Nice post.
The Tupac/Rakim thing is interesting because I feel Tupac might be the turning point in this history, when personality really overtook skills in terms of how we judge rappers. This isn't perfect, as there's lots of drama/personality in
I need money, I used to be a stick-up kid/So I think of all the devious things I did/I used to roll up, this is a hold up, ain
’t nothin' funny/Stop smiling, be still, don’t nothin' move but the money/But now I learned to earn 'cause I’m righteous...
and certainly guys like Biz Markie got by on personality, while Joe Budden is mad that Vibe thinks Too $hort is a better rapper than him. Still Tupac was unlike Biz or $hort or even Cube in embracing a more complex, contradictory persona, in a way that changed the game.
I dunno, I like Rakim better than Pac, and Boosie better than Blu, which might mean I'm just a hypocrite in evaluating old vs new, or conditioned cuz my dad played Rakim in the house a lot when I was 10, or that Pac's persona never did much for me but Boosie's did, despite their similarities.
The thing is that Blu accepts the way the game's changed and doesn't try to be a Black Thought type throwback, he lays his whole personality out there, but it's just not that interesting. To go back to Rakim, what does make him interesting is that he's kinda this enigma, giving you just enough of his personality so that you want to figure it all out. Pac and Boosie are enigmas too, but different kinds, they lay all their shit out and display these contradictions so the appeal is to reconcile all their personae. Blu lays all his shit out, but there's not so many contradictions so no one cares.
Sorry if this comment ends up not making sense.
I can see how you could find Rakim compelling in an enigmatic way, but I feel like I respect him more than I actually enjoy listening to him. With Tupac, I think it's the exact opposite, where the critical part of me thinks "This guy basically redid the same eight songs over and over his entire career," but I can't help but appreciate his conviction and candor, plus for the first few years I listened to rap he was my favorite artist.
Hey, I came over from Jordan's blog. Solid post, I feel like I was thinking that in the back of my head recently. Like one reason conscious rap doesn't win is because the nice, level-headed guys doing it just aren't that interesting. I intv'd this conscious rap dude and was transcribing it and as I was doing so, I was thinking "Wow, this mofo is boring as hell. He speaks in so many cliches and he's hella corny in an unironic way." I think their level-headedness allows rappers like that to focus on the technical side of rap so they can flow like any other dude, drop multi-syllable rhymes like nothing. But then they just can't say much anything compelling or forget to do so. Anyway, solid post
"I feel like I was thinking that in the back of my head recently"
Hah, my bad. Not to sound conceited. I meant to say that you put perfectly in words what I was feeling and wanting to say but didn't know how to.
That's cool--I know what you meant. The lack of compelling personalities in conscious rap is frustrating, because it starts to seem like you have to be an asshole to be a good rapper. I don't think this is true, but I do think you need to have some sort of complexity as a person and the ability to dramatize who you are past the point of just writing good rhymes and rapping them well.
Cosign completely on a totally great post. This is exactly why I still think a concept such as swag is not to be belittled or laughed at.
Its kind of an obvious truth that rap can't be measured purely as poetry on paper - even hard headed backpack rap fans have got to know this on some level coz we've all probably had the experience of quoting apparently great rap lines to non rap fans, and having it fall completely flat coz its outside of the dramatic context and personality that the rapper originally brought.
I do think these great solid-writing, poor-delivery rappers need to respected for their skills, but its annoying if they cling on to their limitations as a source of pride. True school bullshit. Even worse if they are adamant in their refusal to recognize why someone like a Wayne, Kanye, Boosie or Jeezy are more popular than they are.
I think Blu's a good writer and has his moments (my fave is My World Is) but yeah there's a lack of compelling, memorable moments that make me want to return to his records
nailed it. to be honest i'm not really familiar with Blu, but i completely agree with the overarching argument here.
honestly i think the only reason "swag" gets shit on as a criteria for judging rappers is because it's become a kinda stupid buzzword. i mean i don't anyone'd seriously deny that personality, presence, charisma, whatever you wanna call it isn't important.
that's also why arguing something like "well the beats aren't very good, and their flow isn't as good as this guy, but...it's a lyrical masterpiece!" are so pointless. it's like, who cares? this is music we're talking about right, not a book
my bad for that post being somewhat grammatically retarded
while well thought out and respectfully written, what you wrote just aint it.
delivery, presence etc, are not more important than the lyrics, they are EQUALLY important.
impact on popular culture is irrelevant as a billion other influences come in to play as to whether something is a hit. and the fact that this "affecting the masses" idea is increasingly being used as a factor in somethins artistic merit should really be worrying more people.
damn you fif', you didnt just get people talkin bout the "numbers", you got them talkin bout them on as an equal to th quality of th music.
it used to just be pop, fly-by-night fans of a genre that talked bout shit like that seriously, but now people who love th music do too.
sorry for the rant daniel, evryone does it really, your blog was just where the straw broke th camels back.
really tho, presence= lyrics= timing= cadence= charachter= pronounciation= a billion other vocal technicalities i dont know th words for.
^RATING something artistic merit
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