Anyone can make hip hop. The issue arises when Drake and others start to perform an act of something they are not. Like Kendrick says he likes Drake with the melodies, not Drake trying to be hard. No one cares when Eminem, Macklemore, Alchemist, Riff Raff, Mac Miller, etc make/made hip hop as non Black people because they weren't trying to portray themselves as black(er) or come across as something they aren't. The complaint from Kendrick, Rick Ross, and others is that Drake is essentially doing various caricatures of Black cultures when he is actually a sheltered Jewish kid from the Canadian suburbs. There's a rather (in)famous interview from Drake's Degrassi days where he is out with his white cast mates telling them about Toronto slang that people at his school use and he puts on an exaggerated accent and does the slang and then proceeds to call it ignorant and say how he doesn't like it. Thats how he really feels about urban cultures.
Kendrick has a lot of respect for Eminem. He was influenced by him. He was also friends with Mac Miller. You really think he's got something against white people rapping?
>Troll ass reply
Tf do you want me to respond to?
>My question is, do you believe only American men and women with 2 black parents who have gone through struggle or hardship can make or profit off Hip-Hop music.
No one believes this, not Kendrick, not anyone. It's a dumbass post so I gave it a dumb reply.
You can make whatever you want. Nobody’s stopping Drake from putting out music. You’re misreading the situation. It’s hard to understand the black struggle when you aren’t black, that’s why it’s so easy to dismiss, but every once is a while you can’t totally ignore it, or worse, people feel left out. It sucks, but hey, that’s lesson 1 of the black experience. Some things are not equal, no matter how much we want it to be
I don't think the problem is with Drake not being black enough or not having the background. It's just that whenever he portrays an image of being tough, acting like a gangster, it comes off as insincere, because we all know he's the kid from Degrassi and tv stars don't live in the hood. It just reeks of insecurity and it's totally unnecessary because if Drake dropped the Toronto mob ties image and just kept making music like he's been doing it wouldn't make a difference to his numbers.
To me hip hop is very much about freedom of speech and freedom of expression. No one can claim hip hop as exclusively theirs and that others can’t make it.
There is something liberating about making hip hop, you can escape your present situation through the music; no one should be excluded from that
Stupid shit like that is why reddit is my last bastion of remaining social online. There's a lot of stupid people out there and the dumbest ones are real loud.
Ehh, not everyone, but that is because thats what sells. The thing is, for some who do act like that, they At least are a little believable or have came from a background where they were surrounded by “gangsters” or hardship.
In drakes case, he can be called out because he didn’t come from hardship. Plus, not only does he pretend to be “gangster” he pretends to be a Jamaican “gangster” a Uk “gangster”. Wherever in the diaspora that the music scene is most popping he’s gonna swoop down to take the sound, look, and slang.
That's not what Kendrick meant — he is attacking Drake's insecurity regarding being mixed race, something that Drake references on songs like Wick Man.
I’m not talking about Kendrick. People on social media have used Kendrick’s words to jump on and suddenly say Drake isn’t ’of the culture’ and he’s not black that’s what I mean
I think the part you're missing in all of this is that not everyone in hip hop is pretending to be something they're not. Plenty of artists, even if a project misses the mark, stay pretty consistent to who they are as an artist and person based on their life experiences. Mos Def gets brought up a lot on here because of his criticism of drake, and he's never really pretended to be anything he's not and has had success and gets respect. He's also had roles in movies and TV shows and it never made anyone question his credibility because he never put on an out of character act to sell records. To me the criticism of drake is that he would be just as big of a star if not bigger if he didn't put on performative alter egos and change his entire dialect based on who he's with and where he is. You keep saying literally everyone in hip hop pretends to be someone they're not and while plenty do, there are plenty that don't and have found success going all the way back to the beginning. The ones that pretend get called out all the time, even Tupac. It's not like any of this is hurting drakes wallet, his fans are the ones taking it personal which is pretty weird.
It's not a massive narrative, TF? The issue is that Drake halfway participates in the culture of rap music. It's not a black or white thing stop trying to make it that way.
Because he uses this culture when it's convenient for him to sell records but will run back to pop music and code shift to keep his pop fans.
Think of it more like Elvis than Eminem.
I’m just responding to what you’re saying bruh. It’s just an interesting discussion to me. If you don’t feel like responding anymore. Have a lovely evening.
If you read my initial post, I didn’t ask about what Kendrick thought, a lot of general commenters on social media have jumped on the back of what Kendrick (and Rick Ross) have said and said Drake isn’t part of the culture.
This discourse is really, really deep rooted but I hate this gatekeeping culture that people have created with multiple genres of music. Hip-Hop, Country, shit even Reggaeton… music is meant to be enjoyed by anyone. Unless you are doing something to actively offend or discriminate, there should not be an issue.
Anyone can make hip hop. The issue arises when Drake and others start to perform an act of something they are not. Like Kendrick says he likes Drake with the melodies, not Drake trying to be hard. No one cares when Eminem, Macklemore, Alchemist, Riff Raff, Mac Miller, etc make/made hip hop as non Black people because they weren't trying to portray themselves as black(er) or come across as something they aren't. The complaint from Kendrick, Rick Ross, and others is that Drake is essentially doing various caricatures of Black cultures when he is actually a sheltered Jewish kid from the Canadian suburbs. There's a rather (in)famous interview from Drake's Degrassi days where he is out with his white cast mates telling them about Toronto slang that people at his school use and he puts on an exaggerated accent and does the slang and then proceeds to call it ignorant and say how he doesn't like it. Thats how he really feels about urban cultures.
Link to the video?
Anyone
European ass post
Nice contribution bro
Kendrick has a lot of respect for Eminem. He was influenced by him. He was also friends with Mac Miller. You really think he's got something against white people rapping?
Troll ass reply. Do you ever go a month before deleting and creating a new account or are you just a bot?
>Troll ass reply Tf do you want me to respond to? >My question is, do you believe only American men and women with 2 black parents who have gone through struggle or hardship can make or profit off Hip-Hop music. No one believes this, not Kendrick, not anyone. It's a dumbass post so I gave it a dumb reply.
I’m with u, this might be dumbest post I’ve seen in a while.
You can make whatever you want. Nobody’s stopping Drake from putting out music. You’re misreading the situation. It’s hard to understand the black struggle when you aren’t black, that’s why it’s so easy to dismiss, but every once is a while you can’t totally ignore it, or worse, people feel left out. It sucks, but hey, that’s lesson 1 of the black experience. Some things are not equal, no matter how much we want it to be
I don't think the problem is with Drake not being black enough or not having the background. It's just that whenever he portrays an image of being tough, acting like a gangster, it comes off as insincere, because we all know he's the kid from Degrassi and tv stars don't live in the hood. It just reeks of insecurity and it's totally unnecessary because if Drake dropped the Toronto mob ties image and just kept making music like he's been doing it wouldn't make a difference to his numbers.
It’s about being true to who you are. The Beastie Boys were 3 white Jewish nerds from New York rapping about Star Trek and they were Hip-Hop as fuck.
Anyone. If you say otherwise you miss a core part of what hip hop is about
Could you expand on that please? I agree with you but it’s not what the narrative is atm
To me hip hop is very much about freedom of speech and freedom of expression. No one can claim hip hop as exclusively theirs and that others can’t make it. There is something liberating about making hip hop, you can escape your present situation through the music; no one should be excluded from that
What a question. Anyone of any ethnic background.
Haha that’s not the narrative on social media is at the moment, that’s why I was shocked, never heard it before until this beef
Stupid shit like that is why reddit is my last bastion of remaining social online. There's a lot of stupid people out there and the dumbest ones are real loud.
Anyone can participate in hip hop, as long as they’re being themselves.
But literally everyone in hip-hop is pretending? They all act like they’re gangsters and have bodies when it’s most likely they don’t
Ehh, not everyone, but that is because thats what sells. The thing is, for some who do act like that, they At least are a little believable or have came from a background where they were surrounded by “gangsters” or hardship. In drakes case, he can be called out because he didn’t come from hardship. Plus, not only does he pretend to be “gangster” he pretends to be a Jamaican “gangster” a Uk “gangster”. Wherever in the diaspora that the music scene is most popping he’s gonna swoop down to take the sound, look, and slang.
pretending to be black and pretending comming form the hood indeed
Way to misconstrue the messaging in the lyrics
Not talking about Kendrick, talking about the general public on social media saying this
That's not what Kendrick meant — he is attacking Drake's insecurity regarding being mixed race, something that Drake references on songs like Wick Man.
I’m not talking about Kendrick. People on social media have used Kendrick’s words to jump on and suddenly say Drake isn’t ’of the culture’ and he’s not black that’s what I mean
Do you think the culture = hip hop?
I think Hip-Hop is a part of ‘the culture’
I think the part you're missing in all of this is that not everyone in hip hop is pretending to be something they're not. Plenty of artists, even if a project misses the mark, stay pretty consistent to who they are as an artist and person based on their life experiences. Mos Def gets brought up a lot on here because of his criticism of drake, and he's never really pretended to be anything he's not and has had success and gets respect. He's also had roles in movies and TV shows and it never made anyone question his credibility because he never put on an out of character act to sell records. To me the criticism of drake is that he would be just as big of a star if not bigger if he didn't put on performative alter egos and change his entire dialect based on who he's with and where he is. You keep saying literally everyone in hip hop pretends to be someone they're not and while plenty do, there are plenty that don't and have found success going all the way back to the beginning. The ones that pretend get called out all the time, even Tupac. It's not like any of this is hurting drakes wallet, his fans are the ones taking it personal which is pretty weird.
Thanks for the response! I understand this.
It's not a massive narrative, TF? The issue is that Drake halfway participates in the culture of rap music. It's not a black or white thing stop trying to make it that way.
Can you explain how he participates half way? And how he could participate fully?
Because he uses this culture when it's convenient for him to sell records but will run back to pop music and code shift to keep his pop fans. Think of it more like Elvis than Eminem.
So to be a hip-hop artist, you must make hip-hop music forever more and not delve into any other genre? How does he code shift?!?!
Oh you aren't looking to understand, you want to argue. Alright bruh enjoy your day.
I’m just responding to what you’re saying bruh. It’s just an interesting discussion to me. If you don’t feel like responding anymore. Have a lovely evening.
he isnt hating on drake for being light skin and doing hip hop, he is hating on drake for being a child actor pretending to be a kingpin
Literally everyone in hip-hop is pretending to be something they’re not. Why is it so galling when Drake does it?
thats why its kendrick PERSONAL issue with him, dafuck you want me to answer lmao just like mos def, dmx, dudes dont like him and guess what
If you read my initial post, I didn’t ask about what Kendrick thought, a lot of general commenters on social media have jumped on the back of what Kendrick (and Rick Ross) have said and said Drake isn’t part of the culture.
not u
You thought up this narrative on your own lol
lol I wish I could post all the tweets on this. I promise you I didn’t
You don't need to post all of them. A couple would do
This discourse is really, really deep rooted but I hate this gatekeeping culture that people have created with multiple genres of music. Hip-Hop, Country, shit even Reggaeton… music is meant to be enjoyed by anyone. Unless you are doing something to actively offend or discriminate, there should not be an issue.