The debate about the relevance of Hip Hop has spilled from the pages of Hip Hop magazines and internet sites and onto the pages of a major national publication.

USA Today recently ran an article titled “Can Rap Regain Its Crown? The article sights declining album sales by veteran artists and new business models that focus on hit singles and ring tones as a sign that the culture is in a tailspin.

“Rap’s decline can be traced to a range of factors, including marketing strategies that have de-emphasized album sales in favor of selling less-lucrative single songs and short versions of those singles as ring tones for cellphones.”

With today’s emcees boasting about platinum ring tones over platinum albums and the checks that accompany them, it’s hard to believe that rappers who are selling hundreds of thousands, if not millions of ring tones is a sign that the genre is losing prominence in the world of music and pop culture.

However, the article echoes what many in the culture have said for years; that fans are tired of the over the top, “gangsta” bravado that saturates today’s radio and video outlets.

“But more important to the industry, there are signs that many music-buying Americans — particularly the young, largely white audience that can make a difference between modest and blockbuster sales — are tiring of rappers’ emphasis on ‘gangsta’ attitudes, explicit lyrics and tales of street life and conspicuous consumption.”

Hip Hop legend and pioneer KRS-One says the music, and not necessarily the message is partly to blame.

“The music is garbage,” he says of the current crop of releases. “What has happened over the past few years is that we have traded art for money, simple and plain, and the public is not stupid.”

From digital downloading and a drop in album sales to controversial content and a lack of original ideas, Hip Hop may indeed be on a downward spiral in the eyes of the mainstream. What will it take to get the game back on the right track?