VERY FEW YEARS PEOPLE QUESTION THE LONGEVITY OF HIP-HOP, JUST
as some dismissed rock and roll as a fad, thinking it would wither as "Rock Around the Clock" faded from favor on malt-shop jukeboxes. In 2006 an ominous tone came from the art form's most prophetic voice: Nas put out an album called Hip Hop Is Dead. Say what? Didn't huge releases by jay-Z, the Came and Eminem cushion the hip-hop bottom line? Sure, but on the other hand, the gangsta-grille glint those MCs put on the holiday music market couldn't hide a rather inconvenient truth: The first half of 2006 produced just one platinum-selling hip-hop album (T.l.'s King). The fact that those guys are all industry giants—and that readers' favorite hip-hop LP of 2006 was from another veteran icon, Busta Rhymes—could mean something. Of' course hip-hop ain't dying, but it may be changing. Who knows—we may yet witness another tectonic shift in its landscape, just
as we did when the first new-school movement hit, around 1988, with Long Island's Public Enemy and De La Soul pushing the boundaries (albeit in completely different directions) after a period of relative stasis in the genre. LILJON (pictured at left in Playboy Rock the Rabbit gear he designed), for one, is ready to plot a new course with his latest concept, crunk rock, adding raw riffs and live instruments to the bounce and bass of his Atlanta sound. For now, however, rock—without crunk dressing—rules. The Killers and Peppers returned. Tool went to number one. The "mainstreamo" boom continued, as My Chemical Romance, Dashboard Confessional, Taking Back Sunday and AFI lit up the charts, playboy guys also love Panic! at the Disco, who snatched the pick of destiny, according to your votes. But before we get ahead of ourselves, check out this year's music spectacular and ail the results of our annual readers poll.
