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Every Rapper Wants to Be Popular

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Genres are entirely about the consumer, but discussions about genre too often seem to get dumped back on the artist. If Macklemore & Ryan Lewis get labelled "Pop" instead of "Hip Hop," then they're just a DJ/rapper duo making pop music and there's a general sense that they've lost the credibility that's so central to hip hop culture. Instead, the Grammy's General Committee trumps the Rap Committee (which is composed of who, exactly?) and these dudes take home four Grammys. Close one. Every story I can dig up about this cloak-and-dagger Grammy drama, though, hinges on a single anonymous source, who supposedly said the Rap Committee's reluctance to include M & RL was due to "their success on mainstream radio and their appeal in the pop world.” So just because these two independents from Seattle made a couple songs that somehow "out-populared" the likes of Drake, Eminem, and Jay-Z (I'm not going near that whole Kendrick thing; I'm not really a fan, but he was definitely robbed), their music suddenly doesn't count as rap anymore?

That looks a bit like a straw man to me. It's way too easy to completely invalidate that logic. Look no further than the fact that every comment on these stories is essentially saying the same thing: of course Macklemore is a rapper! True, I did get into a legit argument with someone once who insisted that The Heist was Macklemore's first album - sigh - but some people just like to be aggressive with their ignorance.

If it IS true, though, then the whole thing stinks of big business (ie. record labels) trying to use the Grammys to crowd out independent artists whose mainstream success is threatening to weaken the labels' monopoly on hip hop music production. (Amateur rappers everywhere after watching the Grammys: "I guess that means I don't really need a record label!" Yeah, good luck.). But to quote the illustrious Madchild: "These days you don't need a label, just a laptop."

Rap (and music generally) is becoming more and more accessible, as music-making technology continues to improve and come down in price. It's a fascinating cultural moment, isn't it? Sustainable models of cultural consumption like Netflix and the iTunes store are starting to take hold, while peer-sharing sites like Isohunt and Pirate Bay are either shut down or becoming increasingly embattled. And creative commons licensing and sites like SoundCloud and Bandcamp are making it easier and easier to make, share, and remix content.

But back to genres. While "Pop" is like a kiss of death for many hip hop fans--I guess we all have a magic number picked out, consciously or not, after which point an artist becomes "mainstream"?--labels like "Underground" are gold in the hip hop world. Underground = Legit. "Real" hip hop. If you're an underground rapper and you sell one too many records, though, POOF! you're a sell-out, at least to certain people. Nothing changes about the music, but suddenly everything is different.

Problem is, every rapper wants to be popular. Sure, not everyone wants the fame that accompanies that popularity, but I'm pretty sure you'll never meet a rapper who doesn't want people to listen to their music. It's just unfortunate that so many people uncritically accept essentially arbitrary genre designations and allow these labels to influence who and what they listen to.

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