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Forum nameThe Lesson
Topic subjectwho can explain the perspective of a casual rap fan better than me...
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=5&topic_id=2881896&mesg_id=2882331
2882331, who can explain the perspective of a casual rap fan better than me...
Posted by Joe Corn Mo, Wed Apr-23-14 11:57 AM
a casual rap fan?


i think the thing you are missing is that it was just way
easier to get record deals back in the day.

to be honest, in that era, the music industry was
still coasting in the wake of MJ's "thriller."
blockbuster albums were still a thing. Super Tuesday would have
artists from Garth Brooks to Madonna to Whitney Houston
doing big numbers.

that seems unrelated, but it's not.
because that was an era when the roots could get artists signed
just because the label had nirvana "nevermind" money to blow.


so here's my point.
was there an era when lyricists could get SIGNED because they were nice on the mic?
absolutely.

labels had money to burn, were making their money back somewhere,
and it was easier to get deals.



but in terms of what was actually taking hold with the public?
it was all about the beats.

and like it or not, fans that thought like me were driving sales.
ppl that dug "big willie style" and "willenium?"
yep... that was fans like me.

ppl that thought "the real slim shady" was a fun single?
yep... that was fans like me.


folks that bought "the blueprint" for the soul samples?
that was fans like me.

outkast were incredible lyricists.
but that's not why i bought stankonia.
i wasn't appreciating rap on that level yet.



again... it's like saying that great songwriting was a gimmick
in the 60s.

you think the average music fan was appreciating smokey robinson a
genius for rhyming subject with public in tears of a clown?

nope. they liked the beat.


technical ability has ALWAYS been a niche market.
it's great when somebody with technical ability breaks pop,
but that's never what the general public is listening for.


>unfortunately, they're mooted by the fact that some of the
>acts named in this thread who were born out of a heavy
>emphasis on "lyricism" in rap music SOLD HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS
>OF COPIES OF THEIR RECORDS.
>
>quite frankly, somebody who's first album purchase was ll cool
>j - phenomenon is way too much of a casual fan to even engage
>this conversation with any sort of authority or to even bother
>validating with a response to try to show them their oblivious
>err of their perceived authority on the subject.
>
>but again, thanks for replying to my thread.