Law Of Diminishing Returns…
AUDIO By MZ on March 18, 2008 at 9:56 pm
In economics the law of diminishing returns states that in a production system with fixed & variable inputs (factory size & labor), each additional unit of variable input yields less and less additional output. Say one packet of corn planted in a field, makes a pound of corn. You’d assume that two packets would produce would produce two pounds, but the law of diminishing returns means that you’d get some amount between 1 ½ – 1 ¾ pound.
HUH?!?
I was saying the same thing while I fought off sleep and got that C+ at OSU. But it’s funny how those things that seem so worthless at the time, make a way into your everyday life.
Change that packet of seed to lyrics and change the field to CD’s and you have the fixed inputs for the hip-hop law of diminishing returns. Variable inputs can be subject matter, beats, time between releases, and various other things. Basically, it can be anything that either keeps a rapper from advancing their music to the next level or causes their musical output to decline (doing the same thing over & over is decline.) This is usually by the artists own doing, but can occasionally it can be the result of outside forces.
The funny thing is that a lot of artist’s are able to sustain a career (or even build one) while diminishing returns is in effect. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the artist’s I’ve compiled below.
50 Cent
The same thing that takes you to the top is usually what slides you right down the other side of the mountain. 50’s willingness to engage in beef with any & everyone helped bring attention to him as he took over rap with Get Rich Or Die Trying, but he didn’t stop there. Beef remained his #1 marketing ploy despite moving from underdog to alpha dog & his focus moved more to making money than music. The result is two more CD’s that are almost carbon copies of his first and egg in his face from a 9/11 showdown with Kanye West.
Fat Joe
Joey Crack was once a respected rapper with a limited fan base, but that wasn’t good enough for him. Determined to take the next step, he took the soup of the day approach and adapted whatever is popular at the moment. Whether getting the R&B singer of the moment or hi-jacking the latest trend, Joe has managed to stay viable. The only effects are lyrics that are slowly degenerating and a Terror Squad that exists in name only.
Guru
Originally one half of Gangstarr, Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal is another respected rapper who has lost his way. After a falling out with DJ Premier, Guru was forced to fend for his own. Luckily he had his Jazzmatazz series to fall back on and he was able to carry on. Along the way he hooked up producer Solar looking to recapture that magic he had with Premier. The only problem is that Solar sucks and the only thing he’s helped Guru do is regress as an artist thanks to his amateurish beats.
The LOX
We know, they are the streets, but at sometimes you just have to let go. They’ve been in the game over 15 years and they’re still letting label issues hold them back. First it was Diddy & the “Free The LOX” campaign, then they want off Ruff Ryders, Styles P was competing with the Clipse to see whose album would come out last (he won), Jadakiss appeared to overcome the hump with “Why” and hasn’t been heard from since, Sheek is moving on with Koch but at this point his steam his over. Anytime they build up momentum some label issue is guaranteed to pop up.
The Clipse
The group that inspired what your reading now. This idea popped into my head while listening to The Re-Up Gang’s We Got It For Cheap Vol. 3. On the intro to “20k Money Making Brothers on the Corner,” Pusha T speaks on the Clipse’s “consistency.” His response to why they always talk about street shit is that they rap for their “20,000 niggas on the corner.” Despite who they make their music for, they’re still disappointed that they sell 78,000 copies their first week…
The Clipse’s variable would be repetitious subject matter. Starting with Lord Willin’, their lyrics and endless punchlines set the benchmark for the new era of coke/street rap. Their bravado mixed with the right amount of morality for their exploits propelled them to mainstream success. When the long awaited Hell Hath No Fury finally saw the light of day things were different. Pusha T & Malice were still doing what they do best, but something was missing. The beats were a little off, punchlines were clever but expected, and the sense of hustler’s remorse was replaced with a kingpin’s arrogance.
Kool Keith – Lost Masters Vol.#1
Kool Keith – Lost Masters Vol.#2
Ron_Artest_Presents-Tru_Warier_Allstars_Vol._3.5_(Mixtape)
L.I.F.E._Long-Longevity_Volume_1.5-2008
Bob_Marley_&_The_Wailers-Another_Dance_(Rarities_From_Studio_One)-2007
Who’s The Man OST
Ms.Thing-Get_That_Money_BW_Regular-Vinyl-2004
Murda_Mook_Vs_Loaded_Lux-Smack_DVD_Volume_5_Battle-(DVDA)-2004
Mya-Moodring_(DK_Bonus_Tracks)-2003
N.A.A.M._Brigade-Glamorous_Life_(CDS)-2004
N.A.A.M._Brigade-Where_You_Are_Ft_Cassidy_Ness_(Da_Band)_(CDS)-2004
N.E.R.D.-She_Wants_to_Move_Remix-CDM-2004
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47 Comments
I’m not going to say it. It’s stupid
RMF
hell hath no fury was the perfect album
chali 2na just performed a track on aussie tv with some new orleans jazz/funk band, and it was dope. the band was called Galactic, i just did a little research and apparently they released an album last year called From the Corner to the Block, a collaboration with a few MC’s. does anyone have it, and if so, can you up it please?
Kool Keith – Lost Masters Vol.#2 is down.
also 50 cents last 3 mixtapes (sabrina’s baby boy, return of the body snatchers, elephant in the sand) have been dope as hell so i cant agree with you on that one.
yea, you lost me with the LOX and Clipse…
Hell Hath No Fury was one of the best albums put out that year, and definitely a step up from Lord Willin (though I enjoyed that album also). I just can’t imagine how you hear “The beats were a little off” and “punchlines were clever but expected” from HHNF…
As for the LOX, it seems like you’re accusing them for not doing exactly what you criticize Curtis for: “his focus moved more to making money than music”. Instead of doing this the LOX stayed true, and continue to put out quality music…
but, thats just my 2 cents. everyone has their own opinion…
The Clipse do rap about the shit all the time, but i think that their lyrical skill keeps them fresh.
Oh, and I kinda gotta agree with chris also about g-unit. I’ve liked the last few mixtapes they’ve put out, it seems like they’re straying away from making tracks just for the money, and now they’re just a group of friends having fun and making music…they got all the money they need haha. I mean look at the videos they’ve been puttin out for these mixtape tracks, does it really look like they’re tryna eat off this or they’re jus fuckin around…
interesting concept/write-up…i gotta take offense with Clipse being in there too, though…HHNF suffered most from record company issues (them crackers weren’t playin fair at Jive)…even though they kept the iron hot with the wgi4c mixtapes, they counldn’t get their product to consumers when they wanted it…still the same principal, but different circumstances
being a graduate economics major, this article really resonated. what insightful analysis lol. this is one of the reasons ur blog is better then others and even sites like sohh.com that have a bunch of opinionated bullshit. Its very refreshing and actually incorporates knowledge. u dont simply copy and paste news u make inferences. keep up the good work.
What’s so perfect bout “Dirty Money”???
The only “diminishing return” is this bullshit analysis of a group of select artists. This is hiphop my ninja, not the lecture hall of some ivy league campus.
@ chode – here’s what u were lookin 4 dawg:
Galactic – From the Corner to the Block:
http://rapidshare.com/files/54948373/Galactic.rar
The “perfect album”… nah….
I’m not even sure if that’s possible anymore.
Lord Willin’ > Hell Hath No Fury…
and Lord Willin’ wasn’t the “perfect album” either.
TSS
Good write up…I feel you but I’m G-Unit all day. Maybe I’m hype off the 50 Cent/G-Unit “brand” and the way they market themselves.
Thisis50.com, Vitamin water, free mixtapes, clothes, etc…shit does sell which is more than I can say about any other labels with ARTIST out there. BadBoy,Def Jam, Rocafella, etc. (with the exception of Kanyeezy)
There also the only label that had all there artist go gold & beyond regardless if there 2nd joint didn’t do well. Consistency I guess…outta sight outta mind,naw, I don’t think so over there at that camp!
Just my thoughts. I feel you otherwise MZ.
As always…RMF!!!
Reem aka Saul Goode!
http://www.triggerhappyny.com
By the way..need a password for the Who’s The Man link.
Anyone??
As always…RMF!!!
Reem aka Saul Goode!
http://www.triggerhappyny.com
Good analysis homeboi…The Clipse most definitely belong on this list. They carved they little niche, left the game for a min. and the competition (TRAP RAP) flooded the market. When the Clipse came back with an inferior product (HHNF) there sales suffered…and the Clipse nor their fans can’t be mad if consumers can’t distinguish between them and Jeezy. “Ha-Haaa”
*doing his best Young Jeezy impersonation*
@ Reem – the password for that who’s the man ost is “willforall” seent it on the previous post
Good Lookin Sherm (the one above)
As always…RMF!!!
Reem aka Saul Goode!
http://www.triggerhappyny.com
All I’m gonna say is I’m fan of all the artist I wrote about. But I stand by what I wrote. Other than a select few artists, many can be on this list. I just chose these ones.
Let’s keep it 100% here. I know some of y’all are big fans of some of these groups, but all of them (not talking to GURU, who’s fallen off the radar screen altogether, or Fat Joe who’s never been, nor approached “great”) tend to talk about the same sh*t all the time w/ a very minor twist here and there.
Only a handful of artists of ANY genre have surpassed the impact of their 1st and/or 2nd albums. When you’ve gotten everything off your chest on your first album and anything else you might’ve had an issue with off your chest on the 2nd album, it’s just hard to continually reinvent yourself and maintain a music career.
I’d rather have these artists stay in their lane and make quality music over and over again (ie, EPMD/Redman), than attempt to branch out and lose themselves and become a caricature of their past selves.
@ OED: Spoken like a true hiphop head, real talk fam.
Ali Vegas: Leader of the New School (mixed by Statik Selektah)
http://fs07n3.sendspace.com/dl/12b59eb8417fcd8b023a65420227d303/47e08ce47f950db3/kjbxcy/Leader%20Of%20The%20New%20School%20(mixed%20by%20Statik%20Selektah.zip
This link is working, the Rapidshare on from last post is dead.
Sorry here’s the link:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/kjbxcy
Ignore the other one, Peace out & enjoy!!!
Lil Wayne ft. Corey Gunz-A Millie
http://www.zshare.net/audio/9158343781a59c/
Corey goes in on this joint…somebody needs to sign this Kid!
Sean Paul, the current manager of D12 and former member of Atlanta rap group YoungBloodz was arrested and charged in Los Angeles Monday with drugging and sexually assaulting two 16-year-old girls. According to the Associated Press, Paul (born Jeremy Geffen) – known for his many guest appearances on such tracks as “Snap Your Fingers,” with E-40 and Lil Jon and Cherish’s “Do It To It” – is being accused of giving two teenaged girls cocaine and raping them in 2006 and 2007.
While he was being held on $2 million bail pending his arraignment on Thursday (Mar. 20), his lawyer Danny Davis is optimistic.
“I strongly respect my client’s presumption of innocence,” he told the Los Angeles Times after Geffen’s arrest last week. “I like to think I specialize in cases of innocent clients, and that is why I am attracted to this case.”
Hit with 14 felony counts — including rape by use of drugs, rape of an unconscious person, and furnishing cocaine to a minor – Sean Paul is looking at 20 years in prison if convicted.
Whoa!
How we gonna talk about rappers talkin about the same thing over and no one is gonna bring up Jay-Z.
^ damn.
@ Amp … *ahem* … damn.
Retraction…Sean Paul’s manager, not Sean Paul.
Yeessss… greatest write up ever… cause I got a C+ in macroeconomics at MSU, which between me and you does not bode well for Big Ten schools. I agree with you 100 percent on all fronts. The cover of Jazzmatazz Vol. 1 is it’s strongest asset.
@ aron
Jay moves UNITs… that’s why he aint on that list…. I guess you missed that point of the article…
@ amp
Its Jeremy Griffin not Sean Paul who is arrested…
The Wallabee Champ is a collection of rarities and non-album cuts that span Ghosts entire career
Ghostface Killah – The Wallabee Champ (2008)
01. Intro
02. Wallabee Champ
03. ABC
04. Roosevelts (Feat. Raekwon And Trife)
05. Watch Your Mouth (Feat. The Wu-Tang Clan)
06. Tony Siegel (Feat. Beanie Siegel And Styles P)
07. Trials Of Life (Feat. Prodigy)
08. Hidden Darts (Remix)
09. The Rich (Feat. Raekwon)
10. We Dem N****z
11. Run (Remix) (Feat. Jadakiss And Lil Wayne)
12. Good Times (Part 2)
13. Charlie Brown (Remix)
14. Clips
15. Clientele (Feat. Raekwon And Fat Joe)
16. Crockett & Tubbs (Feat. Raekwon)
17. 93 Freestyle (Feat. Method Man)
http://rapidshare.com/files/100586829/Ghostface_Killah-The_Wallabee_Champ-2008-C4.rar
N.E.R.D.,….Meh..Where’s the Bohagon & Yo Gotti?
can’t wait for finals to be done so i can forget all the shit i stayed up all night cramming for, get high, eat and bump some tunes.
lmao @ OP…not to nitpick but when you were ripping that definition word-for-word from wikipedia you missed the key to the whole thing, “beyond some point”
Diminishing returns aren’t necessarily in effect immediately in every situation. The law of diminishing returns holds that EVENTUALLY as you keep adding input there will always be a point where returns will always start to diminish. The second packet of seed you plant in a gigantic cornfield won’t produce any less than the first assuming there’s room for everything to grow. But as you keep planting seeds in the same field, there’s a point where it gets overcrowded and some of them choke the life out of others or have their growth stunted by lack of nutrients, etc. Thus marginal returns diminish beyond this point with each added packet of seed. Eventually returns can even become negative–plant too much and your whole crop might die.
To use a more relevant example, think about a night out at the bar. Your first drink alone probably has minimal effect. As you keep drinking, through your first few drinks each one affects you more, and to a point as you get drunker you’re having more fun–thus the marginal utility/return from each drink is going up. Once you pass a certain point though, you’re already drunk and enjoying yourself fine, so each passing drink isn’t bringing you as much extra utility as the ones before it. Eventually the night starts actually starts getting less fun the more you drink–you pass out, puke, shit yourself or get kicked out of the bar.
@ Masterbocho: Concise analysis, I’m a marketing student so my economics background isn’t as strong as yours. Good use of that bar comparison.
TSS University is now accepting enrollment for 2008!!! Offering degrees in Hiphopenomics and Blognology!!!
yeah i’m actually a marketing student myself but i have a pretty strong base in conceptual economics (although once it gets into actual numbers i can lose it quickly)
in applying it to the artists, the analogy doesn’t always work well because there’s too many variables. For instance Guru i’m not seeing because in my opinion the quality of inputs has decreased so drastically(staying with the bar analogy, replacing primo with Solar is like starting off the night with remy and then when you’re 7 or 8 deep switching to Camo black ice)
I think the original poster is on the right general track (and it makes sense in straightforward examples like 50 cent, who is doing the exact same tired shit musically) but where he slips up is in not seeing that in his example the packet of seed (thus in the rap example the lyrics) IS the variable input. Things like a drought, pestilence, etc (or in the rap example beat quality, label issues, etc) are OUTSIDE variables.The problem with the analysis is that for an experiment’s data to be relevant, the outside variables have to be held constant, which isn’t the case most of the time in hip hop (nor with many of the artists mentioned) thus the inconsistencies he brings up in these outside variables distort his ability to make his point (which is a good one): coming with the same shit over and over again is decline
If you own a 50 cent album you should be ashamed. You’ve contributed to the downfall of a beautiful artform. :P
^ LOL
Good one.
everyone is getting their stringer bell on in this post…
cheers Sherm!
um i wouldnt throw 50 under the bus…i would have months ago when curtis came out. but not anymore. hes adapting to the internet alot more than any other rap artist to date. we have to sit back and watch him for a while before we can say he has diminishing returns…from one album that sold more than any other rap album that year except for west?..your kinda reaching
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everyone is getting their stringer bell on in this post…
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best comment thus far.
“… the sense of hustler’s remorse was replaced with a kingpin’s arrogance.”
That ’s one of the best lines I’ve ever read,… on any blog. Damn, great article! Refreshing to see substance behind any argument/opinion, especially in the great blogosphere.
… as an aside to that line: I think this hustler’s duality was best embodied by Biggie. I think he’s the only one that was ever able to ‘pull-off’ both “the sense of hustler’s remorse” and “kingpin’s arrogance” in his career, some albums, and even within some of his songs themselves.
“… the sense of hustler’s remorse was replaced with a kingpin’s arrogance.”
—————————
*eating a chicken wing ala Coming To America*
that was a good ass line.
damn good.
“@ aron
Jay moves UNITs… that’s why he aint on that list…. I guess you missed that point of the article…”
I wasn’t really addressing the article, just the lack of creativity which was being talked about…
“The Clipse do rap about the shit all the time, but i think that their lyrical skill keeps them fresh.”
So Jay does move units, but he doesn’t move his mind.