When did this genre become so full of dishonest artists? I sit in studio sessions and watch artists go in the booth time and time again to create fictitious personas of themselves. I know most of them personally. I know where they grew up and went to school. I know that they don’t sell drugs, shoot people, or pimp hoes. They don’t even own a car to get to the studio.
Their fiends and associates aren’t buying or supporting them because they all know it’s bullshit. Who are they fooling? They expect fans to relate to content that even they themselves can’t relate to. Think about that for a second.
Look at who’s winning in the game. Kendrick, Eminem, Macklemore, Kanye, Drake…you may not be a fan of the music but neither is trying to paint a fraudulent picture. And as imperfect as that may be sometimes, people can relate to that vulnerability. Rick Ross makes good music but his credibility is falling apart before our eyes. And we all want to believe in our artists.
Many up and coming artists that cross my path claim that they are not in the game to acquire wealth. I can understand that, but if you’re in it for the art, why do you feel the need to be something other than yourself when there is no risk involved. And why does that other self consist of a destructive lifestyle that you have never experienced?
Hip hop at its best is the realest shit on earth but often it becomes a caricature of itself. Realness is the new black. Everybody is trying to come up and we know you are too. So don’t feed me bullshit. We don’t believe you. And stop copying the losers. Kendrick is killin’, Kanye is taking chances, and you still got an album full of trap beats that you downloaded somewhere. Where are you going with that?
Then again, everybody is not an artist. And maybe it’s just too easy to gain entry into hip hop. I mean, I don’t think there are a lot of Country and Pop music beat sites out there. And it takes a lot more time to learn how to play an instrument or hold a note. If you’re not doing something radically different, you’re going to fade into obscurity. We have too many choices today. But I’m in the same boat with you. If I posted the same hip hop gossip here along with the same hip hop album releases, there would be no reason for you to come to this blog. You can get that shit anywhere.
It’s like this. Whether or not you’re trying to get rich with this, you gotta either go hard or go home. We can use your space if you’re not seriously trying to add something new to the picture. Because it’s overcrowded anyway.
