I just came across a headline that one the most famous shows for BET has been cancelled. That’s right, after 21 seasons, Rap City will run its last show on November 10. It makes me wonder, what other shows are left on BET that are primarily about music? I can admit, that I don’t watch BET that often, unless there is a special or an award show, but other than 106th and Park, there isn’t much left to cater to an audience that is devoted to music?
What do you think the reason is for Rap City’s decline in ratings? Do any of you watch Rap City? On a consistent basis? Why not? Let us know your thoughts.
October 1, 2008 at 9:18 am
I remember when Chris Thomas, Prince Du Juir, and Joe Clair hosted Rap City….at first, Yo MTV Raps was a better show…with Fab 5 Freddy, Doctor Dre, and Ed Luva…they made Rap City seem corny…eventhough he was kind of corny and had a big ego…Big Tigger put Rap City on the map with that Basement concept…he was there during a crucial time in Hip Hop…I remember watching Big Punisher, Big L , and DMX rip the booth….he had DJ’s on there like S&S and Envy ..he helped make Brother Jeff Johnson a household name…I’m going to be honest, now 106 and Park is the focus…the teenagers and early 20 year olds…influence the music and fashion tastes of the kids younger than them…Madonna appearing on the show was a testament to how powerful the Black youth is…if we say you are hot..then you are hot…The Rap game has changed….lyricists have been driven underground and now it’s all about commercial dance club anthems…BET has done this before…Video LP, Video Soul with Donnie Simpson, Carribean Rhythyms, and Teen Summit were landmark shows equivalent to Soul Train and American Bandstand..but the execs there..pulled the plug in favor of commercialized eyecandy full of product placement…BET is trying to have reality shows and wack scripted comedies on the schedule now but the content is still lacking…what happened to American Gangster…that was a Emmy worthy documentary series…I never missed a episode,…that exposed the truth behind thug life and dropped jewels on the younguns about those urban legends…while giving them history lessons of the 60′s, 70′s , and 80′s.
October 2, 2008 at 11:43 am
I think this is unfortunate. Why cancel shows related directly to music, but then continue to run all of that reality TV garbage hence Baldwin Hills. BET truly needs to get it together and review their programming.
October 4, 2008 at 2:58 am
Dai Dreamer said it pretty well. When Big Tigger was on and the whole basement era rap city was the shit, I tried to catch it whenever i could, only show on BET I consistantly watched. There was still raw shit back the, prime hip hop, but through out the years they started playing just the most bubble gum ringtone crap rap, until now that is all they play. I stopped watching because of that, havent watched for bout a year, they just play that flo rida rick ross and a bunch of one hit wonder muther fuckers, i couldnt take it anymore. I cant watch anything on BET no more man, i mean this is a station that said they wouldnt put a De La Soul video and Little Brother video because it was “too intelligent.”
October 8, 2008 at 12:18 am
I can’t even believe that BET would cancel it’s best show and leave on programs like Smart Guy. Since Bob Johnson sold the network it has decreased in quality every season. Somebody over there dosen’t know what they’re doing. They should just cancel the network altogether!
October 13, 2008 at 4:55 pm
used to watch tha bassment daily. tigger loved hip hop and when he left ihad a bad feeling.ever since rap citys been in a downward spiral. they used to show hard to find videos and videos from all of hip hop. lately just whats on the radio 500 times a day. i cant stand the radio so why would i watch the lame videos? the bottom line is bet= mainstream media. sad
October 19, 2008 at 8:55 am
Poor Quality Music Has Drove CD Sales To A Sharp Decline (Keep Blaming It On Downloading, Yeah Right), Now Poor Quality Music Has Drove Rap City To The Grave. . All The Music Out Today Sucks & has Brought The Music Industry To Its Knees, All Rappers Sound The Same & All R & B Artists Dont Even Have Good Voices (What Happened To The Whitney Houstons ?)
November 9, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Yo I am very sad to. This just shows that hip hop iz now died. I still at aww that bet would do something like that. I mean that show was going head to head with yo mtv. Nowq thats a very long time. As I look at hip hop right now it just shit pure sit. Rap city was the last place for raps to really spit on the mic now it just gone. HIP HOP IZ DEAD!!!
November 17, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Rap City…Cancelled. Wow. To be honest with you, it didn’t even surprise me. The way Hip Hop is nowadays, it was only a matter of time. I didn’t bother to ask why. I already knew the answer. It’s because of these retarded ass rappers that’s out. These whack ass emceez that think they are the truth. Stupid ass retarded rappers. Souljah Boy, Plies, and the majority of southern rappers. Some from the North too. It’s not Hip Hop anymore, it’s Hip POP. It’s curruption to our youth. They see the glamour and glits. They see the gangsta’s immortilization. They see that’s it’s cool to sell drugs even though your from the suburbs. The only rap that is conscience has been driven below the underground. It’s not cool to be educated. Your corny if you’re educated. That’s what rap is now. 106 & Park is one of the reasons Rap City is cancelled. 106 & Park was good for promoting retarded shit, so much that it took the focus off of the remaining real Hip Hop on Rap City. Then Rap City was forced to promote retarded rap to no avail. Oh well, so long Rap City. I’ll never forget the first shows with Chris Thomas, the real Mayor of Rap City, when rap was still real. Fuck Lil Wayne.
November 25, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Maynnnneee….. I am trippin about this…especially since I’ve seen its replacement. “The Deal” is wack. But Nomar is right. Rap City’s demise was due to its complete lack of good music. Some days there was not a single good rap song on there. I was so glad I had dvr so I could fast forward through all the radio garbage they had on there. Also, who isn’t going to miss the booth? They need to have a show that has no current radio singles and no radio singles that are less than three years old. That would eliminate alot of the garbage.