According to Billboard, rapper Eminem’s Recovery album is still topping the rap music charts for seven weeks, tying a record for occupying the Number 1 spot, and the album is well on its way to become platinum twice over. The competition isn’t even close in terms of sales. Bun B’s TrillOG debuted in the Number 4 spot and Rick Ross’ Teflon Don has slipped to sixth after failing to unseat Eminem.

Other Hot Rappers Are Still Charting

While it’s clear that fans are ready for ‘Recovery,’ rap music has enjoyed a number of other album debuts this summer, with albums from other stars including Rick Ross, Drake, Usher, The Black Eyed Peas, B.o.B, Big Boi and Alicia Keys, just to name a few. L’il Wayne also put out an album as did Nicki Minaj. Curren$y’s Def Jam debut, entitled Pilot Talk, (which was produced mostly by Ski Beatz) received high marks from the critics for its mellow, melodious sounds and hardcore, traditional Southern rap leanings.

Those who’ve said that rap is dead surely didn’t foresee a summer like 2010. The rap music genre has undergone its share of growing pains and is now branching out to co-mingle with other music genres, like pop, rock, hard rock, bluegrass, reggae, and gospel. Some rap music artists are returning to their “classic” roots, while others are breaking new ground, and inching rap music forward as a force that will impact music for generations to come.

This summer is also proof that new artists are moving onto the center stage of the rap music genre. New artists are flocking to rap music, and the ability to self-produce tracks, mixtapes and even full-length albums is providing exposure to artists who might otherwise never have been seen.

The tools to self-produce music are available, easy-to-use and designed to help new music producers avoid the pitfalls of copyright and music royalty issues. Music sampling has always been a big part of the rap music scene and new producers (and even some experienced ones) can get themselves into trouble by illegally sampling the work of others.

With products like Sonic Producer, a rap music artist has access to a library of thousands of free samples that are all royalty-free. With this software, users can mix their own music, export to MP3 or other musical format and begin distribution right away. There has never been a better opportunity to break into the rap music industry with professional-sounding, self-produced music!

Photo Credit: Jontintinjordan, via Flickr