Im not into gimmicks

By now if you hit the blog semi-regularly you would have picked up on the trend by reading. Maybe I need to get into depth on it and explain why it is some of your favorite rappers end up on my shit list. It's because they cover up deficiencies in their lyrics with excessive use of gimmicks.

Hip-hop has been around a minute and my theory on why it seems to suck and have no variety right now on the radio is easy to understand but people don't like to admit it because it shows or they think it shows that they aren't smart. The most popular artists now say thing sin the most simple manner. Gucci, Plies, Jeezy don't make their verses complex and colorful with methaphors and similes. Listeners have become lazy. 50 Cent made a statement where he said NY hip-hop had gotten so complex that you had to do things like tell a story backwards to impress people. He is right. Also, NY dominated the radio for so long that everything began to sound the same, just like now.

This is why Snoop and the West Coast were able to blow up nationally. It was a different sound and it was still palatable to the youth of the East Coast who were looking for something that stood out. The same thing happened when Master P and his No Limit Soldiers put New Orleans and basically the entire South on the map. They sounded like nothing else that was out. The same thing with Nelly and his rise in St. Louis.



Today, with the proliferation of rappers, there are way too many, it becomes hard for people to stand out amongst all of the noise they make. It becomes paramount to have a unique voice to stand out because true lyricism is lost these days. The new rap style involves more simple punchlines that are liberally sprinkled in amongst boasts of balling and buying the bar and cars. It is only natural that some people who have unique sounds stand out amongst the crowd thats fine. However I do have a problem with those who just plain have a lack of lyricism like Jeezy and get their popularity from the fact they have ad-libs that work very well. Anyone remember on Making the band when Puff said the secret to hot songs was the ad-libs and overdubs? He was more than right, where would Jeezy be without his trademark 'yeeeaaaahhh'?



More and more instances abound, Lil Wayne who is overrated, cops out on his lackluster verses by using auto-tune or making some silly ass sounds instead of concentrating on making bars that go with the song and make sense. It has rubbed off on Drake, who has a terrible voice, who randomly 'sings' parts of his verses and naturally sounds like a damn auto-tune. Nicki Minaj who actually had some decent bars, but too often she resorts to just raising her voice for something that isn't even slick, or making a face, which adds nothing to the actual song.





Now look to artists like Common who doesn't do things like that yet always comes consistent with hot bars that make sense but gets over-looked except by the natural hair set because he doesn't cheapen his verses with immature sounds and noises. I sound like an elitist and to some extent I am because it is annoying when people claim an artist is hot when the content isn't there but because of something in the delivery. There are artists who really deserve to make it on more delivery but those are the DMX's and Tupacs who have a real passion for what they are saying. Nelly and Plies really shouldn't get that pass.

For myself it's a disturbing trend where people are doing anything just to get attention but once they get it, they don't add anything to the story that hip-hop is supposed to tell. Look at Soulja-boi, what does he add to your understanding of life through his music? Is that everyone's job, no, but when you're not making party music what are you talking about? Hustling and selling crack is no longer good enough and it isn't cool to cover up the fact you have nothing to talk about with things that will take everyone's attention off of the fact that you have nothing worth saying.

Comments

  1. I think everyone likes to joke around. People like to put things in BOLD font so people know it's important. When you put EVERYTHING IN ALL CAPS like Busta Rhymes it becomes annoying. Wayne has mastered the art of animated vs normal flow, Nicki will have to learn there is a thin line between annoying and hot. But at the end of the day everything has been done before... a great rapper once paved the way by saying "Niggas are immitating like HICCUPS" with a high pitch at the end. just saying, give Notorious one more year on this earth and he would have had this "new" flow a decade earlier.

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  2. but when everyone is putting everything in bold it's wack. Wayne hasn't mastered anything. I'm surprised you fall for his lame gimmicks and wack sounds and ridiculous antics. You're not gonna tell me that Busta became annoying after 3 songs. Dude has had an illustrious career wow this new wayne was boring after one album. Damn you Gillie da Kid.

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  3. random thoughts:

    whoa son, Busta is a single-only rapper. Son hasn't made hot albums for years.

    Wayne was hotter before this "new flow" bullshit. I miss The Block Is Hot. That being said, he annoys me now not because of his flow, but because he has nothing to say and his punchlines are corny

    Nikki has somewhat funnier punches than, but her flow gimmicks are 60% annoying.

    Jeezy is plain-old wack. Nelly was catchy as shit but had no depth AT ALL.

    Common CAN'T freestyle.

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