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[Offtopic] In reference to point 5 - That line made me respect Jay-Z as an artist. He isn't in my top 5, but that was honest of him to admit. In that song, h
by mdg 17y ago
[Offtopic]
In reference to point 5 - That line made me respect Jay-Z as an artist. He isn't in my top 5, but that was honest of him to admit. In that song, he says something along the lines of "Lyrically, I'd rather be Talib Kweli". Now, Talib Kweli is in my top 5. He writes on some deeper topics then most mainstream artists, and as a result, is rarely heard of. Kweli, in a song he wrote after Moment of Clarity came out, would say:
> If lyrics sold then truth be told, I'll probably be just as rich and famous as jay-z
Anyways... A lot of rappers are ex-drug dealers. As a result, many of them are business-savy. I feel Jay-Z is the best example of this.
- moron4hire 17y ago> Anyways... A lot of rappers are ex-drug dealers. As a result, many of them are business-savy. I feel Jay-Z is the best example of this. L.L. Cool J., Missy Elliott, and Kanye West are just a few highly influential artists who have no known history of drug dealing or other criminal activity. And I think Stephen Levitt goes a long way to disproving the whole concept that "drug dealers are savvy businessmen" (http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_levitt_analyzes_crack_economics.html http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_levitt_analyzes_crack_econom...)
- mdg 17y agoI have not seen that TED talk, though I plan to. LL Cool J, Missy Elliot, and Kanye never rap about selling drugs either. In fact, the latter two were producers first. I should edit my OP because the truth is that there are many sub-genres of hip hop, some of which are prevelant with the drug-dealing folklore and others which are not. It was wrong of me to make a blanket statement.