Photo credit: BET
This past weekend, two names from the world
of contemporary rap were at the forefront of a
lot of discussion. And ironically, they touched upon
something that’s been bugging me and a lot of
others who love hip-hop with their respective
situations. First, French Montana was quoted in an
interview as saying, “All lyrical rappers I know are
broke… I just feel like you gotta make people enjoy
the music.” Then we got news from Mr. Molly himself,
Trinidad James, that he was dropped from his record
label, Def Jam. In his words via Twitter, ‘My album is
now free. If u hear ur beat or verse on it. I hope u want
dap cuz i got no money.’ In regards to French’s remarks,
the Detroit MC Danny Brown challenged those words
strongly and continued to make fun of the sentiment
on Twitter. And James’ revelation got met with a
treasure trove of jokes. The core issue however is this:
can we really laugh at dudes who have made their
bread dumbing down the culture? Or are we laughing
to avoid the fact that we’ve been complicit in helping
them do it?
Let’s face facts. A good deal of stuff that we as fans of
the culture are witnessing here and now is stuff that we
have helped get a more solid footing. It’s been that way
for YEARS. That’s a major reason why you don’t see too
many outside of Danny Brown taking French Montana to
task for such a ridiculous statement. Even if French made
that comment in the context of NYC rappers complaining
about the current environment they’re in and gave Jay-Z
props as an example of a more developed talent, it’s still
an ignorant comment to make overall. Especially if it’s
coming from someone whose own lyrical capacity is slim
to none and has been since Max B’s Air Force Ones were
still walking the asphalt uptown. Seriously, there’s not a
whole lot of people out there who can recite and remember
a French verse save for a couple of hooks. For someone
with such limited lyrical skills to say that lyrical rappers
don’t appeal to the masses is essentially slapping you in
the face with money, a la Ted ‘Million Dollar Man’ Dibiase
style. And he’s getting repaid by a slew of these wannabe
cat-in-the-hat ass rappers who will be running up on you
with their CD’s imitating him in the hopes of getting put on
along with constant rotation on the corporate radio airwaves.
Photo credit: WordOnTheStreet.com
But his words SHOULD ring hollow. Especially in light of
what befell Trinidad James. Those of you who’ve read
my earlier piece on him can guess that I wasn’t a fan
from the beginning. James’ skyrocketing success thanks
to one single, ‘All Gold Everything’ has finally run out.
That fateful evening in Brooklyn at the Converse Rubber
Tracks concert last year where he poked fun at NYC-based
rappers worked its karma. Not that it really had to,
because ultimately Trindad James being dropped by Def
Jam said something loud and clear: they felt he didn’t
have enough in him as an artist for them to commit
heavy money. And now, he’s essentially saying he doesn’t
have a dime to his name. It’s not necessarily over for him;
marginal talent seems to stretch their fifteen minutes out
with the skill of an extreme coupon-user these days. But
it goes to show once again that you NEED to be lyrical
to last. In some form or fashion. Lyricism equals longevity.
It’s a truth that as much as it has been pushed aside,
CANNOT be denied. French knows this. Having no real
lyrical talent, he’s gotten his success through hustle.
And even now, despite being in the position of being on
par with video vixens who attempt to flex their rap muscles
when their posterior muscles no longer qualify as a
calling card with his relationship with Khloe Kardashian,
French will more than likely still be in the limelight. But
he should be wary. Trinidad James may be that canary in
the coal mine for wack rappers. Claiming that lyrical rappers
are broke is essentially saying you don’t really care about
or even know your hip-hop history. We’re at a point where
data scientists are working to compile charts and infographics
to measure various MCs’ vast vocabulary. To ignore that is to
feed the already gluttonous machine that makes a large
part of contemporary rap less palatable to people with
sense. French Montana should learn as Trinidad James
just did from the lesson of King Midas, who wanted everything
he touched to become gold and died of starvation as a result.
Gold can become as worthless as lead if you’re not mindful.