Hip-hop is like all other music genres in that many people are drawn in by tha music, delivery, rhythm, etc etc. With this being said there is one BIG difference between hip-hop and mostly all other styles of music. Many, such as myself, were/are truly drawn in to what is being said. Hip-hop started off as street party music but quickly turned into an outlet for artists/MC's to put their story out there. They wanted people to know what was going on in their hood/environment. They wanted people to know why they were mad...when they were happy..what a day in their life is really like. This is what gets most artists their fan base...their die hard ride or die fans. Tha' fact that you can relate to much, if not all of what THEY'RE rhyming about. This is one of tha reasons why it is definitely a must for any "respected" MC to write his/her own rhymes. Tha connection between a fan and an artist is usually as simple as feeling where that MC is coming from on any given track. With pop artists or even R&B artists it's not so much what's being said/sung about as it is how it's being sung. You can be "singing" about something that should really "touch you" but if it's being sung in a horrible pitch you're not going to listen twice. With hip-hop for tha most part it's what's being said first...then comes tha beat and how's it being said. In my honest opinion ANY MC that doesn't write their own songs (and I'm not talking about taking a recommendation here or there or a bar here or there...I'm talking full blown "my ghostwriter wrote this whole track and I'm just gonna spit it in my voice" shit) should be considered a pop artist and not an MC. I don't care if you're telling people to "Snap your fingers and move your hips like this!" or if you're telling people to "Fight tha powers that be!"...let them be YOUR OWN words...Peace
