The Subjectivity of Hip Hop
It’s Okay If You Didn’t Like The Illmatic: The Subjectivity of Hip Hop
Written By: Brandon Loftin
It seems like in the world of Hip Hop there are songs or albums so massively liked, that if you are of the rare group that doesn’t like the song, you’re ostracized. I personally think Nas’ the Illmatic was one of these albums which is why I used it in the title but that album can be replaced with the name of any other largely favored album such as The Marshall Mathers EP, The Chronic (Dr. Dre), All Eyez on Me (Tupac), or even modern ones such as TPAB (Kendrick Lamar) or Drake’s most recent album Nothing Was The Same. Im here to tell you that it’s okay if you weren’t completely worshipping these albums like most of the hip hop world. You might actually be one of the only people keeping it real by admitting to this distaste. Especially in the world of social media, people’s opinions are often swayed by a number of retweets, likes, or favorites. People can go on twitter without hearing the new Kendrick and due to reaction/review tweets, already have a preconceived notion of what to expect. This in a way ruins the experience for that personal listener. If that person was to read a tweet giving a bad review, their expectations might be swayed. I remember when the Carter IV came out, a twitter-wide hashtag came out called #ThingsBetterThanCarterIV. I read these tweets before listening to the album and yes, in my opinion, it was less than stellar but I before I even put the headphones on I expected it to suck ass and I wanted to find a reason not to like it. Music is subjective in itself but hiphop has so many variations that it may be one of the more idiosyncratic genres. Hopefully this will end the aimless arguments over who is better between Gucci Mane or Drake.
It all has to do with what type of sound are you looking for?I remember when I first heard To Pimp A Butterfly, I was disappointed. I voiced my dissatisfaction with my friends and they replied with comments like “WTF”, “You’re an idiot” etc. I realize now that this was during my Young Thug phase in which I had Barter 6 on repeat. Any rap fan knows the stark differences in style between Young Thug in Kendrick. I didn’t take this into account and when I pressed play on the Kendrick Album I expected the heavy bass and ignorant rapping. It was like looking for vegetables in the candy aisle. Kendrick’s lyrical depth strongly outweighs his production and at the time it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. This is a very important part of getting the full effect of a song or album.
Someone might say that Chance The Rapper isn’t good but just because you won’t hear him played at a club while you and your friends jump around and push girls out of the way doesn’t mean he’s not good, just not suitable for the occasion. Earlier I used Gucci Mane vs Drake as an example of an argument but the truth is, you cannot argue these two. This like comparing Tom Brady vs. Ray Lewis, Two different positions. Drake and Wop and 2 entirely different types of hip hop. Gucci’s shallow, brash, lyrics mixed with atlanta trap beats and releasing large volumes of music makes him one of the best trap rappers in the game. Keyword here is trap, Trap music isn’t supposed to be lyrical or even necessarily relatable, it’s an escape into a fantasy world where we all whip bricks, hit licks and the like.. Drake is not that, his emotional and probably more life applicable lyrics make him a fan favorite. Both are great in their respective style but arguing the two is apples to oranges.
The truth of the matter is don’t be embarrassed to say you don’t like a popular music piece, but also don’t hate on someone else either. It’s all about the personal listener’s mood at the time, taste, and reception.
Follow Brandon on twitter: @Lowkey__B