In some ways the rap game has gone from sugar to sh*t. Keeping it real isn't what it used to be. Back in the day rappers had to stand for something. That didn't mean being a killer or hustler, it simply meant being who you said you were or else fans would reject you, just ask Vanilla Ice.
These days fans don't care so much about that. A guy can for example be an ex correctional officer, then the next thing you know make records claiming to be the world's biggest drug dealer, And nobody cares as long as the music sounds good.
There are still a few real rappers left in the game though. G-Unit General 50 Cent is probably the realest, so he knows the genuine thing when he sees it. He talked to XXL in their latest issue about how the game has changed and a couple of artists who he respects.
“When I offer aggression, I offer it from an author, a real place,” Fif told XXL co-deputy editor Rondell Conway. “It’s who I am; it’s who I had to be. Not even by choice, but to survive where I came from. So a lot of actual artists don’t have it. They don’t have that thing. Waka Flocka, ‘Hard in the Paint,’ Gucci [Mane], those guys have that.”
“It’s just a lot of the other artists, I don’t believe them,” he continued. “I believe hip-hop is in a struggle of being artistic or [having] authenticity—which one matters? Because a lot of them that write music that has a street-life theme to it haven’t actually been exposed to very much of that. It’s starting to feel like it doesn’t matter. I’m watching it, and I’m like, Okay, it sounded great, but ya lyin’.”
That's real talk from a man who came up the hard way and made it to the top, but never stopped being a real a** n*gga in the process.
Pick up the November 2010 issue of XXL to read the rest of 50's interview.
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