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Hip Hop: How Much Should You Sacrifice To Be Relevant?




So as an artist I've started to think about the question of relevancy. Like how much of your craft should you sacrifice in order to stay relevant? In some ways the answer is obvious. Just enough to keep your business alive so that you can have a craft to do in the first place.


In other ways, it's less obvious. Take this for example; finding your style as a rapper can be a difficult task. The landscape of rap has changed so much in the last twenty years that it's hard for people to find their fit. In the past what was valued was pretty obvious. Lyrics. You always had your rappers that weren't quite as lyrical but relied on their cult of personality (which I hear was Tupac's claim to fame). You also had your complete booty rappers that were entirely commercial (Vanilla Ice for instance). But long story short, it was a market that was album driven and primarily featured lyricists. Now Hip-Hop has expanded so much that a lot of the things that make it "Hip-Hop" have either ceased or don't even make sense in context anymore. Like all of this G.O.A.T. talk for example.


I don't feel other genres even have this conversation as often. But rap always has had this competitive spirit about it. Like someone has to be the GOAT and if someone isn't then things are terribly out of whack. "Call twenty different hotlines cause I got beef that needs to be cured by the sweet milk of the Undisputed Goat!" Beefs don't even make sense anymore if you can't fight without an outside source saying, "that's too far." Like no shit; that was the point! Even if it is messed up... 


So in this new landscape of sub-genres what do you do to fit in? Do you ride the tail of that Trap shit and make into the mainstream? Do you do your lyricism in a way better suited for today? Cause to be clear, in a lot of ways I don't even think lyricism is the same as it was in the 90s! I think audiences were a lot more alright with certain references and phrases sounding cryptic. There was a lot of wordplay in, for example, Wu-Tang but for the most part, it's just a lot Kung Fu references, a lot of Five Percenter references and then a PLETHORA of just Stream of Consciousness.

"This a perfect example of the type of song I'm talking about, AMAZING BEAT, simple meaning, but made cryptic and cinematic"

So for me, as a rapper who likes to draw a lot of influence from them, I always wonder how far can I go before I go off the deep end. How far is the audience willing to go. Cause I know there are people interested in that hardcore rap sound and that can follow the fictional world I construct as a writer. But I also know that people just wanna hear the part where they can go "OHHH!!!' to that punchline. And while I definitely like to write like that as well, I'm also the type who's trash at punchlines and is shadowboxing that as we speak.  So when I'm just going off telling these feelings I have or just freestyling on social commentary how far can I go with it without that punchline? I rap with statements. Take my song Tricknology, "Everyday I pledge allegiance, to a nation that impedes us/ And constantly believes it's in it's best to defeat us/". Not a lot of wordplay, their complexity comes in the thematic allusions to George Orwell's 1984. So yeah, I go hard. I def go hard.

"check it out here."

But when I don't have a statement to say or don't have a thematic relation to make; it's hard to write just on rhyming technique alone. Audiences today are either entirely focused on beat and vibe, or they just want that hard wordplay punchline. If you're telling a story or just saying words that sound cool but don't give an immediate understanding, audiences tend to tune out. So do I sacrifice that style for relevancy? Is it better for all of us? I definitely intend to shadowbox to become a better punchliner. Cause I love that shit too. But does that mean all those cryptic songs I like from Wu-Tang gonna never be in my catalogue? Furthermore if I entrench myself into the real 90s flow, does that make me dated? It's not like I hate this era. I'm just more of an old head. Does that make me stuck in the past? I'm just doing my craft the way I like to. But I also like niggas giving a fuck, feel me?

-Peace, Kaiser

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