As an avid listener and student of this culture we call hip hop I'm always glued to every aspect of the cultural impact rappers give unto the youth and the rest of the world with their music but since lately I've been seeing this current ideology being tossed around interviews by certain entertainers of this current generation of hip hop, during a certain duration of these conversations the rappers tend to make a statement claiming “rap is easy” or “rap is fun anybody can do it” and though to most people that watch these interviews probably wouldn't be alarmed by such statements but being the attentive hip hop fan I am I see where this kind of message only creates a misconception for people to degrade the artistry and high requirements it really takes to be considered a “rapper’ per say and further tarnish the foundation this beloved music was built on so I’d like to share my perspective and at the same time open people’s mind to realize the danger on the craft this mentality might do.
Now contrary to popular belief rap or “rapping” (which is one of the five elements of hip hop) is an art form just like painting or drawing or sculpturing and requires an extensive amount of time and preparation to master, there are sub elements of rapping like the art of the 16, freestyling, performing and recording that many emcees throughout the decades have mastered and then are some that only harness a strong stand point in only one or few of these elements and that’s fine but this notion that’s been populating that a person can enter this profession with little to no skill in any of the requirements stated earlier is beyond blasphemy to me and for far too long we as the people on this planet who consume this music allowed the music industry and radio to oppose this into our brain waves and left us to accept, justify, and not care about what hip hop music is acceptable to the mainstream platform as long as its “turnt’ or “crunk’ or simply makes no sense at all. Now before u jump to conclusions and think I'm here bashing any style of rap that isn't conscious, heavily lyrical or have a positive message that’s clearly not the case, for a genre that started out on a foundation that was built on fun records in the mid 80’s to becoming more skill reformed in the 90’s hip hop has become such a variety as far as the multiple styles and sounds that have been innovated over the past 14 years and being the open minded hip hop fan that I am I accept all forms and welcome it with constructive criticism and have always given credit when it’s due but my thing was that with what ever kind of rap music you make whether it be Trap or Conscious or Turn Up at least take your profession seriously and respect this art form and make some effort in the content, recording and artistry of your music.
Above are two songs. One is Day 2 Day by Tunj Ige and the other is You Guessed It by OG Marco both these records fall under the category as “Turn up” rap and they have their similarities as far as the energy the two records give off as it relates to the instrumentation and simplicity of content but the difference between the two is EFFORT the Day 2 Day record clearly showcases Tunji’s ability to still have fun on this track but provide a quality instrumental and catchy yet sensible rhymes while the increasingly popular record you guessed it by OG Marco clearly just shows the random ranting and yells he delivers on this piano laced production and many give him a pass for the record but the kind of person I am (and yes this is relating to me personally) I am all about quality and effort with records and it just clearly seems like he just went into the booth and said random shit and that was it and that shows so much disrespect for the art form that I love and treasure with my heart and soul so I can’t stomach the record and I wouldn't allow my mind to be opposed to liking it by having it be repeated within any playlist of mine because regardless of how popular a particular record may be by the majority I've never been a supporter of mediocrity in rap music and that’s something I stand by as a fan you got to stand for something for fall for everything.
So the conclusion in all of this rambling? Let’s see, many of us tend to always make statements without fully thinking about it from all aspects so once its said it can’t be taken back its sent out into the universe and being a rapper displayed on a media platform whatever you say listeners will either take your perspective as theirs, disagree or write an article bout it (ha ha) and this idea you guys give off by saying rapping is easy is just laying the foundation for more records like You Guessed It or Versace to surface and become the face of Hip Hop and this creates another nasty perception that our culture is far from intelligent and all we make is “nigga” music and we know that’s far from a fact so please all I'm simply stating is respect the culture, make them fun records because we need it for the clubs and what not but take your profession seriously and make effort because rap isn't for everybody and it surely isn't easy or I’d be in the studio right now working on that platinum album my dude lol but you know that’s just my outlook on the situation.
