how do fans of contemporary rap music decide who their allegiance goes to in terms of up-and-coming acts?

outside of battles, lyricism in rap is completely irrelevant.
rudimentary flows are the norm and are freely shared between rappers.
all contemporary ideas and production programming are alike and have been for going on 5 years now.
everybody essentially dresses the same.
contemporary independent music videos all generally look pretty similar.

...?

so...

honest to god question:

how are millennials and the like deciding what to pump and what to dump today?

all that's left is the city you are from, any affiliation to a previously successful act you have (although this rarely works now) and most importantly popular people (or people with high "social currency") endorsing your material.

so basically all you have are lusted-after chicks and the men they want to fuck/want to the fuck them giving you a cosign and sharing your song and everyone beneath them in the pecking order hopefully following suit.

then if enough Black people do this publicly on somewhere like twitter somebody like noz will swoop in and sink his fangs into your "buzz" and validate whatever unoriginal bullshit you are making from a "critical"/press standpoint.

how far off am i?

I check blogs,message boards, tastemakers that I trust to see what's new
I go to local shows
Spotify has been a good resource

______________________________________

Navem nu, cuando sol
Tutu nu, vondo nos nu
Vita em, no continous non
Nos nu ekta nos sepe ta, amen

When the sun shades the ship
We sweat and life is not safe
To swim or to touch not
When we unite we hedge amen

niggas are so similar you cant really differentiate. a scrub cat can blow up and a live nigga can get passed over and they both standing beside each other on the same corner...aint no science to this music shit these days

the dudes who can string more than 1 hit together end up emerging

*Watch my gay ol' music video: "HAM" http://youtu.be/0GKoEGDPirU
*Listen to my gay ol' song: "Yes Homo" http://youtu.be/_1H30pzN7cE
*Stream/download my gay ol' mixtape: http://cformusic.com/

these kids are smarter than you think....

Yea they dance to Migos.. use the flow... but they are going to Kendrick Lamar shows..

When is the last time you heard of Migos on a sold out tour.. the real type of Migos fans can't and never could support a rap "star"

Double 0
DJ/Producer/Artist
Producer in Kidz In The Hall
-------------------------------------------
twitter: @godouble0
IG: @godouble0
www.thinklikearapper.com