THE TIMELINE OF THE DEATH OF THE GROUP

We can’t pinpoint exactly why or how we got to this point, where hip hop and R&B groups are facing extinction. But the following events/developments/trends have a lot to do with it…

“No Vaseline”: The demise of N.W.A. is the most important group-split of the past 30 years. Ice Cube’s liberation and Dr. Dre’s emancipation had profound ripple effects. When Cube bounced in a whirlwind, he explicitly exposed the corruption of the music business, especially the exploitation of the rapper. He was one of the first hip-hop artists to not only be glad to be on, he wanted his just due and he blazed a trail that many (but far too few) current artists study. There’s a lesson in the what, why and how of Cube’s departure of, what could arguably be called, the most successful rap group of all time and still end up having a career by which only 3 or 4 other rappers can compare. Ice Cube's departure left N.W.A. lyrically inept. But what he meant to the group lyrically greatly paled in comparison to what Dre meant to it musically. N.W.A. remained on the top of the charts after Cube left (see the double-platinum Efil4zaggin) solely on the strength of Dre’s ability to give the people what they wanted to hear. Still, contrary to popular belief, Dre leaving N.W.A. had little to do with him slapping Dee Barnes, and much to do with Ice Cube opening his eyes to the financially unhealthy relationship he was in. It took a while, but the public and artistic perception of being in a group was forever altered.

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“My Perrogative”: Lionel Richie and Smokey and Curtis and Bootsy and Clapton and a ton of other artists have gone solo.  But back in the day, it wasn’t because they, save maybe Diana Ross, were disruptive attention hoards.  There is a Behind the Music clip of Bobby, maybe a year before he broke off from New Edition, breaking out of the dance line, gyrating on the floor, singing over Ralph and doing everything an egomaniac would do when he/she had to share a stage.  So Bobby split and became a bigger star than all of ’em. NE was never the same.

Recent aspiring artists too young to actually comprehend the import of any breakups in the 60s or 70s, saw Bobby act a fool, break out and blow up and said, "Why even bother with a group?" or, "As soon as my career/notoriety reaches a certain point, I'm out." 

“The Bizness”: It was interesting to note that De La's album sales have fared progressively worse with each release.  If they somehow managed to be multi-plat dudes, they might have been able to keep the group-torch burning.  It's going on 20 years now (3 Feet High and Rising dropped in ’89) and, given the impeccable Grind Date, they still SOUND relevant.  But they aren’t.

In the end, De La represents everything that's right with a true group: like-minded artists that compliment each other and are greater than the sum of their parts.  As consumers, however, we’ve responded by largely ignoring them.  If we're lamenting the loss of groups, we should look no further than De La and point the fingers at ourselves – the buying public.

“Clan In Da Front”: Wu-Tang was special. After Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) when most of the 9-member crew went their separate ways to do incredible solo projects – that all sold well, that were all critically acclaimed – it was apparent that they were solo-capable artists able to coexist.  One would think that 2 platinum artists (Method Man and Ol’ Dirty), 3 kats with classic albums (Raekwon, Ghostface, GZA) and an alpha-genius (RZA) might have problems getting back together to make another group album. Wu, however, reunited 4 years after 36 and dropped another classic (Wu-Tang Forever).

This gave rube-groups the idea that they could have these 5, 6, 8-man teams come out and drop dope albums, split up and do it again. It has yet to happen. Either it’s a bunch of disjointed lug nuts displaying little skill or no group at all.

“The World Is Yours”: In 1994, the trend began to move away from fresh new groups to fresh new solo artists.  Previously, Illmatic would have been Nas and Large Proffessor as a 2-man team along the lines of a DJ-rapper duo. But EVERYONE wanted a piece of this boy wonder.  So he showed up with a 10-track album with 5 different producers.

Before Illmatic, there weren’t many producers offering beats to artists outside of their "camp".  Dre only messed with his crew.  Primo hit off KRS with some joints, but not many others. Prince Paul messed with his Stetsasonic and Native Tongues and that’s about it.  Then Nas' album drops and it sets off this trend where big-name producers start letting tracks fly all over the place.  Pete Rock no longer had to rely on CL.  Next, Biggie dropped a similarly produced album (though it was mostly Hitmen), which further switched the steez up. Producers, formerly tied to a group or one rapper, began to recognize their own commodity and started branching off at a hyper-clip. The world was theirs.

-- The Musicologists