Should Listeners Be More Concerned About The Artist Than The Art: Rapper Or The His Music?

I go through a lot of blogs, forums, and hip hop websites online, and I have found out that more people are concerned about which rapper is real, or gangsta, instead of the music the rapper is actually making. Should listeners be more concerned about the artist than the art? Should listeners be more concerned about the rapper's personal lifestyle or the the quality of music the rapper makes?





R.Kelly had his whole child molestation/sex scandal case, but no one can deny the fact that Mr.Robert Kelly really is the "R" in R&B. Michael Jackson has been dead 3 years now, but the music he made in the 70s still sound fresh like they were produced yesterday. Personally, I think Michael Jackson is the greatest musician of this time, and I'm sure a lot of people would agree with me. But, we all know M.J was in and out of court half his life, on issues that had to do with his personal life.





What am I saying? We recognised the genius in the people I mentioned above, and enjoyed the quality of music they gave the world, even though they lived lifestyles that didn't fit with the norms of the society. But, when it comes to the genre of rap music, the case is different. People tend to be more concerned about which set one rapper is repping, or his jail records. Sometimes, the listeners judge a rap album on a rapper's net-worth, or on how many copies he sold, rather than the quality of the music the rapper is making. I guess this is a strong case with rap because rap has an element of braggadocios in it...a very strong one at that.





Personally, I see rapping as an art form...wordplay, story telling, flow, and I don't really care whether a rapper was a Correctional Officer (not a police office) for a year and the half when he was in his late teens. I don't care even if he didn't want to associate that with his current status. It is all showbiz and he has an image to protect. All I care about is if he is being highly artistic with his rap form. That's all I care about.





A lot of people see Tupac as the epitome of gangsterism in hip hop, but he never was in a gang. I do agree on the fact that Tupac was a very outspoken person, and was very aggressive (back then), but he wasn't a gangbanger the way people were led to imagine. He went to art school with Jada Pinkett Smith, complete with all the art dance classes and all. He was once a back-up dancer for Digital Underground. Since his late teens, he had been in the entertainment industry, so when did he live the gangsta life? Personally, I think Pac went out and lived the life of the characters he became in the early movies he was in (like Juice), and he also lived the life he rapped about...after he wrote them. Don't get me wrong, Tupac was super talented, i'm just trying to make a point here. Most of his life, his hustle was based on selling his skills, and not crack-cocaine.

I think people need to let go of the whole "tough-guy" image in rap, and just make that music. Thank God for great rappers like Eminem, Talib Kweli, Kendrick Lamar, who are judged solely on skill and not on whether or not they have a passed history with the streets.