Before I handle business on here, I have to say rest in peace Stephen Mbidzo. Lost another good one, but learning that this is what life has to offer. Some good, some bad, and death. What we have is a chance to celebrate someone's life and all the good things until it is our time. You will be missed.
So let's take it back to happier things and the summer of 2007. Kanye West announces that his third studio album, "Graduation," was moving up a week for its release. Instead of September 18, the CD would drop on the 11th, same day as another hip hop mega-star, 50 Cent. The move spurred a Kanye vs. 50 battle, which began with 50's statement that he would quit his solo-recording career if Graduation sold more than his album, "Curtis."
Now without getting into the whole ordeal, whether the competition was just a way to spur sales for both artists, whether the "beef" was fake or not, the results of the competition garnered a shift in hip hop music and a new sub-genre was formed.
50 Cent represented the old way of doing things in the music industry. 50's hardcore image and thug sensibilities made him easy to market. It was the same pattern of mainstream hip hop, too hard to be contained, too reckless not to be a factor, the whole selling of the thug image, the money making blueprint for consumer driven rap. Generally, 50 Cent was the final word in rap, using beefs to generate publicity to sell his albums.
Yeezy countered as the aptly-called "Louis Vuitton Don" approach. Fancy, expensive clothing replacing baggy jeans and Timberland boots. Now, it's Louis this, Gucci that, Mavado this, that and the third. Adding to the flash was clothing that regular hip hop heads would view as metro sexual [to put it nicely], but it was the anti-thug. Everyone who didn't fit into the "goon" category found their niche in hip hop.
Of course, I don't think the industry was paying attention, until the first week numbers came out. Because we in the media never stop [go us!], our constant 50 vs. Kanye coverage, along with 50's egotistic wager, launched a war of cultures for the soul of hip hop. Fans and media outlets alike chose sides, the streets or the strip. When Kanye outsold 50, Kanye sold more than records. Kanye, without knowing it, sold a change of direction to the music industry. While the street image is alive, it's fading fast with the legends of hip hop. It's becoming harder for the industry to make anymore "super gangsters," where the stories of mass drug trafficing and mass murder are no longer the public's main desire.
The industry is starting to look at the alternative hip hop, or "backpack rap." With major label signings like Wale, Charles Hamilton, Kid CuDi and Asher Roth, the industry is starting to look for the next thing to sell to the masses. Anyone in Kanye's image, the anti-gangsta, is getting a real look. Hopefully, the industry will find someone with the Kanye work ethic and talent, not just the image.
All the aformentioned artists are in the same vein as Mr. West. CuDi, is actually signed to Kanye's label, the G.O.O.D. Music Group. The old guard of music is changing. The old process needed someone to bring you to the label. These days, bloggers and websites are starting to have some say. All the previous artists, plus some already popular stars owe their success to the internet. The land of the hipsters.
Because real thugs don't use computers....
So until they do, I guess I'm going to keep bringing you "hipster rap" with a little street sensibility on the side.
I hate the word hipster.
So maybe we should call it what it is.
Reality rap. Broadcasting live and direct in the year 2 A.G. [After Gangsta].
I got some free CuDi if you want some. Dat Kid From Cleveland mixtape, get it here - - ->>http://www.mediafire.com/?wqez2lagfnk
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