The hip hop culture took a major shift in the late 90's away from a more hardcore style to the jiggy shit. Imo, while the lexicon stayed the same, the types of people it appealed to was broader. All the sudden, you had kids from the burbs trying to rap. Problem then was that they weren't "hood" and feared backlash from other rappers. Next thing you know, it's a big fad to have a rap sheet and some scars. Those kids never noticed that dudes like ice cube had college degrees. Then you have rappers that were raised like cosby kids, but get in trouble for drug shit and violence because they were trying to perpetuate a stereotype. Big labels feast on this shit because they can take them for all they're worth and leave them behind. I share an ex-girlfriend with soulja boy, and i'm on good authority that he's alreadybroke. His hit was less than 5 years ago. So it benefits those labels to keep those dudesin that mindset. As soon as one of those guys blows a gasket, they got 5 more to take his place. And nobody gets the money but the label. Getting caught up in all of this is this generation of kids coming up in broken homes that have 106 & park waiting on them when they get home from school. They lap the shit up and emulate this faux-thug shit...and here we are. Suburban barbie dolls think its cool to throw pimps-n-ho parties so they can dress up like nikki minaj.
Dudes in the old days rapped about criminal shit because that was where they came from. Corporate rap has turned kids into zombies trying to live up to it. Instead of keepin it pushin', they just end up chasing their tails
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Dudes in the old days rapped about criminal shit because that was where they came from. Corporate rap has turned kids into zombies trying to live up to it. Instead of keepin it pushin', they just end up chasing their tails
I wish rap was more like this.
EDIT: found actual