out fashion, it takes with it the artist’s reputation and relevance. There are a lot of artists whose meteoric rise to fame is owed largely to dance songs. Artists like Cali Swag District, Dem Franchize Boys, DJ Unk and Soulja Boy (who cunningly escaped his fate for a few years, but thank goodness it has finally caught up with him) spring to mind. Where are they now? However, Audio Push really cashed in on the jerkin’ craze, they even toured SA. Sadly the dance lasted longer than their careers did.
Hurricane Chris – A Bay Bay
“A bay bay/ Ay bay bay”. Remember that street anthem? Taken from his 2007 debut album, 51/50 Ratchet, ‘A Bay Bay’ is the only successful song Hurricane Chris has ever made. This annoyingly catchy track was everywhere, and it burned the charts for some time. Hurricane must be the ultimate one hit wonder; his 2nd album was a mighty flop – its sales figures are unknown and it didn’t even chart on the US Billboard 200. Man, there are so many struggling rappers out there; our local rappers are not the only ones.
Mims – This Is Why I’m Hot
Now, before you get your knickers in a twist about whether Mims deserves to be on this list or not, let’s put a couple of things into perspective. Firstly, nobody can argue that ‘This is why I’m Hot’ had all the ingredients of a heavy banger: a dope beat, catchy hook and some fresh, likable rhymes. Every time I heard this track, I’d frantically jump around like a dervish, singing along to the catchy hook. So, obviously he proved that he was “hot”, but for how long did he stay hot? His follow up singles, ‘Like This’ and ‘Just Like That’ both fell short success of his first, hence earning him the infamous one hit wonder status.
Yung Joc – It’s Goin’ Down
He achieved much recognition in 2006 through the album, New Joc City, that spawned the inescapable hit single, ‘It’s Goin’ Down’, and that was the last we heard from him. Okay, okay it wasn’t the last per se, since he tried to stay relevant by releasing some more material but it didn’t cause as much hype and he headed straight into insignificance.
Huey – Pop Lock and Drop It
‘Pop Lock and Drop It’ is another example of a bubblegum song that nonetheless became the clubs’ favourite and built Huey’s career, a career that proved ephemeral. He tried to rejuvenate his career when he released a 2nd album in 2010, but he floundered helplessly and the rest is history.
These are just a few of the many artists who came, and saw, and dramatically fell off before they could conquer.
Written by: Moza