Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Vulnerability

So a friend and I were talking, and somehow the conversation steered in the direction of vulnerability. Particularly what it means in the grand scheme of Hip-Hop. In today's hardcore climate, some may argue that there's no room for a vulnerable rapper, but I've always prided myself on being THAT artist.

Now don't get it twisted. When I say "vulnerable", I don't mean "that punk, he's soft, a sissy". I'm talking about the ability of an artist, from any genre, to expose their deepest feelings without caring about their perception. Hip-Hop seems to be the only form of music where you're expected to perpetuate a facade of being HARD. We obviously saw were that got Prodigy. The truth is though, that if artist were more honest with themselves, they'd probably sell more records.

Almost all artist that have showcased this extraordinary talent have proven to be some of the most prolific artists of our time. Not only that, but they are iconic as well. I don't care what anyone says, but Tupac's "Dear Mama" will never be duplicated. This is the same reason we fell in love with Mary during "My Life". There is no denying the sincerity of Lauryn's words on the "Miseducation". However, most people haven't realized that there's also a pattern in my examples; a pattern of success.

The general public seems to gravitate to such artists because they can vicariously live through their words. They identify with them on an entirely different level. Furthermore, as artists, when we explore this vulnerability we can discuss real life topics and not the cliches we've come accustomed to.

"Just my thoughts"

3 comments:

Vee (Scratch) said...

Don't forget Eminem's teenage angst and baby mama drama. Although I pretty much doubt that he'll be writing any more songs publicly throwing his daughter's mother under the bus.

Anwar Billy said...

...so..so..so..true. its funny because artist go through great lengths to be "Hard" but true "Hardness" (not to mention courage and bravery) is shown in ones ability to show vulnerability.

thatgirl said...

thats why we love you shake cause we know the shit is coming from a real place. Why do you think 50 and so many people started getting hated on. Talking all that hard core shit only to later find out the shit was fraudelent. Rick Ross is a cop, 50 is a survivor of bullet wounds and a snitch. Its good to see someone talking real shit and not just perpertrating.