@Judahonthebeats Choose Wisely Video

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Interesting Article I wanted to share...... (mentions one of our own)

2009 Will Be The Year More Rappers Walk Away From Rap

Monday Jan 5 3:09 PM CST posted by Paul Cantor


Maybe, just maybe, one of those Freshman 10 is going to blow up, or at

the very least become very popular very soon. And I mean popular in the

modern sense of the word, as in having mad myspace friends, millions of

youtube parody videos, and about 6 months of relevance, tops (ask Soulja

Boy how that feels, his career is officially dead and he will be a

Vanilla Ice-like punchline in rap shortly, if rappers ever get back to

using punchlines, that is). That artist is going to be Kid Cudi. 


Now I'm not saying Asher Roth isn't talented, that Mickey Factz isn't

going to wind up on your television set shortly (mums the word), that

B.O.B. isn't the 2nd coming of Andre 3K, that Wale won't put DC on the

map.... no no no. Everyone on that cover deserved to be there, and I

think they will all have careers. 


The difference between Cudi and these other guys, at least for the time

being, is one thing. He, unlike his compadres, has a bona fide hit

record. Bona fide in the sense that a) the song is popular b) it will be

on every radio station, literally, day n nite, shortly. 


I point this song out for one specific reason- it's not even a rap song.

Sure it's got a few words that rhyme, but that's just the poetic nature

of music for ya. Ok, the rap version has kind of a hip-hop drum beat to

it, but what modern form of pop music other than straight up rock

doesn't? 


XXL's Editor in Chief, Datwon Thomas, and I, were exchanging texts some

time last week (I want to say, New Year's Eve?). We were talking about

Ludacris' Theater of the Mind LP, and how it was one of the best albums

of 2008, but that nobody really fucked with it. My assessment was that

Luda, unlike his contemporaries (TI and.... TI?) opted to re-enter the

rap game straight spitting, while TI, for example, came out harmonizing

like he was Teddy Pendergrass on "Whatever U Like." Sure, TI still raps.

>But the song that put him over the top for his Paper Trail LP was a song

he practically "sang."


Then the strangest thing happened. 


I got an email to my blackberry from god knows who, talking about how

Lupe Fiasco had formed a new band called Japanese Cartoon, and was

singing with a British accent while calling himself Percival Fats.


I listened to the Japanese Cartoon songs and scratched my head, thinking

about where rap is going in 2009.


And it's clearly moving even further away from traditional rap. Artists

are jumping ship from the hip-hop genre left and right, heading towards

doing other forms of music, and embracing their creative selves.


I interviewed 50 Cent a few months before G-Unit's T.O.S. dropped, and

asked Curtis if he felt like he and his compatriots felt creatively

stuck in a box. He replied:


Yayo gotta do some gangsta shit, Banks gotta be lyrical, and I gotta do

something that works in the club. That is probably one of the bigger and

broadest descriptions of this actual group. We've been typecast in that

way. 


It was an interesting response from Fif, because he was kind of

acknowledging that a lot of what G-Unit does creatively comes from what

people expect of them. And I sensed a bit of frustration about that fact

when i asked the question.


But at the time, Lil Wayne was tearing up the charts with "Lollilop," on

a song where he too, practically sings the whole track. T-Pain and Akon

have made their careers harmonizing songs into sort of an R&B/rap hybrid

form of music. 


And Kanye closed out the year with 808s and Heartbreak, which rap fans

hated, but regular music fans loved. Correlation? Perhaps.


Maybe it's that fans and critics of rap resist change. I really cannot,

for the life of me, find a genre of music and an industry other than

rap- most glaringly at the mainstream level- that is so behind the

times. Talk about stuck in the mud. 


And that's why in 2009, you'll see the Kanye effect ripple through the

urban side of the music business, with more artists going the Lupe

route, espousing rap for singing in foreign accents and just doing

whatever the fuck they want. 


Because see, right now, opinion leaders and gatekeepers within the music

business don't have nearly don't have nearly as much value as they once

did. This is the Pro Tools era, and the social networking era. Where the

technology allows you to make any kind of music you want, day n nite....

and when you're looking for someone to play a little guitar riff on your

track, you simply send out a Myspace bulletin or a Twitter. 


The true creative people in hip-hop, they just want to do whatever the

fuck they want. And that's the bottom line. The people who are trying to

fit them into some neat little box, prepare to be seriously disappointed. You're just seeing the start of this shift. The exodus

from rap has officially begun.


Thanks xxl!

15 comments:

Phil said...

This is a totally pessimistic view that has no balance whatsoever. Thumbs down.

DJ Torkaveli said...

I don't necessarily agree with the Kid Cudi endorsement, but think about it.


Rap does not sell


People BUY singing
People DOWNLOAD rap


No matter how great of a rapper you are, if you choose to continue traditional rap, you choose not to sell records.


Look at artists from the DMV as an example

Singers who made it big
J.Holiday
Mya
Christina Miliam
Ginuwine
Raheem Devaughn

Rapper who made it big
uh.....
uh.......
uh.........
hopefully Wale


LOL

Chris Barz said...

i agree somewhat...

but homie check this out...

The FRONTMAN for Japanese Cartoon is NOT EVEN LUPE FIASCO its a british dude named Percival Fats...

its a big misconception and rumor...

Lupe fiances that band and is a producer for the band...NOT the singer (who is british and just sounds like lupe)

MySpace.com/Japanesecartoon

and

read for urself...

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/fiasco%20not%20part%20of%20japanese%20cartoon_1090850

Mass Potential said...

Everything I was gonna say -- Torkaveli already said...

Mr. 40. Watt said...

DJ Torkaveli brings up a good point, but if you ask me WALE & Charles Hamilton got da lead right now...& not cause of talent. 4 words..."Nike Boots" "Brooklyn Girls". DC radio stations play nothing but billboard's top 40-50 songs. I don't hear any of those 10 MC's in rotation on da radio round here or see em on da charts so nobody has a hit, but I see "Nike Boots" & "Brooklyn Girls" in rotation on MTV.

- Mr. 40. Watt -

www.deucedouble.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

I liked it more when rappers where tryna be actors, because at least it didn't create industry hysteria, where people are thinking they gotta sing and use auto-tune just to be successful artist. Wale and others who stick to the true essense of hip-hop won't have any problems getting fame because people want that back. This singin and shit is a phase and when people get tired of it they'll look to who was keepin it 100. And when the smoke clears you'll see the faces you expected too.

Anonymous said...

who the fuck is Kid Cudi?

is he supposed to be from DC or something?

never heard of him

and Rated R and Don Juan have been doing that rap/singing thing since 2004 so whatever


lol

-FOLKZ

TOPP DOGG HILL TATTOOS
4911 GEORGIA AVE NW
WASHINGTON, D.C.

iWork said...

First off... pretty good article, but Kanye didn't start the switch, Outkast did with Speakerbox/Love Below... wich rap fans hated, but music fans thought was a masterpiece. I do see Hip-Hop moving in that direction in the next year, where every rapper will embrace his inner Ne-Yo, and start singing... Cool, but when I think of Hip-Hop, I dont think of Day N Nite...

When I first Heard Kid Cudi, I didn't think he was a rapper at all, I place him in the Gnarles Barkley type of Hip Hop genre. The freshmen 10 is actually going to fuck the game completly up. Fans dont wanna hear a rapper singing, they wanna hear lyrics, story telling, and great song compilation, which everyone of those cats have.

In 2009 I see the Freshmen 10 giving the "Big Wigs" a run for there money. With artist like Asher Roth, Wale, Charles Hamilton,B.O.B, Kid Cudi, etc... bringing the fun back to Hip-Hop through lyrics and not repetative hooks with an accompanying dance. The coposer of the article had valid points but not valid reasoning.

Indeed in this pro-tools era people are free to compose any song they want, which means that they wont have to make a song and dance for the labels, they can give us fresh. I think that the labels hear songs like Day N Nite, and will request artist to step outside of their own creativity, and try to copy what the "Internet Hipsters" are into... so thats why you have artist like T.I. singing songs...

Kanye had a rough year so, I really expected something like that from him... still think it was a good album but not his best work.

Check out my hip hop podcast at:
www.reelwrapradio.mypodcast.com, we rep the DMV on there to the fullest.

Anonymous said...

Kid Cudi, is from Cleveland, he's signed to Kanye's G.O.O.D Music label.

Anonymous said...

lol I'm feeling DJ Torkaveli..I just would like to add rap records fail because

1. They are beginning rushed to make profit..if a rap artist gets a hit they drop it, with out actually working it...which would have been cool before the download era. Remeber when u use to hear like 3 singles before they dropped the album.

2.The industry is ran by (no offense) a bunch of old white men, who dont know rap, dont know how to market urban music

3. Alot of rappers got signed off of myspace hits...lol u can pay for myspace hits..like I said these executives are so fucking clueless..

4. To Many "Yes Men"I remeber sitting in session with PussyCat dolls and Jimmy's in their, bunch of people from interscope and he's really tryin to get the real opinion about a record, but he cant cause evrybody a yes man. I was like the only person that was like naw to record, now look at they sells. To many Yes Men

i dont wanna guess numbers on Wale, Tabi or Don Juan just buy the damn CD when it comes out and go to the show cause thats where the money is for any artist whether u sell a million records or not

Damn Judah lately its been some thought provoking shit....

3STARS2BARS said...

GREAT ARTICLE AN GREAT COMMENTS
ALL AROUND THE BOARD
KEEP UM COMING

Anonymous said...

ok so yeah Cudi has a single a smash at that and believe they will push it to our radio. That is what wale is missing a "single" mike boots isnt a single its a record that they trying to keep alive until he probably delivers a single which will be tough because me personally he cant make singles. Album out in march yeah right his single would be poppin right now. This leads me to think something aint right over there. This is a singles, spins and rotation game and wale don't even have regular rotation with nike boots and thats the video on mtv

DJ Torkaveli said...

Yea I see a pushback in Wale's future

Anonymous said...

I hope they dont push my man back Torkaveli... but he is on Interscope, so that just might happen... Yeah Radio guy I dont think Nike Boots is "single" material either, but it has all the content of one with the "Materialistic" content of the song, but it still moves above alot of peoples heads... I dont think alot of people can get the metaphores that he spits...

this is one of the hottest lines in the song:

"nobody rep for the skins, they busy cheering them stars
it's ironic, it's the same for the artists
rather than buy our songs, they busy cheering the stars"

In Nike boots Wale brings education in his lyrics but the hook is what gets peoples attention... Thats why I dont think it is "Single" material, it's to smart for the radio... LOL!

Plus he talkin directly to the DMV, so other cities in the country might not fully understand the song.

Anonymous said...

I agree that Wale's (album not career) will be pushed back but he has the talent and at interscope im sure he has the resources to come up with a "single", so it will take time but have complete faith. And as for Kid Cudi he is in a entirely different lane. Wale gives me that old hip hop feeling, kid cudi puts me in the mind state of the next person to release a "808's & Heartbreaks" type of album. Heard Nike boots on the radio, never heard day n'nite EVER on the radio in the 757 area.