"Do rap fans actually care about this stuff? Like, this is what keeps you coming back? A 38-year-old millionaire’s veiled barbs at a 43-year-old millionaire? Have you tried watching a Real Housewives show? I’ll hang up, I’m hearing “Not Like Us” was the biggest song of 2024."
I know you answered your own question... but it's clear that rap and autofiction go hand in hand—less so in reference to this Lil Wayne feud/moment (?) but more generally, has there ever been a popular rapper/artist in the genre that didn't rely on their own myth or backstory? Our culture is obsessed with the autobiographical. It is interesting how it's consistently considered passé in fiction, depending on who you ask, and yet pretty much necessary in rap. My bad, bit of a thought-salad here, but I'm interested in the idea, and you'd probably know more about it than me. Solid review.
yo, thanks for reading. i was thinking about this because the kendrick/drake beef is lame to me in a way the nas/jay-z + 50 cent/ja rule beefs were not. granted i was 11 years old then, but those were centered on territorial young men with everything to lose; they bled into real-life violence and vice versa. they spoke to neighborhood politics, subtle gradations of class + authenticity i found interesting even as a kid. rappers were not insulated by the trappings of celebrity -- biggie and 2pac were murdered within six months of each other.
whereas the kendrick/drake stuff feels like reality tv. they're 40-year-old billionaires, currying internet favor with obvious digs that amount to glorified your-mama jokes. drake fucking sucks, but of course he sucks, that goes without saying. if your move is to establish supremacy on some street shit, questioning his toughness and realness and blackness, you're already giving him too much credit. what's drake gonna do, charter a flight to LAX and pull up? do either of them actually have anything to lose?
the whole thing is pathetic and concocted to me. i certainly do not listen to rap for petty subliminal Real Housewives-ass grievances, and it's hard for me to imagine anyone who does. so i can only conclude the audience for this is...corny people on the internet.
Well said. It all feels like marketing to me, never really that authentic in any way. As you said before, one millionaire vs another millionaire—hard to relate or empathize, especially when the art takes a back seat to the brand.
"Not a moment of GNX feels disposable. This is music that matters, damn it." Ehhhhh nah. This album was totally forgettable. I found myself bored with Kendrick's voice, usually so mesmerizing and innovative, as if he was trying too hard to grasp something just out of reach. The production wanted to be ugly but fell far short of, say, Nosetalgia's perfection of ugliness, and shoot--B-minus punchlines is grading on a curve. Funny you wrote this today though, I actually just heard one of the songs from this album at a DJ thing over the weekend and nobody was really bopping to it, even when the DJ mixed it with Not Like Us, two songs that would've sounded the same if not for Not LIke Us' distinct chorus. I had heard that a lot of people liked GNX when it came out, but nothing much since. So thanks for the good read, I enjoyed it
it's funny, when i was tallying up my best-of-2024 ballots i found myself struggling. not because i didn't enjoy a ton of music in 2024, but most of my favorite artists drop 3-4 projects a year and have done away with quality control. can't blame them, it's a response to material conditions, the collapse of the label system + the rise of streaming. but even the records i liked, i don't imagine myself reaching for in 5 years.
whereas kendrick is still *going for it* 15 years in. normally i'd roll my eyes at this corporate production roster, but why not? get antonoff to set the EQs, for all i care. it's the foremost prestige rapper on a bazillion-dollar production, trying to make something that lasts. people used to be so hype for nas + jay to drop, i haven't had that experience in a while.
"kendrick on mustard beats" is not a pitch i was excited about -- now i'm wondering if i hate mustard, or the rappers he works with. probably both, but GNX fixed both problems. they made the same point while avoiding the cheap simplicity i find so aggravating.
in re: the DJ thing -- i remember having a similar conversation with some music writer friends after To Pimp A Butterfly came out. (imagine the sort of white guys who were reallyyy into Future + Young Thug.) basically arguing that TPAB was like, NPR bait, and nobody was banging it in the clubs or their cars. i couldn't care less -- i still think it's a fascinating record -- but i live in new york, we don't drive, there aren't really clubs like that here. eye-opening to me in the sense that, well, listening experiences are really fragmented now.
"Do rap fans actually care about this stuff? Like, this is what keeps you coming back? A 38-year-old millionaire’s veiled barbs at a 43-year-old millionaire? Have you tried watching a Real Housewives show? I’ll hang up, I’m hearing “Not Like Us” was the biggest song of 2024."
I know you answered your own question... but it's clear that rap and autofiction go hand in hand—less so in reference to this Lil Wayne feud/moment (?) but more generally, has there ever been a popular rapper/artist in the genre that didn't rely on their own myth or backstory? Our culture is obsessed with the autobiographical. It is interesting how it's consistently considered passé in fiction, depending on who you ask, and yet pretty much necessary in rap. My bad, bit of a thought-salad here, but I'm interested in the idea, and you'd probably know more about it than me. Solid review.
yo, thanks for reading. i was thinking about this because the kendrick/drake beef is lame to me in a way the nas/jay-z + 50 cent/ja rule beefs were not. granted i was 11 years old then, but those were centered on territorial young men with everything to lose; they bled into real-life violence and vice versa. they spoke to neighborhood politics, subtle gradations of class + authenticity i found interesting even as a kid. rappers were not insulated by the trappings of celebrity -- biggie and 2pac were murdered within six months of each other.
whereas the kendrick/drake stuff feels like reality tv. they're 40-year-old billionaires, currying internet favor with obvious digs that amount to glorified your-mama jokes. drake fucking sucks, but of course he sucks, that goes without saying. if your move is to establish supremacy on some street shit, questioning his toughness and realness and blackness, you're already giving him too much credit. what's drake gonna do, charter a flight to LAX and pull up? do either of them actually have anything to lose?
the whole thing is pathetic and concocted to me. i certainly do not listen to rap for petty subliminal Real Housewives-ass grievances, and it's hard for me to imagine anyone who does. so i can only conclude the audience for this is...corny people on the internet.
Well said. It all feels like marketing to me, never really that authentic in any way. As you said before, one millionaire vs another millionaire—hard to relate or empathize, especially when the art takes a back seat to the brand.
> ICECOLDBISHOP mentioned
Generational Curse is the album every TDE rapper has been trying to make for >10 years
"Not a moment of GNX feels disposable. This is music that matters, damn it." Ehhhhh nah. This album was totally forgettable. I found myself bored with Kendrick's voice, usually so mesmerizing and innovative, as if he was trying too hard to grasp something just out of reach. The production wanted to be ugly but fell far short of, say, Nosetalgia's perfection of ugliness, and shoot--B-minus punchlines is grading on a curve. Funny you wrote this today though, I actually just heard one of the songs from this album at a DJ thing over the weekend and nobody was really bopping to it, even when the DJ mixed it with Not Like Us, two songs that would've sounded the same if not for Not LIke Us' distinct chorus. I had heard that a lot of people liked GNX when it came out, but nothing much since. So thanks for the good read, I enjoyed it
it's funny, when i was tallying up my best-of-2024 ballots i found myself struggling. not because i didn't enjoy a ton of music in 2024, but most of my favorite artists drop 3-4 projects a year and have done away with quality control. can't blame them, it's a response to material conditions, the collapse of the label system + the rise of streaming. but even the records i liked, i don't imagine myself reaching for in 5 years.
whereas kendrick is still *going for it* 15 years in. normally i'd roll my eyes at this corporate production roster, but why not? get antonoff to set the EQs, for all i care. it's the foremost prestige rapper on a bazillion-dollar production, trying to make something that lasts. people used to be so hype for nas + jay to drop, i haven't had that experience in a while.
"kendrick on mustard beats" is not a pitch i was excited about -- now i'm wondering if i hate mustard, or the rappers he works with. probably both, but GNX fixed both problems. they made the same point while avoiding the cheap simplicity i find so aggravating.
in re: the DJ thing -- i remember having a similar conversation with some music writer friends after To Pimp A Butterfly came out. (imagine the sort of white guys who were reallyyy into Future + Young Thug.) basically arguing that TPAB was like, NPR bait, and nobody was banging it in the clubs or their cars. i couldn't care less -- i still think it's a fascinating record -- but i live in new york, we don't drive, there aren't really clubs like that here. eye-opening to me in the sense that, well, listening experiences are really fragmented now.