I have been a long time lover of rap music. It all started when I was in second grade and my teenage uncle picked my up to give me a ride in his new car. He had subwoofers in the back and it was the first time I have ever seen something like this. I had already been introduced to rap music from one of my friends at school. I was born in 1988 and when I was in 2nd grade there were fellas like Biggy, Snoop, and Coolio on MTV. Needless to say, the bumping of the subwoofers made me smile, and I fell in love. Rap isn't the only music that I enjoy, I actually enjoy many different kinds of music but rap has always held the #1 place in my musical heart.
My problem now days is that I fully believe that we are products of our environment. I strongly believe that. And personally I find the "mainstream" rap to be nothing but a bunch of negativity. Most of the music is about cars, clothes, guns, drugs, gangs, violence, etc... These are not the things that should be repeated in these songs as the reoccurring theme but for some reason the rich people at the record labels just keep seeking out new fresh meat to promote along with these common negative themes. Personally, I enjoy the rap that is about real life and I believe that is where hip hop originated. It was a way for individuals to express themselves, often expressing thoughts and feelings about their struggles through everyday life. Now all we here is music that gives you the impression that if you do all these bad things you can have all these good things too.
That's what lead me to this post. I truly feel that the rap genre would be much better if big record labels tried to promoted rappers that have different ideas and viewpoints. Listening to each other and understand why others feel the way they do only increases our social understand of those around us, in short, we learn about each other. I know that I am not the only one that wonders about purpose on this planet. IDK, maybe I am alone but I really appreciate music that strong and powerful lyrics. I hope you enjoy.
Great song! Thanks for sharing!
A lot of the times the content isn't the problem, it's the way the artist presents it. Biggie, Nas, Pac, and virtually all of the "greats" rapped about killing, selling drugs, etc. But aside from Pac in the latter stage of his career they didn't glorify it to the extent that artists like Kodak Black, 21 Savage, (insert other wack ass rappers here) do today. They actually gave a nuanced view of the topic and the consequences their lifestyle brought.
In my opinion rap is the new age coke.