Does hip-hop need radio anymore?

Once upon a time, there were rappers and radio stations, and both parties were madly in love with each other.

What was thought to be mutual love has been shown to be little more than temporary lust.

Radio stations are no longer able to provide for their significant other the way they used to, and rappers have found a new infatuation.

The daily regimen for music fans no longer consists of turning knobs back and forth to catch the latest rumored Tupac and Dr. Dre hit.

Contemporary listeners use simplistic and time-efficient means to obtain the precious jewels our favorite artists blast into our ears.

Search, download and voilà! You’ve just doubled the size of your digital album collection.

The hip-hop mix tape scene floods the online market. iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, hotnewhiphop.com, datpiff.com and a million other mix tape outlets have made it easier than ever for artists to build their brand and fan base.

As rappers like A$AP Rocky, Schoolboy Q and Childish Gambino have shown us that a rise tin Internet listeners based on mix tapes and features is music’s newest launching pad.

These exemplary artists have created immense buzz with little to no radio time.

Radio is in a compromised media position. It is no longer a leading public influence in rap and instead has become little more than a trend-conscious aficionado.

With the Internet cornering ease of access, what chance do hype-building and time-delaying disc jockeys like Funkmaster Flex and DJ Kay Slay have?

These fellas might want to turn to Darwinism for some inspiration.

DJ Drama and DJ Khaled have made careers for themselves as musicians strictly based on their ability to network and throw the hottest producers and rappers into a studio for a finished project they can call their own. These are managerial skills at their finest.

Hip-hop fans have been blessed with the most user-friendly means of choosing music we would like to hear, or not hear, on our playlists.

It’s up to us, the listeners, to swing the gavel and make a ruling.

Do we want to embrace the phenomenon that has become hip-hop’s online dominance, or do we want to trudge through the insufferable commercial breaks and corny personalities of radio?

By Patrick Guilfoyle