Today's Rap Game: Identity Crisis

Sometimes the rap game
reminds me of the crack game...
- Nas

Its funny how verses come to life;  How one minute its like "oh yea, that's hot," then "dang, I see what the homey was saying." Much like the crack game, the rap game has been inflated by too many people trying "to sell." If everybody's dealing, who's buying...




Everybody wants to be a rapper now. And not just in that "I'm a fan and just want to do because kind of way," nope, people really think this way of being is for them. If you have the talent and the go-hard to do it, please go ahead, but if you don't, please sit down and allow someone else who may be better suited the opportunity to get on. I'm not a rapper; I'm a fan who believes in the power of experience being told by the experienced, but at the end of the day, I'm not a rapper. I lack the discipline to wholeheartedly give myself to a way of being in which everyone has tried to do it. This isn't meant to take away from those who am at making a life living inside the treble and bass clef, but if you are, you've got to be special and in my mind, real.

I grew up on the soulful sounds of Sly & The Family Stone, Earth Wind & Fire and Stevie Wonder, so at a young age I understood the importance of artists actually putting work into their art. Not to say they were perfect, but they were the best at what they did, so was it wrong for me to expect that from everyone else? From their arrangements to their lyrics, they simply gave themselves to the music. In a world where our voice spreads further than ever before, simply sticking to music is a tough job and its understandable now that artists want to branch out; however if this is "what you do," do it the best and then worry about everything else.

but that's just for those who have legitimized themselves.

I'm not a dream killer, I refuse to be in a time where there are so few of us; however I am an optimistic realist. I understand that there are something people should and shouldn't do. To pinpoint certain rappers out would be unfair and unnecessary, but I will say that the overwhelming majority of rappers are not mainstream, and the even more so many more couldn't even be described as underground. There is no timetable to our dreams, but in a time when people can blow up over a YouTube video or myspace page, someone is going to take a look at your work. If its not up to par, you don't get signed and if you're really on it, you try harder; but I'm the type to know deep down in my heart if a thing is for me or not.

Individuals, what are those? Everyday I see people who are willing to do anything to be like someone else. I'm not that type of person, and those who truly make an impact or have the ability to lead others seldom get away with following someone else's lead. The majority of rappers are afraid to be themselves, most in part to the "gullyness" of the '90's and stupid amounts of money made by the likes of Diddy and Jay. There are some new age trendsetters, but for the most part they're just retelling the stories of others with new words and flashier loaned jewelry. 

People aren't going to blow up living off someone else's blueprint. Sure, its important to look to others for ways to do it, but to be a copy of someone else isn't original. Individuals make a difference and make a name for themselves. Being a poser wont get people anywhere, only if you lucky...