The "Boss" conundrum

Maybe it isn't as much of a conundrum as it is annoying that everyone thinks they are a boss of something now in rap. I'll give credit where it is due, Ross has certainly seemed to personify this attitude and take it to the net level, even though, just like wrestlers, it isn't what he first started out as. Much like going from a Heel to Face can make someone blow up, thus it is with rappers. Do a couple of features as a regular guy, fall back, buy some new clothes and develop a new attitude aand you go from T.I. on I'm Serious to the Rubber Band Man a.k.a. the King Biiiiitttccchhh.




Honestly, I don't have that much of a problem with what rappers call themselves, but my issue is the fact that the public, or people who listen seem to take on these personas and really really believe it. You ever see an adult who doesn't know wrestling is scripted when they finally find out? It's like seeing a 30 year old who still believes in Santa or a 40 year old virgin. You'd be less shocked to see a unicorn.

Let's look at the reality, you're signed to someone else's label, you're not a boss, nor the boss. So while I may think Meek Mill's I'm a boss is a decent song, when I see dudes out and they're yelling back and forth at their homies singing the chorus like they really are in charge it's annoying because we know they're going to work the next day, punching in and taking orders. Rap can be an escape, I understand that, but how much do you really need to try and convince yourself that you are more than what you are before you actually go out and make moves to become just that.



It's troubling that the trend of pretending or perpetrating to be a boss is more popular than the actual moves needed to become a boss. In an era where we finally have a black president, we are more concerned with popping bottles of Ciroc and throwing money on strippers so that they don't think we're broke than making positive growth within our community. Yes I have a huge problem with this idea of escapism in rap music where it's only popular to show this image of what we would like to be- powerful, rich, living the luxury life- and it is ultimately preferred than the image of what really is going on. I have been told that maybe it can be inspiring to those listening, an ambition for them to achieve that position. There are two things wrong with that idea, number one, it is painted as if it is this position or you're a failure, which is a losing proposition. Two, isn't it just as inspiring to be reminded of what you're going through, and where you are in life to moving forward?


We have an entire group of young people whom it seems are totally unrealistic in their expectations for life. One of the biggest complaints about the Occupy Wall Street protestors was that they were mostly young people who felt privileged and that they were owed the cushy jobs that they went to school for. To an extent that was somewhat right, though it would marginalize the entire movement to boil it down to that issue alone. I see the same thing reflected in the music and television today, the most popular things are those which are about the life people feel they are owed, not as much as about how to get there or the alternatives which would be a "middle class lifestyle" of stability and comfort. You don't have to be the boss to be successful. You don't have to have the most luxurious items to be comfortable. Nothing wrong with aspiring for greatness but someone needs to be rational and realistic about this. Everyone cannot be a boss, everyone isn't a boss, and 9/10 'reality' rappers are lying to you and fictionalizing their lives to make them more interesting.

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