Hip-Hop Is Dead

Hip Hop Is Dead is a studio album by American rapper and hip hop artist Nas, released December 19, 2006. The LP is Nas' eighth album overall of all-original material, while serving as his first album for Def Jam Recordings. Nas' previous label, Columbia Records, co-financed the release with Def Jam (which was once distributed by Columbia). Hip Hop Is Dead became his third studio album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 355... more

Hip Hop Is Dead is a studio album by American rapper and hip hop artist Nas, released December 19, 2006. The LP is Nas' eighth album overall of all-original material, while serving as his first album for Def Jam Recordings. Nas' previous label, Columbia Records, co-financed the release with Def Jam (which was once distributed by Columbia). Hip Hop Is Dead became his third studio album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 355,880 copies in its first week and 764,000 copies up to November 2008. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, based on an aggregate score of 79/100 from Metacritic. Nas announced the album's title after a performance on May 18, 2006 In a late September interview on English DJ Tim Westwood's Radio show, Nas said, "Hip-hop is dead because we as artists no longer have the power." He went on to say, "Could you imagine what 50 Cent could be doing, Nas, Jay, Eminem, if we were the Jimmy Iovines? Could you imagine the power... less