You're gonna have to pardon me for the following. I am, at my core, a conspiracy theorist especially when it comes to race relations in the United States, so take this with a grain of salt.

>The reason for my post, however, was because I feel that most
>black artists who really made it to a level similar to Jay-Z
>really had to rebel and have plenty of FU moments.

I fully see what you're getting at now.


>Look at 2Pac for example. He was everything white people were
>scared of, Thug Life, not giving a fuck, etc....

Pac is a great example. But (and here comes my conspiracy theory), in my opinion, he was loud enough and FU enough to catch the attention of the white youth which, in turn, caught the attention of the white people in power. And it's my opinion that his death was set up by those very people. In other words, he became big because of his FU moments, not because the powers that be wanted a guy with that message to rise up, but because he was so passionate, so loud, so compelling with his messages that he caught the ears of the white youth even without being the industry's choice. And this is what lead to his death IMO.

Which is the difference between Pac's rise and Jay's rise, to me. Jay kissed the ass of the industry, for the most part (at least following Reasonable Doubt). Pac spit at the industry and ultimately suffered for it.


>Shit, even Kanye - unlike Jay, he put himself out there
>numerous times. All the rants, the ego, etc...

Definitely. I think his stuff is far less threatening than Tupac's appeared to be, though. He's more a conscious guy with a temper than a thug with a mission like Pac was.


>It just seems to me that a lot of black artists that really
>reached certain peaks had to take huge risks, had to really
>challenge society, and usually had a seminal FU moment (or a
>few) in order to reach a certain level of success.

Word. I agree with you.


>Jay seems to be one of the guys who kinda stayed lowkey,
>didn't cause no trouble, and somehow rode that to the
>top...logic would tell you that's the best way to reach the
>level he reached, but it doesn't seem to work for many other
>black artists who just get lost in the shuffle...