Hey Up-and-Coming Rappers: Who Are You?
“So what’s really holding me back? Damn, myself.” — Geli GreaterThan
I’m riding around in the car just relaxing and listening to the radio when all of a sudden, a song that I have never heard before caught my attention. It was Katy Perry’s “Birthday” song that was playing, and I just listened. I was so caught up in the song that I did not care for the lyrics, I didn’t care about who produced it. For that moment, I was connecting with Katy Perry. Yea her songs follow the same pattern, but this song was so fresh and so new that it stayed in my head for a long while. That is when I realized, Katy Perry’s identity helped me connect with her on a level that was very much so surface, but it drew me in. I was captivated. I wanted to know more about her. I was almost addicted to the song.
All addictions seem to start off the same. You already have an idea of what it is and the effects it has on other people, but when you experience it for yourself it gives you that peak satisfaction that you thirst for again and again.
There are many up-and-coming rappers who want people to have that same experience with their music, and it is easy to see that in the game today. But for some reason, these up-and-comers don’t seem to get the respect that they feel their music presents. Here is the problem up-and-comers: no one has the slightest idea of who you are!
What is your identity? What do you stand for? Do you have a direction for your music? Your direction should not be JUST to make it to the rap game. What are you going to do to change the game with the thing that people know you for?
Look at Drake! For the longest time, this man was making music experimenting with just singing, just rapping, and then went to singing and rapping. But all of a sudden, he found his identity. With a little help from the fans as well, he developed the identity of a sensitive, emotional artist. Drake fans and haters spread around memes that excentuated his identity. And what did he do: CAPITALIZE! He made Take Care, which has him on the cover looking depressed. Drake knew who he was, and the fans/haters now know more than ever who he is.
You can also look at the world-famous Soulja-Boy! Not many people can front that when his dance music came out, everybody was on it. Nobody truly cared about what he was saying, all you knew was that he made a dance, and everybody followed. He did not have to be the most creative lyricist, all he had to know was what skills he had and what he could do to capitalize. Even he developed his identity.
Now, of course, his reign didn’t last for very long, but he made money off of knowing what he brought to the game.
Identities last for a short time in the music industry because the consumer’s wants change. Even if you want to try to deny it, Soulja-Boy was just as much a part of changing the game as Drake was. Do not forget how everybody was trying to “Superman that…” all over the place.
But who can be great examples of up-and-coming rappers in this generation that are in the midst of developing their identities? I know of two good ones: Geli GreaterThan and Nature Nate.
Now understand, these two rappers are very good at what they do. They have developed a great sense of style in their music that is very different from each other. I can imagine that both of them want the same thing: to be heard. To be heard by more than just their friends and the people in the city. They want to be heard like Drake, Jay-Z, and Kanye, to the point where they have the power to influence. But in order to influence, you have to know who YOU are, and what YOU bring. I am sure that from a social standpoint these young, talented people have the power to influence their friends. Now, since they want to influence the rap game, the music industry, the world…does their music have that same identity?
Geli GreaterThan has said in her newest song “Draft Day” something incredibly powerful:
How the hell could I be living, if I’m never winning? That’s what I ask myself. Never let nothing past myself. The ball is in my court, but I’m still stuck in the pass (past) myself. So, in reality, I haven’t even passed myself. So what’s really holding me back? Damn, myself.
What is really holding you up-and-coming rappers from winning? That is an identity question that she asks in her song. She is realizing that she is holding herself back from “winning”; from reaching her ultimate goal.
But for Nature Nate, you can feel his anger and frustration with his new song “Southern Hospitality” when he says:
I’ma man without a conscience, I’m obsessed with bein’ accomplished…with no accomplice. Do this shit without yo help…Bars full of resentment.
Feelin’ unappreciated…
There is more than a bit of anger in these lines. Nothing will stop him from “bein’ accomplished,” and he will “do this…without yo help!”
But have these rappers presented themselves in a way that they can be understood? Do they have an established identity? And if they do, is this the time to present their identity to the rap game; to the music industry; to the world? I will leave it up to you.
