Bonus Cut

By: Uba Anyadiegwu

Many music listeners are getting tired of typical mainstream artists these days: artists who aren’t very skilled, but broke into the mainstream for their radio friendly or club material music. Artists such as Tyga, Flo Rida, and even the lackluster Big Sean come to mind. Everyone can rap but what makes you stand out? Is it your look? Persona? Swag? In some cases, it is! Ask 2 Chainz, because his music and material isn’t different but his whole persona and his name alone are reasons why he’s different. Nonetheless, artists such as 2 Chainz are more of fads and do not have longevity in their music careers. This is mainly because his music is cool and funny now, but after a while, people will start to get annoyed from it. For instance, look where Soulja Boy’s career went.. Yeah I cant find it either. The only way to create longevity in a mainstream artist’s career is to have a signature, creative sound; an artist’s rapping delivery and beat selection are major contributions to their sound. Hip-hop has been going through an experimental movement, where many of the most popular hip-hop artists don’t necessarily have that ‘traditional’ hip hop sound. This kind of sound refers to the sound where hip-hop originated from. A traditional hip-hop sound has a very jazzy and R&B sample influence feel with insightful lyrics. A great example of an album that follows this sound would be Kanye West’s College Dropout. However, artists such as Drake, Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Rocky and Chance The Rapper are a few examples of where hip-hop as a collaborative sound in the mainstream is headed towards.

Continue reading →