Oh, rap brouhahas. Don’t we love them? Well, not if they end in mayhem and destruction, but when they’re full of weird irony, strange competitors, and downright ludicrous taunts — they can be sort of fun, yes? In a “Why is this happening?” kind of way.
The latest big blow-up which made it all the way to the pages of the New York Times, is this thing about New York’s Hot 97 deejay diss. See, not even radio personalities are immune from getting involved in “rap beefs.” Heaven forbid they have an opinion about the music they play.
If you haven’t heard the story, Peter Rosenberg dissed headliner Nicki Minaj before she was set to take the stage at Hot 97’s annual Summer Jam hip-hop concert. He basically called her a “sell out” for dabbling in Pop music and courting a more crossover audience.
“I see the real hip-hop heads(1) sprinkled in here. I see them. I know there are some chicks here waiting to sing ‘Starships’ later – I’m not talking to y’all right now. I’m here to talk about real hip-hop.”
Apparently, he also said “Starships” is “the most sellout song in hip-hop history.” Well, that’s certainly debatable. Some of us remember “Too Legit to Quit.” Amirite? Yet, Lil Wayne, president of the YMCMB (Y=Young M=Money C=Cash M=Money B=Billionaires) record label, was offended by Rosenberg’s comments and via Tweet announced members of the label, including Minaj, would not be performing. Which, if rumor suggests correctly, was to include a “funeral for Lil Kim” Minaj’s nemesis and with whom she has a longstanding beef. Sigh. So many beefs, so much money for everyone. (Fingies Note: Bah! Whatever, Minaj. There’d be no you without a Lil Kim who came before. Patoo on that, baby.)
Well, yeah, we agree with The Times that hating on someone for “selling out” is a lame attack, and one rooted in such little grounding that it’s hard to know where to start in modern day. The whole goal of a rap career now is to no longer have to scrape by and be content with winning a few freestyle competitions where only the most underground of names give you respect. Everyone, yes, everyone has to cater to an audience. And that audience has expanded. At one time “selling out” in your rap career was having an R&B hook — until that became popular. Or maybe it was when hip-hop got real flashy with bling and lightshows? Please. Or when rappers no longer talked about the “streets” and started rapping about wealth and access, or collaborated with icons of rock or other alternative music genres. Dressed down or blinged up, hip-hop has nuance and range just like anything else, and the biggest, most successful of them all have dabbled in much of the above. Yet, these supposed harbingers of rap’s ultimate demise have all caused “beefs” over the years.
Take a recent “beef” between rappers Common and Drake. Common wanted to call Drake out for being too soft, and singing about things with too much emotion. His claim was Drake doing his signature sing-rap and talking about feelings and whatnot isn’t what true hip-hop should be about. Really, Common? Yeah? So, er, no one thought that way about you doing this?
Nice. You see? The rules. They change. Hip-Hop isn’t a constant. It is a living, breathing, evolving thing.
Now, my issue with Minaj’s “Starships” isn’t the “sell-out” factor, or even her attempt at “going pop.” Who cares? Some could say that Kanye’s all autotuned record was some sort of weird “Pop” experiment. My issue is that “Starships” is bad Pop. It’s Pop that’s trying too hard to say, “SEE! I CAN DO POP! I REALLY, REALLY, CAN!” It’s a formula that exists in a world perfected by Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift and whatever other young super, duper, PowerPuff, green-haired girl that exists in 2012 could imitate. It’s so unoriginal that it’s startling. It sounds like a song that may not have made it on the track list of a Katy Perry album, and milking the Pop music machine is what she does.
“Starships” is just crap music, with the main point of the video, we imagine, is oggling Minaj in her various scantily clad forms. Story? There is no story. We wouldn’t have blinked an eyeball if say, Kim Kardashian, had released this song. The problem with this is that it doesn’t feel authentic. And maybe that’s more of what Rosenberg should have talked about. Not so much about “selling out.” That term could mean just about anything. This is more about putting out music with no damn soul.
Katy Perry and Taylor Swift, damn them, for whatever you want to say about their art — they believe in their music, in their notion of “Pop.” Even if it seems ridiculous, and stupid, and like eating a bowl of Fruity Pebbles — a momentary rush — they own those pebbles. Minaj is trying on a “Pop Pantsuit” that just doesn’t quite fit.
There is nothing wrong with infusing your brand of music — whatever you want it to be — with some grit and realness. There are hungry girls out there who are experimenting with sound and beginning to understand just that.
So what do you think? Sell-out? Pop queen in the making? Soulless, zombie pop formula? Take a look at “Starships” and add your two cents in the comments.
(1) A “hip-hop head” is someone who professes to be an arbiter of the music and culture. A purist if you will.
