'Niche' rappers & their effect on the game

[Muhannad]

Pt. 2

Eminem blew in the late 90ties. He had been trying to get on unsuccesfully. Dre picked him up, gave him that much needed co-sign and after “My name is” real n*ggas saw he could actually spit so we embraced him. Alot of white folks who liked but didn’t feel represented 100% by these black mainstream rappers finally had someone who looked like the mand rapped from their perspective. Em became their Great White Hope (or Hype ). While that was understandable – black people might have felt the same when the Williams sisters started to beat players in tennis – Shady brought alot of fans in that didn’t care for the genre and only stanned for him. These people would go around saying “i don’t like rap but I like Eminem” and stuff like that.

It becomes a problem when the fans support the artist no matter what he drops because they feel he legitimizes their involvement in this genre. It becomes a problem when fans don’t hold an emcee accountable for the music they put out because they have a vested interest in keeping the artist on top commercially/ saleswise. While I like Eminem and feel he’s nice he has dropped some garbage over the years. No other rapper of his stature could get away with dropping wack singles and albums like he did. Even he had to admit relapse was wack as f*ck. His wack albums still sold more than doper albums from other rappers because Shady had fans that’ll support him no matter what...

 

[Muhannad]

Pt. 3

I see a similar thing happening with a rapper like Kanye West. Kanye and Eminem ain’t really comparable skillswise but what they have in common is that their fanbase consists mainly of people who like for reasons other than their skillset. While Kanye was never nice he definately added something to the game. Before him black mainstream rappers were marketed tough guys, streetn*ggas or thugs. ‘Ye rapped from a regular n*gga perspective, had selfdoubt in his lyrics and was open about his feelings. While more than a decade before ‘Ye blew you had acts like the Native Tongues, The Pharcyde, The Nonce etc., none of these acts were mainstream like these rappers that rapped from a tough guy’s/ streetn*gga’s perspective. Kanye was that mainstream rapper alongside rappers like Jay Z.

Alot of offbrand n*ggas who never felt represented by these thug n*ggas latched on to Kanye. Not every n*gga is a tough guy/ streetn*gga who is interested in that thug lifestyle.

Now it has gotten to the point this n*gga can drop anything and his fans will at it up, just like Eminem. His fans will find reasons to not face the fact that album is wack. On and offline I’ve seen fans say you need to listen to the album from back to front, listen to it intoxicated, let it grow on you etc.

I think these niche artists and the fans they bring with ‘em are a bad thing because the artists aren’t being held accountable for the music they put out. They ain’t pushed by their fans. While Nas had stans his fans still checked him for dropping singles like “You owe Me” and albums like “Nastradamus”. These niche artists ain’t getting checked so they feel they can drop anything.

Who agrees with me and who doesn't?

 

[Muhannad]

Reading back and gotta admit it's way too much text. I'm used typing fast so these titangraphs ain't nothing to me, but I gotta use less words to make these sh*ts more readable. I wouldn't read this if someone else made it TBH.

I'll re-do this thread when I feel like it.