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Rap is all about image, and something like gangsta rap even more so (although I would not call Dom Kennedy a gangsta rapper). If self-proclaimed modern day feminists or conservatives do not like it, then don’t listen to it (or watch it, for that matter), for fuck’s sake. Lots of girls, posse shots, driving fancy cars-in short, lots of male braggadocio for which rap has been so often criticized. Looking at the video of Dom Kennedy’s “My Type of Party,” people might say it’s the same-ol same-ol. Of course the rap’s content is pretty similar-it’s still about balling, hustlin’, and deez nuts (while Kendrick Lamar might perhaps be the most introspective and self-reflective of the named three artists). They are not retro or vintage, but rather self-referential, a contemporary interpolation (and isn’t that what rap has always been-sampling other music genres, citing other rappers, and then creating something new?). While the sound is of course not that of 1992 but of 2012, these self-made videos of picnics and peeps in the streets just remind me of “Nuthin’ But A G-Thang” and the like. So I was happily surprised to see that there is a burgeoning scene of up-and-coming rap artists from the City of Angels. I have always been a big fan of the classic West Coast cuts, especially gangsta rap and G-Funk: NWA and their solo forays (especially Dre’s), Compton’s Most Wanted, you name it. My rap resurrection seemed to be powered by what I somewhat consider a resurrection of West Coast rap (I know that Gibbs is from Indiana, but his current chosen home is LA I also know that we can argue all day long about resurrecting this or that or “have they ever been off the map” etc.pp.
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But I was hooked by all three rappers from the start. As I wrote earlier, I have not really followed the rap “scene” in the past years, so the all the hype about Kendrick was unknown to me in the beginning. A friend of mine had told me that Madlib was collaborating with some kind of gangsta rapper, so I came from Freddie Gibbs to Dom Kennedy and eventually to Kendrick Lamar (who at times have also collaborated with one another). It is thereby possible to create a buzz that maybe even one day a “legit” record label will pay attention to such an “independent” artist.ĭuring my recent return to rap music, I clicked my way snowball-system like through youtube, going from one artist’s video to the next artist’s.
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And then all you need is to have a friend who is into filmmaking-and voilà, you can make videos that look their part (as long as it has the right tone)-friends to pose with their rides or honeys who dance are easy to find. Start selling mixtapes online, do a couple of shows in your hometown and surrounding area, make some money. And if you’re good at what you’re doing, more and more people will listen to it. In times where people search youtube for instrumentals to drop freestyles on and the world is interconnected through the world wide web, and if you have some friends to “like” your stuff (= grass roots promotion), then your stuff will be found (or stumbled upon) and heard eventually. Crank out some tracks and put them up on Soundcloud or wherever (MySpace is already yesterday). Production equipment is relatively cheap, compared to the beginnings of commerical rap it is no problem to get studio time. Fortunately, artists these days do not have to get a major record label deal-or a label deal at all. You all know Industry Rule 4080: Record label people are shady. It is interesting to see how the internet has changed the (rap) game.