Since he retired from his real job at CNN with his Larry King Live show, Mr. King has remained in the limelight in the TV industry. The man is 80, and I wonder what he finds fascinating with rappers these days. He has been interviewing rappers a lot the past few years. The latest interview he conducted was with Odd Future's 'Tyler, The Creator.' And during the course of the interview, he asked Tyler if he feels there is an issue with an open gay rapper in Hip Hop. Tyler responded with...
"But that would be like, why does shit matter? Like if he wants to fuck dudes or whatever, why does that matter? Like why do we care? It's so fucking crazy, right?
Yea, why does it matter. But, it matters cos Hip Hop is all about machismo...you have to be all macho, and gangster and all for people to respect you in Hip Hop. Should it be like that? I guess it's cos of the rise of Gangster rap in the 90s; now, people think everything has to be HARD, and grimy and all that to be considered REAL hip hop. That's just being childish.
Gangster rap was at its heights at that time in the 90s because the blacks in America were going through tougher times. And since Hip Hop should be a reflection of what the individual artist is going through, that's what they rapped about...The rappers just painted pictures of the black community at the time with their words. It doesn't mean it has to be STAMPED as REAL hip hop. It is just so backward thinking to reason like that. Tyler got rich at 19 doing what he loves doing; this might not have been possible for a black American 20 years ago. I am not saying things are all rosy for blacks in America now, but they definitely are way way better than they were twenty years ago. So, why get stuck in the past? Why glorify the negative things of the past?
If rappers want to keep doing Gangster rap, fine, there is room for that. But, they shouldn't put down other rappers doing other sub-genre's of rap. For me, I see rapping as an art. I don't care if you are a Christian rapper, back packer, trapper, or gangster rapper, if you can paint your pictures well, and you got skills, then I would give you a listen. And if you got the skills, I will give you the props, whether you are black, white, or brown.
"But that would be like, why does shit matter? Like if he wants to fuck dudes or whatever, why does that matter? Like why do we care? It's so fucking crazy, right?Yea, why does it matter. But, it matters cos Hip Hop is all about machismo...you have to be all macho, and gangster and all for people to respect you in Hip Hop. Should it be like that? I guess it's cos of the rise of Gangster rap in the 90s; now, people think everything has to be HARD, and grimy and all that to be considered REAL hip hop. That's just being childish.
Gangster rap was at its heights at that time in the 90s because the blacks in America were going through tougher times. And since Hip Hop should be a reflection of what the individual artist is going through, that's what they rapped about...The rappers just painted pictures of the black community at the time with their words. It doesn't mean it has to be STAMPED as REAL hip hop. It is just so backward thinking to reason like that. Tyler got rich at 19 doing what he loves doing; this might not have been possible for a black American 20 years ago. I am not saying things are all rosy for blacks in America now, but they definitely are way way better than they were twenty years ago. So, why get stuck in the past? Why glorify the negative things of the past?
If rappers want to keep doing Gangster rap, fine, there is room for that. But, they shouldn't put down other rappers doing other sub-genre's of rap. For me, I see rapping as an art. I don't care if you are a Christian rapper, back packer, trapper, or gangster rapper, if you can paint your pictures well, and you got skills, then I would give you a listen. And if you got the skills, I will give you the props, whether you are black, white, or brown.
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