jay-z himself admitted that he sold out on the black album "truthfully I wanna rhyme like common sense, but I did 5 mil, I aint been rhymin like common since" case closed
I don't feel like going back through this video, but Nas doesn't typically change his style much. This time he did and it didn't work for me. That's it. And no offense taken, my man. Nothing wrong with asking for clarification. Sometimes the editing can makes the convos seem a little disjointed because we're always all over the place.
Even though I agree with Myke said about Em, Relapse surprisingly did well commercially because of two hit songs (We Made You, Crack A Bottle) and it won a Grammy for best rap album. Lol
Selling out in my definition is changing who you are to stay relevant by going along with what's popular, even though it goes against your values as an artist. When you completely ignore your fan base at the sake of selling records and it sounds artificial. Growth to me is being able to always maintain your core values as an artist and not compromising your art form for vacuous benefits. You're about to reinvent yourself but still contain the elements that existed in your music from jump.
i define growth as a step in the right direction towards the progression of an artists art. not just taking chances, cause you can take a chance and it can be horrible, that's regressing. selling out is seeing a certain type of music get popular, and deciding that you're gonna adopt it.
examples of growth without selling out: Outkast's transition from southernplaylistic to ATLines & Aquemini. Common's transition from can I Borrow a dollar & Ressurection to ODIAMS & LWFC.
Huh??? At 15:00 I was still talking about Cee-Lo. Haha! Where'd you get Dre? BTW I totally agree with what you said...just not sure where it came from.
To be fair to Nas anyone would find it difficult to grow when you make an album like illmatic so early in your career. I'm feeling his new track though, should be a strong album. I think expectations of an artist are important, particularly in terms of rappers like Danny brown and Kendrick lamar, both guys had instant classic releases and now there is almost a pressure on them to follow it up with another album. It will be interesting to see what direction they take their music in.
Whenever rappers get a little "too famous" and start makin a little too much money, they're called sell outs.The problem is too many people equate fame to selling out. The guy below me said "JAYZ NICKI WALE DRAKE WAYNE T.I" are sell outs. What a coincidence that some of the richest artists in rap music happen to be sellouts. To me, none of the above artists sold out. They've been rapping about the exact same subject matter they're whole careers. Nothing's changed. People just buy their music
Great job once again y'all! Enjoyed it as usual. Pulling for you guys to get some new equipment. I appreciate your hard work on all these reviews/conversations!
growth to me is getting better each album. for example, 2pac. each album just got better and better, without changing his ways. rhyme schemes got more intricate, words got more powerful, and flow got stronger
according to em, his whole dissing pop stars was merely a ploy to distance himself from that pop image he had when he first came out. now that em has been a megastar for some years now, em doesn't really need to do that anymore but I agree with everything else you said.
I guess a good example as well of a group that's grown so successfully and 'seamlessly' changed and experimented on new sounds would be The Roots. I think its all about having a consistant touch and style when growing and changing
Whilst reading your comment, I agreed 100%, but now I have to switch and agree with Myke. Cudder did grow. He expanded his horizons. He learnt how to play an instrument (granted, he sucks), but he did it nonetheless. The quality of the music isn't quite as good on wzrd, but he experimented with a new sound, he strayed from the path and has gained some new skills and insight. The music isn't "better" but now he is more well rounded as an artist. The degree of that transformation is debatable.
jay-z hasnt sold out because he cant sell out hes always represented himself as a hustler so switching up to make money fits into the context of his persona..... he even speaks about cant knock the hustle as a track tellin the street hustlers you cant knock my music hustle hes always gonna change thats whats consistent
Yeah I think Em selling out would mean him doing albums with Moby, Elton John and the people he attacked for so many years, or doing a house sounding rap album with David Guetta or Deadmau5. Him doing songs with commercial artist is going in line with what he is, a commercial artist.
I think the difference with Jay Z and others who sell out is Jay Z still put out quality music, while making a more mainstream product, whereas Lupe's music got a lot worse
I don't know who does the editing on the videos, maybe it is @modestmedia. But I have always liked how it went goes from color to black and white. I think it would be cool if yall tried some other tones, like sepia and stuff like that.
lol same here. Thats probably my fav Lupe mixtape by far. It showcased his flow and lyrical ability on beats that aren't typical hip-hop. Not to mention is was pretty original.
Why do some black people have this fear of Jay Z, im thinking what did Jay Z do for the game or black people that he deserves so much god like respect?
I saw an interview from him around when MMLP, and he said he dissed NSync/Britney because people were lumping him into that crowd. That's why I don't think Em really had anything against ALL Pop artists, but it was more that he just didn't wanna be grouped with artists like that.
Tech N9ne grew from a virtually unknown underground artist, to the number 1 independant rapper with the number 1 independant label in the world...in history. Without EVER selling out.
nas did sell out with it was written, but it was still a dope album. he has flirted with commercial sounds but has shown more growth later in his career. jay-z never really stood out as having alot of artistic integrity to begin with, he came in with a commercialized sound (reasonable doubt wasn't exactly a "hard" album). and he tried to sell out with vol 1 but it didn't workl so instead he plays it safe between commercial and and street appeal. i would say q-tip has showed amazing growth.
exactly, every track on Recovery was on point, except "NOT AFRAID" and "LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE" in my opinion. those two tracks i feel are selling out to a degree. But even if, the rest of the album was real.
feefo needs to understand that this whole techno pop thing is practicaly a new concept for hiphop. kanye wests stronger was I think one of the first TRUE pop rap records in hiphop history. I can't recall anything that was really like it in the hiphop genre. they need to know that theres a time difference involved here. what was pop today wasn't what was considered pop years ago.jay-z actually was a sellout during his time because his songs after RD were pop in hiphop standards during that time.
I agree Jay Z followed trends up to a certain point. Your completely right about Vol 1, but let's not forget everybody in the game was trying to reinvent that soulful sound after Jay dropped The Blueprint. Not to mention he made an album about selling drugs (American Gangster) when it wasn't cool to talk about selling drugs anymore.
Agree with Ken. No one said we didn't like the songs. "Won't Back Down" was one of the better songs on the album. If you're gonna argue the points argue the points; not what you think we're thinking. The sell out comment was solely based on him attacking everyone in that pop lane, but as soon as he needed some help getting his approval rating up he put two big selling pop stars on his album which he never did before. The closest thing was Dido and she's hardly a pop star on the Rihanna level.
Here's the thing with Em. On Recovery, he complete left out the Dr. Dre/Luis Resto/Mr. Porter/Mike Elizondo/Bass Brothers production that helped create his signature quirky midwest Detroit/Westcoast/G-Funk sound that I liked..only to be replaced by this highy-compressed poppy 808 hip-hop sound. Em was shouting throughout that entire album. Relapse..he was doing the accents..just imagine what Relapse would of sounded like if he didn't do those accents. Recovery didn't bring that sound I expected.
@chicagomycity ya that's a good question. I never did understand that part. Maybe he knew that fans would act like they are now, and he didn't want to lose fans. That is kinda messed up, but I still don't think he sold out because he wanted to change his sound. He may have lied to his fans, but he didn't sell out. I don't know which is worse
How do you know if the artist wants to incorporate these elements in their music? Obviously they wanted to incorporate it whether it was to make more money or to grow as an artist. If you as a fan view it as growth it just means they changed to appeal to you as an individual. If they change to something you dislike, you view it as "selling out."
Another great convo guys but seriously I think the crew should do one on 'real hip-hop.' There is a fine line between growth and selling out...because even these ideas are subjective. Comparing Relapse to Recovery, yea I liked Relapse more but I consider it growth for Em, and at the same time him selling out. Because he changed his lyrics with Recovery, they seemed more mature to me. I think this topic will come into your Wolf review because Tyler said hes not coming back to Bastard.
I'm not sure which I think is more like "selling out" though - making something on your own that sounds like radio pop, or letting a label do that to your music?
Jay-Z didn't sell out he was in it for the money from the start of his career. On reasonable doubt he said ''If yall niggas not talkin' bout large money whats the point''. That verse on the black album just reiterated what we already knew about Jay-Z. Jay-Z never cared about being lyrical more then he cared about making money. He kept it real.
All Black Everything, Letting Go, State Run Radio, Beautiful Lasers, Words I Never Said, I'm Beaming, Shining Down, Never Forget You, Till I Get There. Yes, the lyrical content and meaning in Lasers is pretty much the same as his previous works. Only difference is the more commercial beats.
if anything he is one of the few artist right now who still maintaining his sound right now...Jay-Z has changed to remain relevant but that don't take away from him being a great artist..Eminem's case is him trying to comeback after being gone for half a decade...a lot changed and when he saw that he said yo I'm bout to try a different sound and relapse was a success actually..it moved about 2 or 3 million copies and won Best Rap album Grammy that year but Recovery smashed that with about anoth
17:50 Mykes face...lol For the most part I agree with you folks. On the Em part, what I personally hated on Recovery the most weren't the features, they were the shots he took at Relapse. I defended Relapse hard to "fans" who listened to it once and didn't give it a second glance, and then you go an appeal to the same bs-mainstream white girls who don't know hip hop. Thats what really disillusioned me as an Em fan.
if you said a sell out can't be determined until you hear his next albums even though you see recovery as a sell out album after hearing hell the sequel and most of the tracks on mmlp2 and shady xv (which i thought all of em were great and i don't care what anybody says) i can't say eminem is a sell out but but more of maturing but that's just how i see it
The term "sellout" is for when rappers reach a certain level of success and the powers to be give him a choice: get the fame and fortune you want and make the music we want you to make or stay where you are and we'll discredit you.
you right dude i have no right to assume you are a back pack cat or elitist or have a huge ego but can i call out your alter ego robbiefire.no hipster wants to be called a hipster i guess.much respect and keep doing your thing baby boy.
Yea he did dumb down his lyrics in order for people to understand his lyrics cause when I was younger, a lot of people said that they didnt understand Jay-Z and Nas's lyrics because they was too "lyrical" so they tone it down where radio heads can understand his lyrics and hip-hop heads can listen to. That's the art of making a commercial album. Especially from where i'm from. I'm from Texas. A lot of people down here really don't get into east coast rap. It's strictly southern rap.
he still had an incredible flow up until American Gangster though, that line you just quoted there is a fine example of how jay's music was still banging on the Black album. Call it selling out, I call it expanding your audience. Selling out to me is when you go against what your art stands for just for money (i.e. Eminem doing a collab with Bruno Mars)
With Em its different. He used to be immature on AND off the mic. Its not like he stopped dissing pop just on the mic. He grew as a person, and you can tell that overall, he's a much more mature person. But, he still does that hardcore hip hop. Check out Hell: The Sequel.
As far as Phonte's growth, Foreign Exchange is his growth. You can't grow anymore than that. He's made the most positive uncompromising growth of any artist in the last 10 years.
"business man behind a microphone", yup, pretty much summarizes most of the mainstream music coming out right now. well put
Lupe sure as hell came back HARD with Tetsuo and Youth!
And dissapointed again with Drogas Light
Magnus P1 and came back with Drogas Wave.
Yezzir
jay-z himself admitted that he sold out on the black album "truthfully I wanna rhyme like common sense, but I did 5 mil, I aint been rhymin like common since" case closed
Edward Polenzani and on MBDTF "what would you rather be underpaid or overrated?"
F5nosudfrede?
+Edward Polenzani Damn those are some clever lyrics
Myke predicted the black eyed peas trying to comeback from selling out 6 years prior
They should do a part two on this.
I don't feel like going back through this video, but Nas doesn't typically change his style much. This time he did and it didn't work for me. That's it. And no offense taken, my man. Nothing wrong with asking for clarification. Sometimes the editing can makes the convos seem a little disjointed because we're always all over the place.
I kinda miss the old Intro music. It had such a cool feel to it, especially with Ken and 9th wonder
"we as rappers must decide what's most important" -Hov
Selling out to me is when artist calms to have certain moral values at one point but then breaks those moral values purely for the sake of money.
I loved relapse
Even though I agree with Myke said about Em, Relapse surprisingly did well commercially because of two hit songs (We Made You, Crack A Bottle) and it won a Grammy for best rap album. Lol
Yeah and it's trash. They give Em an award for anything. They gave one to Recovery too and that was nowhere near SSLP/MMLP standards. Trash
@@thomasnelson5758 Relapse is his best album but okay, SSLP is nowhere near as amazing as you think it is lmao
Selling out in my definition is changing who you are to stay relevant by going along with what's popular, even though it goes against your values as an artist. When you completely ignore your fan base at the sake of selling records and it sounds artificial.
Growth to me is being able to always maintain your core values as an artist and not compromising your art form for vacuous benefits. You're about to reinvent yourself but still contain the elements that existed in your music from jump.
I think everyone here has logic and knowledge. We just all express it differently. I'm just fucking wordy as hell. But thanks.
i define growth as a step in the right direction towards the progression of an artists art. not just taking chances, cause you can take a chance and it can be horrible, that's regressing. selling out is seeing a certain type of music get popular, and deciding that you're gonna adopt it.
What about OutKast? completely different albums through out their careers.
Huntor Prey A very good definition of "growth".
Huntor Prey A very good definition of "growth".
They need to bring this intro back for one of the conversations
Seriously, listen through Relapse & Refill, it's dope & underrated.
Old Time's Sake? Underground? Medicine Ball? Insane? HELL BREAKS LOOSE?!
Fucking crazy, dope!
That last little bit from Myke was spot on and worded very well. Agree completely.
examples of growth without selling out: Outkast's transition from southernplaylistic to ATLines & Aquemini. Common's transition from can I Borrow a dollar & Ressurection to ODIAMS & LWFC.
Y'all are crazy, his flow was dope, Relapse was awesome!
Huh??? At 15:00 I was still talking about Cee-Lo. Haha! Where'd you get Dre? BTW I totally agree with what you said...just not sure where it came from.
To be fair to Nas anyone would find it difficult to grow when you make an album like illmatic so early in your career. I'm feeling his new track though, should be a strong album.
I think expectations of an artist are important, particularly in terms of rappers like Danny brown and Kendrick lamar, both guys had instant classic releases and now there is almost a pressure on them to follow it up with another album. It will be interesting to see what direction they take their music in.
I totally agree with C-Town.. especially at the end! Great Topic!
Whenever rappers get a little "too famous" and start makin a little too much money, they're called sell outs.The problem is too many people equate fame to selling out. The guy below me said "JAYZ NICKI WALE DRAKE WAYNE T.I" are sell outs. What a coincidence that some of the richest artists in rap music happen to be sellouts. To me, none of the above artists sold out. They've been rapping about the exact same subject matter they're whole careers. Nothing's changed. People just buy their music
GOTDAMN IM FEELIN THE NEW CAMERA......flightz
Mike. Almost always on point.
Great job once again y'all! Enjoyed it as usual. Pulling for you guys to get some new equipment. I appreciate your hard work on all these reviews/conversations!
growth to me is getting better each album. for example, 2pac. each album just got better and better, without changing his ways. rhyme schemes got more intricate, words got more powerful, and flow got stronger
according to em, his whole dissing pop stars was merely a ploy to distance himself from that pop image he had when he first came out. now that em has been a megastar for some years now, em doesn't really need to do that anymore but I agree with everything else you said.
he didn't sell out. he grew as an artist. He changed his stuff which was very risky, and took a chance. and it actually worked.
I guess a good example as well of a group that's grown so successfully and 'seamlessly' changed and experimented on new sounds would be The Roots. I think its all about having a consistant touch and style when growing and changing
I loved the accent on that album. Buffalo Bill is dope.
Very well said.
Whilst reading your comment, I agreed 100%, but now I have to switch and agree with Myke. Cudder did grow. He expanded his horizons. He learnt how to play an instrument (granted, he sucks), but he did it nonetheless. The quality of the music isn't quite as good on wzrd, but he experimented with a new sound, he strayed from the path and has gained some new skills and insight. The music isn't "better" but now he is more well rounded as an artist. The degree of that transformation is debatable.
jay-z hasnt sold out because he cant sell out hes always represented himself as a hustler so switching up to make money fits into the context of his persona..... he even speaks about cant knock the hustle as a track tellin the street hustlers you cant knock my music hustle hes always gonna change thats whats consistent
And look at Bad Meets Evil EP that was awesome as well IMO.
The only album i didn't really like was Relapse and a bit of Encore.
Yeah I think Em selling out would mean him doing albums with Moby, Elton John and the people he attacked for so many years, or doing a house sounding rap album with David Guetta or Deadmau5. Him doing songs with commercial artist is going in line with what he is, a commercial artist.
I think the difference with Jay Z and others who sell out is Jay Z still put out quality music, while making a more mainstream product, whereas Lupe's music got a lot worse
My man!! Thanks for subbing! We appreciate that! Most of all thanks for watching period!
The ending was like the end to a really good 90's hip hop movie
Myke is 100 on this.
It is!
I don't know who does the editing on the videos, maybe it is @modestmedia. But I have always liked how it went goes from color to black and white. I think it would be cool if yall tried some other tones, like sepia and stuff like that.
because of the credits, i just realized Feefo's name stems from his actual name.
lol same here. Thats probably my fav Lupe mixtape by far. It showcased his flow and lyrical ability on beats that aren't typical hip-hop. Not to mention is was pretty original.
Why do some black people have this fear of Jay Z, im thinking what did Jay Z do for the game or black people that he deserves so much god like respect?
Dalisu Ngobese if u really don't know then research
Recovery only had 2 hooks from singers and the lyrics were deep and won't back down is raw hip hop he aint sell out 99% of recovery wasn't for radio
Selling out when money is the motive...Growth when better/more unique music is the motive
I saw an interview from him around when MMLP, and he said he dissed NSync/Britney because people were lumping him into that crowd. That's why I don't think Em really had anything against ALL Pop artists, but it was more that he just didn't wanna be grouped with artists like that.
E-40 - Block Brochure review please!! nobody is doin it, this is the best album this year!!
Tech N9ne grew from a virtually unknown underground artist, to the number 1 independant rapper with the number 1 independant label in the world...in history. Without EVER selling out.
Mike is always on point they be taking taking chairs with no legs when he be speaking
nas did sell out with it was written, but it was still a dope album. he has flirted with commercial sounds but has shown more growth later in his career.
jay-z never really stood out as having alot of artistic integrity to begin with, he came in with a commercialized sound (reasonable doubt wasn't exactly a "hard" album). and he tried to sell out with vol 1 but it didn't workl so instead he plays it safe between commercial and and street appeal.
i would say q-tip has showed amazing growth.
One love DEHH!
I think an artist should be free to make any type of work they want and then you should just listen to it and determine if you think it's good.
@mykectown is rocking that original dawn of the dead shirt, that was a classic movie!
exactly, every track on Recovery was on point, except "NOT AFRAID" and "LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE" in my opinion. those two tracks i feel are selling out to a degree. But even if, the rest of the album was real.
ninjamonkeybird not afraid was poppy but still solid
Love the way you lie is corny and was radio friendly
props to modest media for admitting when he wrong and avoiding a long ass argument
I'm surprised you guys did not bring up Outkast. They are the perfect example of "artist growth", being that y'all live in the Atl.........lol
feefo needs to understand that this whole techno pop thing is practicaly a new concept for hiphop. kanye wests stronger was I think one of the first TRUE pop rap records in hiphop history. I can't recall anything that was really like it in the hiphop genre. they need to know that theres a time difference involved here. what was pop today wasn't what was considered pop years ago.jay-z actually was a sellout during his time because his songs after RD were pop in hiphop standards during that time.
I would agree with that. Good examples.
Mixed Media should join in on the conversations imo, he adds some of the most clear and thoughtout comments of everyone
I agree Jay Z followed trends up to a certain point. Your completely right about Vol 1, but let's not forget everybody in the game was trying to reinvent that soulful sound after Jay dropped The Blueprint. Not to mention he made an album about selling drugs (American Gangster) when it wasn't cool to talk about selling drugs anymore.
What did it sell in comparison to his other albums?
Agree with Ken. No one said we didn't like the songs. "Won't Back Down" was one of the better songs on the album. If you're gonna argue the points argue the points; not what you think we're thinking. The sell out comment was solely based on him attacking everyone in that pop lane, but as soon as he needed some help getting his approval rating up he put two big selling pop stars on his album which he never did before. The closest thing was Dido and she's hardly a pop star on the Rihanna level.
I agree. Plus the thing with Lupe was that Lasers was pretty much forced by Atlantic.
That's a badass shirt, Myke.
great video interesting topic!
Here's the thing with Em. On Recovery, he complete left out the Dr. Dre/Luis Resto/Mr. Porter/Mike Elizondo/Bass Brothers production that helped create his signature quirky midwest Detroit/Westcoast/G-Funk sound that I liked..only to be replaced by this highy-compressed poppy 808 hip-hop sound. Em was shouting throughout that entire album. Relapse..he was doing the accents..just imagine what Relapse would of sounded like if he didn't do those accents. Recovery didn't bring that sound I expected.
17:47 "But I think that he lost so many fans off of Relapse..."
"... that he had to recover?"
C-Town's reaction is priceless.
When artists ONLY try to please FANS, then they fail. Good point. #spreadthesoup
@chicagomycity ya that's a good question. I never did understand that part. Maybe he knew that fans would act like they are now, and he didn't want to lose fans. That is kinda messed up, but I still don't think he sold out because he wanted to change his sound. He may have lied to his fans, but he didn't sell out. I don't know which is worse
Oh yeah! I think we forgot him. But I agree.
There was relapse: refill isnt that the part 2?
How do you know if the artist wants to incorporate these elements in their music? Obviously they wanted to incorporate it whether it was to make more money or to grow as an artist. If you as a fan view it as growth it just means they changed to appeal to you as an individual. If they change to something you dislike, you view it as "selling out."
Another great convo guys but seriously I think the crew should do one on 'real hip-hop.' There is a fine line between growth and selling out...because even these ideas are subjective. Comparing Relapse to Recovery, yea I liked Relapse more but I consider it growth for Em, and at the same time him selling out. Because he changed his lyrics with Recovery, they seemed more mature to me. I think this topic will come into your Wolf review because Tyler said hes not coming back to Bastard.
I'm not sure which I think is more like "selling out" though - making something on your own that sounds like radio pop, or letting a label do that to your music?
This is such a touchy subject. Bc people can't rap about things they raped about yesterday . As a artist they need to try new things and experiment.
Jay-Z didn't sell out he was in it for the money from the start of his career. On reasonable doubt he said ''If yall niggas not talkin' bout large money whats the point''. That verse on the black album just reiterated what we already knew about Jay-Z. Jay-Z never cared about being lyrical more then he cared about making money. He kept it real.
All Black Everything, Letting Go, State Run Radio, Beautiful Lasers, Words I Never Said, I'm Beaming, Shining Down, Never Forget You, Till I Get There. Yes, the lyrical content and meaning in Lasers is pretty much the same as his previous works. Only difference is the more commercial beats.
yeah but common was experimenting with those 2 albums. Most of his catalog is pretty good before & after those albums.
if anything he is one of the few artist right now who still maintaining his sound right now...Jay-Z has changed to remain relevant but that don't take away from him being a great artist..Eminem's case is him trying to comeback after being gone for half a decade...a lot changed and when he saw that he said yo I'm bout to try a different sound and relapse was a success actually..it moved about 2 or 3 million copies and won Best Rap album Grammy that year but Recovery smashed that with about anoth
Cool, I appreciate the reply, and so quickly too. I look forward to your upcoming videos, y'all are fucking hilarious! Wish you guys all the best.
In my eyes only two acts in Hip Hop have grown musically & also been innovative: Outkast & Kanye West
-cash2k
Reasonable Doubt had a very strong R&B sound to it.
they brought back the old intro. epic
get your equipment back soon guys, thanks for the videos in the meantime though
17:50 Mykes face...lol
For the most part I agree with you folks. On the Em part, what I personally hated on Recovery the most weren't the features, they were the shots he took at Relapse. I defended Relapse hard to "fans" who listened to it once and didn't give it a second glance, and then you go an appeal to the same bs-mainstream white girls who don't know hip hop. Thats what really disillusioned me as an Em fan.
@Kingemedia I agree but I feel that most fans of that artist would be happy with that form of selling out since they're getting what they want.
if you said a sell out can't be determined until you hear his next albums even though you see recovery as a sell out album after hearing hell the sequel and most of the tracks on mmlp2 and shady xv (which i thought all of em were great and i don't care what anybody says) i can't say eminem is a sell out but but more of maturing but that's just how i see it
I agree with you that you cant hold a artist to ONE sound. When fans do that, your not allowing them to grow. #spreadthesoup
The term "sellout" is for when rappers reach a certain level of success and the powers to be give him a choice: get the fame and fortune you want and make the music we want you to make or stay where you are and we'll discredit you.
Thanks man!
you right dude i have no right to assume you are a back pack cat or elitist or have a huge ego but can i call out your alter ego robbiefire.no hipster wants to be called a hipster i guess.much respect and keep doing your thing baby boy.
Yea he did dumb down his lyrics in order for people to understand his lyrics cause when I was younger, a lot of people said that they didnt understand Jay-Z and Nas's lyrics because they was too "lyrical" so they tone it down where radio heads can understand his lyrics and hip-hop heads can listen to. That's the art of making a commercial album. Especially from where i'm from. I'm from Texas. A lot of people down here really don't get into east coast rap. It's strictly southern rap.
he still had an incredible flow up until American Gangster though, that line you just quoted there is a fine example of how jay's music was still banging on the Black album. Call it selling out, I call it expanding your audience. Selling out to me is when you go against what your art stands for just for money (i.e. Eminem doing a collab with Bruno Mars)
Great video
With Em its different. He used to be immature on AND off the mic. Its not like he stopped dissing pop just on the mic. He grew as a person, and you can tell that overall, he's a much more mature person. But, he still does that hardcore hip hop. Check out Hell: The Sequel.
Well said fam
As far as Phonte's growth, Foreign Exchange is his growth. You can't grow anymore than that. He's made the most positive uncompromising growth of any artist in the last 10 years.