When did conscious rap become "uncool"?

[Love Sosa]

2pac before Death Row = conscious
2pac during Death Row= Commercial

All Eyez On Me was a commercial album, but 7 Day theory gave us White Man'z World. Pac was a very conscious rapper and dude in general. Had plenty of great conscious songs

 

[vaudevillevillain]

that was a Ice Cube song. Flavor was on the track before that, "I'm Only Out for One Thang"

u right but still..

his verse on that coulda been on the song after

 

[GPBear]

It was the pinnacle of Black cool though. Sales don't reflect what was hot in rap back then. PE, X Clan and all the others back then had the attention of the Black youth. Now I'm sorry your cac charts don't record that but it is what it is...

Edit: The Pro Black movement went beyond music - T Shirts, a resurgence of Black Frats, African medallions, etc. all of which inspired Spike to make X and even TV shows at the time - like the A Different World, Fresh Prince and Family Matters noted it ...

yeah I'm a cac, but you're bringing up A Different World, Fresh Prince, and Family Matters up as if they're fukking Roots.

the epitome of pan-africanism, note the red, black, and green shirt and matching suspenders.

 

[TEH]

yeah I'm a cac, but you're bringing up A Different World, Fresh Prince, and Family Matters up as if they're fukking Roots.

the epitome of pan-africanism, note the red, black, and green shirt and matching suspenders.

You would pick the show with the weakest African references, but they would wear Kente cloth, kofia hats, medallions etc. on these shows that I referenced. I'm glad they did rep. the culture because outsiders always want to rewrite our history. At least with popular TV shows repping Black culture it is preserved in time as fact. If you are not Black and were not alive back then don't fight history just sit and learn. True students of life always want to learn the facts and not skew them, White supremacists never want the real truth to be told.

 

[Mowgli]

When cacs put millions of dollars behind gangster rap

 

[Barnett114]

It was never "cool". Conscious themes have always existed.

Even from rappers like Too $hort.

The problem with many conscious rappers isn't the lyrical content, it is that the actual music simply isn't good. They fail to realize that they're selling music, i.e., Immortal Technique.

Public Enemy, Ice Cube from 1990-1993, Jeru the Damaja, etc their music was sonically great. It wasn't just pseudo intellectualism over wack beats.

 

[Zero]

Being "conscious" or "gangster" or really any fukking caricature is of course
going to fall to the way side.
You either bring hot shyt to the table or you don't.
Common completely refutes this point, dude experienced a late career resurgence
in popularity NOT because he was "Conscious" but because his production was BANGING.


Kendrick and J. Cole aren't really "Conscious" either, they're every men who have some socially
conscious records but their writing extends past "Konshush Brotha" cliche's.

So, being "conscious" didn't become uncool, becoming a boring, condescending, walking
cliche became uncool.

repped

 

[Awesome Wells]

It was never "cool". Conscious themes have always existed.

Even from rappers like Too $hort.

The problem with many conscious rappers isn't the lyrical content, it is that the actual music simply isn't good. They fail to realize that they're selling music, i.e., Immortal Technique.

Public Enemy, Ice Cube from 1990-1993, Jeru the Damaja, etc their music was sonically great. It wasn't just pseudo intellectualism over wack beats.

THIS.

 

[Thatrogueassdiaz]

After Rawkus Records went under

THIS

 

[rantanamo]

I think most just don't want to be preached at. So if its not in a wrapper most like, it won't come across. When the preaching seperated from the mainstream beat is when it became uncool.

 

[3rdWorld]

It was a traditional business responding to the new market..It died in order to accommodate the fragile ego's of the 90% of cacs who buy rap records..

When it became evident cacs loved the music, and were buying it wholesale..messages of Black unity that make cacs uncomfortable were wiped out in favor of gangsta shyt and negativity that cacs readily associate with Blacks thus putting the core market at ease..

How does this basic fact evade most people??

 

[Wacky D]

After Rawkus Records went under

rawkus was alright but they were never considered cool.

plus they were the main flag-bearers of pretentious whiney rap.

How is it uncool....Kendrick is the most dikkridden rapper currently besides Drake.

kendrick is dikkridden by internet dweebs & white boys.

same with j.cole, who people keep mentioning in this thread..

After Pac died.. He was the last conscience rapper with mainstream appeal.. Then the jiggy/bling era began which we are still fighting our way out of..

bone thugs-n-harmony?
wutang clan?
nasty nas?
jimmy jones?
no limit soldiers?
etc etc

 

[Indiglow Meta (R$G)]

i wouldnt call k dot a conscious rapper.. especially making a song about drinking

that was an anti-alcohol song, actually.

 

[raoulduke187]

90% of conscious rappers are some struggle nikkas, extra corny and ain't about shyt

ain't nobody tryin to hear the teacher's pet rap

 

[raoulduke187]

ol' 35 years old still livin in they moms basement smoking weed all day and rapping about how the world is fukked up ass nikkas

ol' hipster ass read two books and thinking they're Albert Einstein ass nikkas