RI Layout

Showing posts with label Article. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Article. Show all posts

A lot of rappers market to their own cultures. In 2025, it barely makes sense to try to do otherwise. However, when you do make cross-over content "what makes you special" is the theme for most of it. While that question is misguided, a fun question is "what would make you special?" Before you say "nothing", give the opportunity some thought.
RapIndie has to work with what's out there. Truthfully, a lot of rappers are living very difficult lives. When we showcase the rap game in its entirety, we get accused of endorsing all of their behavior. When we solely showcase the positive rappers, we get accused of hiding their behavior. While both are valid points, which would you prefer?
Is intelligence-level tribalism our fault or is it the result of a distinction made by other cultures?
Maybe there's a middle ground between demanding people in poverty to be magically educated and branding "authentic" black culture as "ignorant".
Maybe we're already being taught to relate to each other using metaphors. Maybe poverty based music is connecting with a majority that only has the illusion of intelligence.

Up

Have you ever noticed that when tearing people down, everyone is an expert. However, when it's time to build themselves up, they struggle on a comical level. 

Winners don't feel like winners anymore. And that's a problem because they end up over-powered trolls and life-wreckers with endless resources. Building yourself up is a skill that you have to practice. You can't put everything at the bottom.

Exclusivity is fun. It raises value. It boosts self-esteem. It preserves logical integrity. 

The problem is it's not always advantageous to compulsively exclude others. Everyone has something to contribute and there's power in numbers. Sacrificing a little ego can go a long way.

Selfless support doesn't always come naturally, but it is the fuel of music in general. Smaller artists are perceived as less good. Bigger artists are perceived as not needing support. However, the truth is sincere support is rare and mutually beneficial. 

Being an internet or tv celebrity is great but cross-over markets are not dependable enough to build a lifestyle off of. The question is why?

1. One theory is the earlier generational audiences simply aren't aware of ALL of our favorite rappers.
Other theories are:

2. Facial recognition is inconvenient.

3. Kindness/acceptance in the authority vs kindness/acceptance of the community.

4. Ever-evolving criteria for acceptance.

5. Conditioning of mindless exclusion.

Maybe "Creator Swag" is working and people underestimate it based on their own experiences of exclusion, and perceived reactions. Do you make an effort to make earned exceptions to your filters?

Being over-estimated is just as big of a problem as being under-estimated. Well-received high brow artists may play you in better, but well-received low brow artists make the playing in unnecessary.

Making money is non-negotiable. Simplicity is socially more functional. We prefer categories attainable to everyone. 
However, because life is complicated, self-interest is never rigidly hinged on intolerance.

 Kendrick did a phenomenal job. All that said, we still support Drake and look forward to his future music too.

Keeping audience expectations realistic is good and important contextually. 

Many quality-focused gate keepers are trying to engineer a more accepting audience.

However, some gate keepers want to be "number 1" effortlessly. They want to sell mediocrity to spite people's talent and effort.

Discerning the good gate keeping from bad gate keeping is important. Inclusivity is nice, but self-seeking power-trips are not.
Hip hop artists get a lot of attention, but the producers are equally as important. Although the first impulse is to assume they all want to mix cultures, not all of them do. 

 Some producers are bringing attention to equality issues. 

 Some producers are trying to sell urban culture at its most natural state. 

 However, some producers seem to want to deface hip hop from within. Although this isn't provable, it's certainly something we'll be watching.
RapIndie is a blog. It's not a Youtube playlist. However, long-winded articles tend to be a little under-utilized because let's face it, reading isn't necessarily popular. So we would like to know, do you want more written articles? Or do you want less/the same amount?
How impressive is hip hop? How well can the average person do it? Is lyrical hip hop easier than drill rap? Is the authenticity of the musical talent as important as the authenticity of the lifestyle? How do you rank rappers? Is it by money, fame, talent, or rise from poverty? What impresses you?
Ladies, do I even need to explain this? Bloggers are nerds, but somebody needs to be scoring.
In some ways, RapIndie is a very simple concept: innovative/universal rap music for fans of rap culture. The demographic that appreciates rap has complete access to it. It works.

However, in other ways, RapIndie's audience is a little complicated. We know that from the feedback. Lately, we have audiences that focus on the ethics of the writings. That's fine, but the music is a lot less ethical than the writings (assuming they listen to it).

Drake got booed at Camp Flog Gnaw, which in my opinion really speaks volumes about the complexity of the indie rap community. Who's your favorite rapper? Do you like ethical intelligence? Diverse intelligence? Interesting people? It seems like indie rap has a radically intolerant audience that looks for tolerance. Whatever makes you a fan of RapIndie, our goal is to amplify it.


Exclusivity is cool. When you're a part of something exclusive, it usually represents something meaningful.

RapIndie isn't about exclusivity. Indie rap is a mix of indie music and hip hop influences in a "best of both worlds" kinda package.

Our goal is not to make people feel excluded. We want to be who everyone goes to for rap music.
In the monotony of modern existence, music has become a background experience for most rather than a foreground experience. Independent hip hop is no different. RapIndie has a catalog of nearly 1000 posts, but if you want to become one of them, this is what RapIndie looks for:

1. Raps that are difficult or creative.

2. Artist authenticity (rapping about their own lives).

3. Cultural significance (songs that elicit social reactions from people).

4. Empowerment (songs that break stereotypes, or songs that display stereotypes in a positive light).

Tyler has a clout in suburbia that is bigger than rock bands. Likewise, RapIndie was a blog that formerly but is no longer: a suburban thing. Tyler resonates in many areas that no one else does, but it's a little bit of a personal bias to overhype him because of it.
In the hipster era, we had an endless assortment of prolific artists to choose from. Although they were not always the most ethical, they were authentically talented. Running a blog means reflecting the industry, just as much as sharing my favorite music.

How many saints go viral?
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

RI Footer

RapIndie

All Your Favourites

© RapIndie. All rights reserved. RapIndie is not directly affiliated with any of the artists or brands we feature. Contact us, for collaboration consideration + advertising opportunities