That is true, there are certain artists whose fans are an...issue. Before eminem, it was 2pac. I'd meet so many inbred white trailer trash motherfuckers who worshiped at the alter of pac and did everything they could to try and act like him based purely on his music. The biggest hit to 2pac's fame was eminem arriving on the scene. Every single pac stan I knew suddenly forgot he existed and became an eminem stan the minute he showed up.
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GAF-Hop |OT9/9/99| African Substitute Teachers Run NY
- Thread starter IrishNinja
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That is true, there are certain artists whose fans are an...issue. Before eminem, it was 2pac. I'd meet so many inbred white trailer trash motherfuckers who worshiped at the alter of pac and did everything they could to try and act like him based purely on his music. The biggest hit to 2pac's fame was eminem arriving on the scene. Every single pac stan I knew suddenly forgot he existed and became an eminem stan the minute he showed up.
Eminem is an interesting case because his music is 1/3 pop stuff, 1/3 absurdist humor type tracks, and 1/3 serious personal type tracks. Understandably, it gets hard trying to separate these three personae when you are listening to his music. That's the underlying issue with being tongue in cheek, when exactly are you kidding?
At any rate at least this is something different. We havent talked lyrics or artistic intent in a minute.
Midnight Believer
Member
yes and yes.
the former bolded, kinda reminds me of my initial thoughts on Das Racist, like the whole, we're not really trying, but we are, so that way we can split the difference like hedging a bet.
I guess I can just relate to that. I have a fucked up sense of humor and I like to go as close to the "line" as I can and then cross the fuck over to gauge people's reactions. But I can also get really serious at times. And there are people who can't seem to handle one or the other because they contrast too much. So I have people who can't fucking stand to be around me because they see these two extremes that they can't process. In general I feel skitzo as fuck most of the time. I'll be on my "fuck a bitch, all women are hoes" mode, and then suddenly get all captain save a hoe out of nowhere . One minute I'll be going out of my way to help the people around me and the next I'm being a raging asshole. I'll be all self pitying over being a single 31 year old one minute and then out enjoying that fact the next. So I guess it doesn't bother me from eminem when he is presenting 2 or 3 drastically different personas and asking people to process all of them because I do the same in my everyday life.
Yeah but
you're actually funny and eminem isnt
Most truly great rappers have a couple persona or lanes they can ride or switch to, it's what keeps their music fresh. A lot of criticism of these rappers stems from ideological inconsistencies stemming from this (Is it oochie wally or is it one mic? Is it black girl lost or shorty owe you for ice?), but the real story is that most interesting people are walking, talking, borderline mentally ill hypocrites.
danny brown, perfect example. how he can really play on your perceptions of his celebrity
haha well I aint't gonna argue with that. Em used to make me laugh my ass off though, in the ss and mmlp days. He can still get a chuckle out of me but not like he used to. Not even close. So i can see that.
And you are right, to me the most interesting people are the ones who "don't have their shit together" and aren't functioning the way they are stereotypically and generically "supposed to" as human beings. The ones who are as you described, borderline mentally ill hypocrites.
To be honest thats one of the concerns I have with Kendrick in the future. He is kind of a boring persona when it really gets down to it. People love him on the mic and he has a Nas like savant way of describing things, but how far will it take him? It's also why Rocky has two more albums of relevance tops.
for now drake has the market cornered on being an unlikeable shitface
Rocky is way more interesting to me than Kdot.
TheKaeptain
Banned
I need more Rocky "Back and Forth" interviews from Vice, those are pretty damn good and always a fun time.
He'll be great on What Not to Wear in three years.
Jest Chillin
Member
All signs are pointing to the Deluxe tracks on MMLP2 being dope. At least that's the impressions that I'm seeing so far. Production being better and lyrics and flow being better as well.
for me it's that he's not clever. his level of skill becomes irrelevant at this point. it's all "you hurt me, so im gonna obliterate you you all." or "i have this gift so im persecuted", it's no fun. it's vindictive and angry. i actually wanna hear more horrorcore style from him, instead of the "billionaire woes" ground he keeps beating to death. also he says the word f--got enough times on here to make anyone cringe
to be fair all late 90s - 00s rappers are
at this point
Jay- i'm rich
Em- i'm angry
Nas- I lost
50- im a douche
Cam- im cool
time for some coats to be hung on the rack tbh
to be fair all late 90s - 00s rappers are
at this point
Jay- i'm rich
Em- i'm angry
Nas- I lost
50- im a douche
Cam- im cool
time for some coats to be hung on the rack tbh
Kanye- IM A GOD
Goatye
Godye
Gawdye
to be fair all late 90s - 00s rappers are
at this point
Jay- i'm rich
Em- i'm angry
Nas- I lost lol
50- im a douche
Cam- im cool
time for some coats to be hung on the rack tbh
spot on. yeah im reading that list, like yeah, id rather hear other rappers at this point.
my trip to austin my boy went to a pharcyde show with two members present, none of whom were Fatlip,
i couldnt muster the strength to go, even on vacation
that gif is awesome, so not removing it from quote
to be fair all late 90s - 00s rappers are
at this point
Jay- i'm rich
Em- i'm angry
Nas- I lost
50- im a douche
Cam- im cool
time for some coats to be hung on the rack tbh
But that's just the natural progression. If you have said it all you have nothing to say. Will happen to KDOT or any new hot rapper. There is only so much ground to cover. Politics? Drugs? Racism? Humor? All already done and nothing new being covered by any artist.
The trick is to build a fan-base and to open up enough to carry the fans throughout that person's journey as a person or artist. For example I think Jay makes more fun easier to listen to music than Em but I think Jay fails to main his ability to rap competently or take his fans along. Jay is smart to not go back to his old subject matter though because talking about being a drug dealer now makes no sense. But I know what to expect when I listen to Jay and when I listen to Em. And I can enjoy it for what it is. If I want the same Jay subjects I enjoyed them rapping about 15 years ago I would have to go to a new act a younger rapper.
Em might be covering the same things but that's who he is. He can't talk about selling drugs. He never did. He can't talk about girls or cars or whatever your stereotypical rap subjects are because they were never a part of his style or upbringing. He can talk about his feelings towards Kim, his mom, his dad, or his battle with fame and privacy. What else would you want him to talk about? Politics and he is a fascist.
/stan. But Kanye is the best at doing what you described. Literally went from rapping about getting looks going into clothing stores for being black, to being black at the fucking top.
That's why I said it's time to retire, basically.
Um sure.
I don't even think Kanye knows what he is talking about. Did enjoy Black Skinhead being used for a Motorola commercial though.
But why? I mean people don't have to listen to it or like it. They can ignore it or get the same sense from other artists but why do rappers get to a point where people feel like they should retire?
I say let them keep going until they want to. If younger cats surpass them let them. It still helps the genre and industry grow.
I think the industry needs big iconic figure to release albums now and then.
nah, he knows what he's doing.
I mean.... They can keep going however they like, and people can keep buying. However, when you reach that creatively bankrupt point you might as well just go full exec producer. Kinda tarnishes your legacy a little to continue on with weak albums. Plus, those old guys are all in competition with those younger ones, except they have a stacked deck of millions of dollars in their corner / producers / industry and distribution connects... it's just kind of unfair really. Plenty of the rich guys have had the grace to bow out and just drop a couple features whenever they feel like rapping. Hell, most of the poor guys too.
He's free to do that. It's just an opinion thrown out there by people who feel he's out of touch. I have no problem with him chugging out new content. My opinion is that he should probably just retire before he embarrasses himself further or just move on to being a feature. He could help a lot of new people coming into the game.
I agree, except I also think that hip hop should have its own version of the aging rockstar. Jay/Ye are the closest to that, but Jay's gonna have to stop releasing the kind of shit hes making if he wants to hit that aging star stadium status.
Time to release a folk-rap album.
Been a min since I posted here (I lurk still time to time) but talking about the roadmap of these 90's and early 00's rappers I gotta wonder where everyone's current favorite K Dot will end up a decade from now. Not many rappers change up their style alot except for maybe production.
Do you guys see him changing alot in his sophomore and later albums?
EDIT: This goes for all new class honestly
Do you guys see him changing alot in his sophomore and later albums?
EDIT: This goes for all new class honestly
yeah, i'm speaking strictly for me, i just dont wanna listen to the petty, negative, revenge stuff anymore, if others do, no harm
i think it's fitting that eminem was paired with the, long in the tooth, innovation-less Call of Duty series for marketing purposes,
so where i dont lose sleep if someone buys eminem or call of duty, i do wish they would broaden their horizons a bit more
Somewhere between Game and Bishop Lamont
yeah im gonna cop that saltine cover jawn right now for lunch
Kdot was smart to make his songs have deeper meanings than first glance, and introspection can constantly evolve as a subject matter in lyrics, so it's a good lane, and one that only opened in the last 7 years or so, before then no one really wanted to hear some emotional ruminations on existential crisis that surround the rap culture, or even this whole im an underdog/outsider, it's still new enough to be interesting, more so than the dead horse list
I hope you realize how incongruous this statement is given that Ye is on his 6th album at 36 and Jay is on his 12th at age 43. Why are you including Ye in this conversation, he doesn't belong in it. He's not old enough nor creatively dry. Are you just doing it because you feel the need to mention Kanye on some compulsion shit, lol?
Jay has a full catalogue, he should just retire and tour pretty much.
Oh, agreed. I wasn't clear on that- those two are the closest right now to have the potential to be that. I don't think Jay is at that level either, but hes closer. I just think financially, name-recognition, musically- those 2 have the best shot. Maayyyyybe the Wu, but those dudes will never get their shit togeter.
was with it for like 2-5 seconds, then it lost me and then it lost itself.
Rastafarian42
Member
Is a elephant heavy ?
The five tracks on the bonus are better than a lot of the standard ones. Headlights and Brainless are lucky I enjoy those two.
WanderingWind
Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
Just landed in Chi-town. Off to talk some sense into Lupe, brb
After giving mmlp2 another go, this time through headphones, I came away feeling it a bit more. I really like Bad Guy, Evil Twin, So Much Better, Legacy,Brainless, Rap God. I tolerate The Monster, Headlights, Rhyme or Reason. I will use the Esch scaled and say 9/16. Which still makes it a much more disappointing album than Relapse and Recovery. The production is the most disappointing aspect. It's like the opposite of Jay Z's MCHG for me.
Edit: probably better than Relapse but the disappointment is fresher.
Edit: probably better than Relapse but the disappointment is fresher.
Weren't you going to Germany?
That's because you assume people who enjoy Em or CoD only enjoy those things exclusively. Its why its sad and pathetic whenever someone's rap cred is questioned the minute they like Em or mention Em as their favorite. "DO YOU EVEN LISTEN TO ANY OTHER RAP?".
Sure those people exist but they exist for other artists like say Kanye or artists in other genres too. I don't get why it riles people up. I know people who claim they can only listen to rap like Kanye cause you know he doesn't talk about degrading stuff all other rappers talk about. Enough variety out there thankfully for all sorts of rap. Or even non rap when it comes to Yeezus.
You could also look at it this way. Tons of people who might not have heard of K.Dot or given him a chance will hear him on Em's new album and might check him out now. And K.Dot has enough solid material to hook people in and keep them there as fans.
If studios or labels were pushing them to keep putting material out I'd say I agree. But Jay Z took a break when he was tired of rap. Em took 5 years off. Kanye puts out non rap albums. I think these guys (and only using these 3 as examples cause of the freedom I think they have achieved) and others like them only put out music when they want to or because they want to.
And I don't see them blocking younger or new rappers. Personally the set up for the music industry in general and the artists inability to crack the code holds them back/down far more than anything else. Enough dudes have shown different lanes to achieve commercial success and if a new artist can't learn from that emulate and innovate than thats on them.
eat at Kumas Corner
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