tru or nah: Underground rappers are only underground because..

[call_me_step_daddy]

A.) They haven't been discovered yet

and/or

B.) they're just not great enough to appeal to the masses ( a.k.a "they lacking")

i say this because i see people on here steady tryna pump up certain rappers that's been rapping for decades but still haven't gotten a lot of attention..now im not saying they're not good rappers,but how dare you compare these type of dudes to legendary mc's that have made a serious,significant, and respected impact on hiphop as a whole?

shyt's ridiculous

 

[Jhoon]

Theyre underground because their music only resonates with the dead. fukk I look like listening to mothafukkas who rap on weekends? Rap aint the reserves.

 

[Poetical Poltergeist]

It can be various scenarios.

Some rappers want to stay underground.

Others are hoping they blow and possibly will.

And others don't have mass appeal.

 

[Motife43]

Some just flat out suck! Let's be real. Some of the sorriest rappers be the ones talking about "taking it back to the essence" and "real hip-hop." I agree with OPs reasons, but a lot of fans don't want to keep it 100 why certain guys are underground

 

[call_me_step_daddy]

It can be various scenarios.

Some rappers want to stay underground.

Others are hoping they blow and possibly will.

And others don't have mass appeal.

i think thats the biggest bullshyt excuse of all

 

[Jhoon]

i think thats the biggest bullshyt excuse of all

I want to be obscure

 

[H.I.M.]

There's alot more that goes into selling records and appealing to a broad cross section of music consumers than just being a good rapper and creating good/great rap albums & songs. The vast majority of the most commercially successfully rap albums/songs for instance, were able to blow up and become huge by just simply having a catchy single or two. Not because the album or songs have great substance.

And just to make a random example... Kool G Rap is pretty much a career underground artist. I don't think he has one album that has sold more than 200,000-300,000 copies. But he's still widely respected amongst both rap fans & most of the greats in rap. Does him lacking the ability to create several crossover hits and sell a bunch of records mean that he's an inferior MC than say Nelly, whoi has outsold his entire discography about 15 times over with just one of is albums?

 

[CrimsonTider]

No one wants to stay underground.

 

[CrimsonTider]

There's alot more that goes into selling records and appealing to a broad cross section of music consumers than just being a good rapper and creating good/great rap albums & songs. The vast majority of the most commercially successfully rap albums/songs for instance, were able to blow up and become huge by just simply having a catchy single or two. Not because the album or songs have great substance.

And just to make a random example... Kool G Rap is pretty much a career underground artist. I don't think he has one album that has sold more than 200,000-300,000 copies. But he's still widely respected amongst both rap fans & most of the greats in rap. Does him lacking the ability to create several crossover hits and sell a bunch of records mean that he's an inferior MC than say Nelly, whoi has outsold his entire discography about 15 times over with just one of is albums?

Kool g rap doesn't fit this discussion. He was out at a time when there weren't many rappers. Everything was different back then.

 

[KingPapi]

No one wants to stay underground.

AVANT-GARDE WEIRDO SWAG ALL DAY

 

[zerozero]

I think there's also a lot of "luck" involved... heck Em could have stayed underground if he hadn't gotten a couple good breaks

 

[H.I.M.]

Kool g rap doesn't fit this discussion. He was out at a time when there weren't many rappers. Everything was different back then.

Hammer sold about 30-40 Million albums worldwide during G-rap's prime

And alot of his contemporaries were going GOLD & Platinum in their sleep.

 

[CrimsonTider]

Hammer sold about 30-40 Million albums worldwide during G-rap's prime

And alot of his contemporaries were going GOLD & Platinum in their sleep.

He wasn't underground though

And I admit I could be totally off base because I've never heard a g rap song before

Sounds like he would be in the Pusha T type lane.

Pusha isn't underground

 

[FreshAIG]

It depends on the artist.

Some are underground because they want to be while some just can't make the music or don't have the charisma to appeal to the masses.

For example, Chino XL could've been mainstream. He could appeal to females (the most important part of being mainstream) and he has natural charisma in his music, shyt he was signed by Rick Rubin because he saw the potential. But he decided to go the underground, be overly bar heavy, use big words/underground beats etc...so he had that kinda career

Someone like Mf Grimm would never appeal to a mass audience but he can still make great songs for a regional/niche audience but he couldn't make a pop hit I don't think.

 

[nineteeneightysix]

A.) They haven't been discovered yet

and/or

B.) they're just not great enough to appeal to the masses ( a.k.a "they lacking")

i say this because i see people on here steady tryna pump up certain rappers that's been rapping for decades but still haven't gotten a lot of attention..now im not saying they're not good rappers,but how dare you compare these type of dudes to legendary mc's that have made a serious,significant, and respected impact on hiphop as a whole?

shyt's ridiculous

Truth...

(1) Humans have an innate need to express themselves and to be understood...No matter how twisted or 'different' they think they are...We want to belong...

(2) If you are an artist and you don't have a lot of fans, it is because only a few people understand what you are trying to express...

(3) Therefore, OBJECTIVELY speaking, an underground artist has no logical basis to claim that he/she is better than more popular mainstream artists...

(4) And they shouldn't use that "people are brainwashed sheep and blah blah" rationalization either, because there are COUNTLESS example of people gravitating towards artists' whose works were not necessarily popular or mainstream friendly...

In conclusion,
OP is 100% correct..You are underground because (1) you are still trying to make it and/or (2) you just ain't that good at presenting your message in a way that people will understand and appreciate it...

With this said, I don't give credibility to any hip hop forum or statement that does not acknowledge Eminem, Jay Z and 2Pac as the OBJECTIVELY accurate Top 3 GOAT contenders of hip hop in history...

If you ain't got 30 Million records sold, you don't belong in the same sentence as Eminem, Jay Z and 2Pac...Catch Up