Aside from perhaps inspiring brothers from identical walks of life, why do some of you feel that a rapper's background should be "real" if they make certain types of tracks? I personally will view an artist who does attempt to walk that lane as corny, but it won't affect my judgment on whether the track is good or not.
The relevance of a rapper's background?
- Thread starter wingzboy
- Start date
Taadow
The StarchBishop™️
But a lot of folk ain't in that life...the only thing they have to go off of is a rapper saying it. If that rapper ain't really 'bout it, he can misinform the populace and dey o.e.n.o.
For example, everybody wants to talk about "haters", but:
nineteeneightysix
Banned
It's just stupid thing in Hip Hop that limits the art form...
The rags to riches thing is a brilliant story arch for most rappers. That is the American Dream too.
As a people - we respect other people that came from the bottom and now are balling. Too an extent it legitimises the chinchilla, diamonds etc. everyone likes it less when preppy family money start balling. It's not just rap - Vampire Weekend have a similar issue. People don't like em cos they seem posh.
It's a common theme in indie rock despite (like hip-hop) a number of the greats/pioneers coming from a decent money/education. In lots of indie rock people want the Kurt Cobain type stories.. people always rather the underdog
As a people - we respect other people that came from the bottom and now are balling. Too an extent it legitimises the chinchilla, diamonds etc. everyone likes it less when preppy family money start balling. It's not just rap - Vampire Weekend have a similar issue. People don't like em cos they seem posh.
It's a common theme in indie rock despite (like hip-hop) a number of the greats/pioneers coming from a decent money/education. In lots of indie rock people want the Kurt Cobain type stories.. people always rather the underdog
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/oct/03/popandrock.foals
It's also true in certain sports. Working class (hood) sports fans' tend to lean towards working class athletes. We would see Floyd, LeBron or even Messi in a different light had they come up with money.
It's also true in certain sports. Working class (hood) sports fans' tend to lean towards working class athletes. We would see Floyd, LeBron or even Messi in a different light had they come up with money.
what's your opinion on drake?he pretty much encompasses all the reasons you cited for the public to not want to support him, as in talks about ballin now despite growing up rich, and a lot of the stuff he doing now he could have done back then money spending wise. Yet he has been embraced by everyone and is arguably number 1 for all the newcomers in the game if you measure popularity as in how far they been embraced by the public.
I personally don't care but I understand why people don't like him. It's a valid reason and like i said, it happens a lot in indie music and sports too. The thing with Drake is that he's totally upper middle class except sometimes when he's rapping and it comes across like he's fake/fronting.
I would say, he hasn't been embraced by everyone. People disliked Wayne's rapping or whatever but people dislike Drake on a personal tip more.
Fact is he makes popular music and has made a lot of great moves. The Wayne co-sign was a great segway into the black community. I think rappers of that ilk need that "street rapper" co-sign. Without Rocafella I think Kanye has a harder time getting people's attention. Before MMG Wale bricked. The Weezy co-sign legitimised Drake and he hit the homeruns.
I think that's changing now. People care less about this type of thing these days. But some people still care.
This issue was much more relevant back in the day, nowadays not so much so its had pluses and minuses to see people care less about background. Background gives you credibility in the topics you're talking about. How can the listener take your statements seriously if you haven't had first, or even second hand experience at the least. That's like a reggae artist always singing about Rastafarianism even though he's clearly been a Baptist his whole life and never once adhered to a Rasta lifestyle. Or like a geek backpacker making club songs without having ever been a club rat, yeah you can talk about the club but you won't have those real experiences and the emotions behind them to further bolster your lyrics/delivery nor will your background speak of that club song being a genuine part of the life experiences of a geek backpacker.
The good thing tho is that the standards in Hip Hop aren't as rigid as they were so you can see many types of artists (Even though unfortunately we're only fed a few) and subject types from other places. This freedom for diversity should be utilized more tho.
The good thing tho is that the standards in Hip Hop aren't as rigid as they were so you can see many types of artists (Even though unfortunately we're only fed a few) and subject types from other places. This freedom for diversity should be utilized more tho.
Roovers410
All Star
Everyone has a little bit of Amsterdam in him
JasonSJackson
Jah Sun Ma'at Ra
that just speaks on the type of person that you are
upper middle class looks like rich when u come from the hood. lets be real dude never struggled in his life till he grinded in rap, which i give him credit for even if it was for only 2 yrs