I’m a Rapper
I’m a rapper. Ok, not really. But I should be. It seems everyone is a rapper these days. I was watching a video of CunninLynguists that aired on television in Sweden. They are on tour in Europe right now and the interviewers asked what the difference between fans in Sweden and fans in the United States. Kno responded that the fans in Sweden are just that, fans. In the US everyone is a rapper. This is so true. Everyone is trying to make it big as a rapper these days, and who could blame them? With the music industry the way it is, they’ll accept anything and put it on the radio as long as it has a good beat. Lyrical content doesn’t mean anything. How else do you explain Solja Boy and Lil John. At least with other forms of music, there has to be some additional talent involved, usually involving singing or bands. With rap, you just need to find some beats or some samples and start rapping crappy rhymes. I found a site tonight that had some of the worst music I’ve ever heard. (Link Removed) Just because you have equipment to record your “music” doesn’t mean you should. People need to stop thinking that they have talent and they are going to be the next big thing and start being fans again. Maybe that’s what will save the music industry. Start focusing on talent and stop mass producing crap and raise the bar for future artists. Of course, this will never happen. They are always looking for a quick buck so they will waste money on a one-hit wonder just to get their royalties, meanwhile, great artists, like CunninLynguists, suffer because the industry is settled on a standard of mediocrity.
I agree that some of the music these days isn’t that great but if you don’t like something, no one is stopping you from changing the channel, radio station, or not buying their cd. Just because you don’t like a particular genre doesn’t mean that other people don’t. Some people find those “crappy rhymes” entertaining and if you’re not one of those people then that’s fine. If yu’re in the entertainment industry to make money then you need to figure out what the people want and give that to them. Obviously CunninLynguists isn’t what the people want.
the point being, people aren’t really given a choice. when one radio conglomerate (clear channel) owns the majority of the radio stations and MTV choosing what it is people hear and see, there is something not right. yeah, i can choose, and i’ve chosen to abandon traditional radio for satellite radio. that’s still not a feasible alternative for most people. Things have gotten a bit better over the past couple years with digital stores such as amazon and itunes and places like youtube are making underground artists more available than they used to be, but the music in traditional media is still chosen by a hand full of people, which is why everything sounds the same. they find a formula and stick with it. IF people were given a choice, things might be a lot different.