This week the rapper Kendrick Lamar may have been the first
recording artists to have a verse, not the song itself go viral. The name of
the song is “Control” by fellow rapper Big Sean. The song also features another
rapper named Jay-Electronica but no one seems to even mention either of the
M.C.s when discussing this song. Kendrick’s album Good Kid M.A.A.d City is well
on its way to sell a million copies but I have witnessed first hand his rise in
popularity since “Control” hit the social networks early this week. What’s so
special about this verse from Kendrick? In my opinion since the Hip hop genre
has increased in popularity the content has suffered and cultural divisions
based on regional orientation has led to a lack of respect for the origin of
Hip hop itself. What Kendrick did was use a song to specifically call out the
names of his competitors and vow to steal their fans from them. Kendrick also
proclaimed to be the king of New York a title that infuriated NY, rappers since
Kendrick is from California.
What came next was an entire week of diss records aimed at
Kendrick Lamar. Rappers who felt slighted because their name wasn’t mentioned
made diss songs and rappers who were offended about his comments about NY, did
the same. The rappers who were actually mentioned in the verse took to twitter
and Facebook to give their take on the lyrics. There is an important business
lesson to be learned here. Being talented will certainly help you become
successful, your core fan will certainly appreciate you but controversy in its
various forms still gets the most attention. In my opinion Kendrick realized
something was missing in the Hip Hop genre that had been present in the past
and that thing is real artistic competition. The Hip Hop industry is very
competitive but most of the competition is based on financial gain not
artistry.
This week in Hip Hop marked the return of lyricism an art
that had almost seemed forgotten in the years of Auto-tune and
electro-dance/rap. So far I have counted fourteen response records to the
control verse and they just keep coming. If you love Hip Hop this was a great
week to be a fan because I’m sure one of your favorite rappers probably
released a new diss track this week. The articles written on this topic have
been just as interesting. MTV News.com has an article with links to every
response song along with ratings and critic commentary for each track. Anytime
Hip Hop is in the news for artistic reasons not controversy or criminality is a
good day, ironically it took a little lyrical controversy to make it happen.
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