Nothing lasts forever.

After many years climbing to the top of the American record industry, hip-hop went from bull to bear in 2006. As recently as 2005, there were at least four rap albums in the year's Top 10 best sellers. This year, the only one to make it, Eminem's "Curtain Call," isn't even a new album but a compilation. The only certified platinum rap release came back in the spring, with T.I.'s "King," and even he couldn't break 2 million.

To be sure, the entire music industry is suffering, but hip-hop has seemingly had it worse. News of rap's sales slump came out just in time for the release of Nas' "Hip Hop Is Dead," which led to a rather silly round of hand-wringing over whether rap's star has finally faded.

Pronouncements of hip-hop's demise are premature at best -- if a bad year were enough to declare a genre dead, then rock has died more times than Jason and Freddy put together.

That said, it's impossible to look at 2006 and think this was a banner year. Here's our scorecard.

On the rise

• T.I.: The Atlanta rapper's fourth album, "King," was the lone bright spot on the charts. Plus, the modest success of his debut film, "ATL," suggests that this charismatic young rapper has a long and lucrative future ahead of him.

• will.i.am: The Black Eyed Peas' frontman saw his protege Fergie score nicely with her solo debut, "The Duchess," while Will himself suddenly became an in-demand producer for any number of major rappers including the Game, Too $hort and Nas. This year promises even more visibility with a new Black Eyed Peas CD on its way.

• Lil Wayne: The brassy New Orleans rapper didn't have a new album in 2006, but he managed to drop what felt like a hundred freestyles on various mixtapes, most with him boasting some variation of "I'm the best rapper alive." The thing is: He might be right (and if he's not, at least he might inspire some spirited competition).

Holding even

• E-40: His "My Ghetto Report Card" should have been a much bigger success than it was, especially after all the hype around hyphy and the push that "Tell Me When to Go" gave it. As explosive as the Bay Area music scene has felt the past few years, it still seems mired at a regional level and has yet to find a way to break out nationally.

• The Roots: They managed to put out one of the best albums of their 12-plus-year career, "Game Theory," yet no one noticed. Ouch.

Falling

• OutKast -- Both the movie and album named "Idlewild" fell short of expectations, critically and commercially. This is a group that's never really tasted failure before, and, hopefully, the experience will go down as an aberration in an otherwise stellar career.

Jay-Z: His tenure as Def Jam's boss has been a mixed bag at best, especially given that R&B acts like Ne-Yo and Rihanna outperformed veteran rappers like Ghostface and LL Cool J. More damaging to his rep was "Kingdom Come," which, despite a great debut week, saw a precipitous drop-off after that, likely because word of mouth spread about how mediocre a CD it was. His comeback now needs a comeback.

The recordings

How bad was 2006? Bad enough that for my annual Top 10 of rap albums, I could only come up with eight (in order of release):

1. "Donuts," J Dilla.

2. "Fishscale," Ghostface Killah.

3. "King," T.I.

4. "Pick a Bigger Weapon," the Coup.

5. "Blue Collar," Rhymefest.

6. "Game Theory," the Roots.

7. "Hell Hath No Fury," Clipse.

8. "The Inspiration: Thug Motivation 102," Young Jeezy.

Outlook

For 2007, at least, the outlook seems promising, with new albums expected from Lil Wayne, UGK, Devin the Dude, 50 Cent, Kanye West and, supposedly, Dr. Dre's long-awaited "Detox" (we'll believe it when we hear it). Notably, none of those artists had an album out in 2006, thus perhaps missing out on whatever curse befell their comrades.

Last but not least, I'd be remiss in not acknowledging the passing of James Brown the other week. No other artist influenced the sound of hip-hop more than Brown. No other pre-rap artist benefited as much from hip-hop's growth, either. Especially in the mid-to-late 1980s, rap's explosive rise to power coincided with Brown's return to relevancy. As much as Brown was the Godfather of Soul, his influence on hip-hop has been no less indelible. He may be gone, but within rap's rhythms, James Brown lives forever.