It's cause of the economic system in which hip hop has to exist. The biggest consumers are the ones who will eventually become the tastemakers and control the media around it too. Market forces win

Efficiency and velocity

I think that's what draws resentment by a lot of rap fans for Kendrick as well, which is weird to me because Kendrick really wasn't pandering to white people, or even white guilt, on TPAB. It just resonated with a lot of middle class white liberals because it's a popular, relatively accessible, and politically charged but not too radical record that is like the rap version of a Pink Floyd record for a lot of those folks

I miss the mid-2010s when rap fans were bumping all kinds of music and just enjoying it for the sake of it. The rightward shift in American culture in general ruined that trend

npcs for real

He says this but still does the africa spotify sightseeing tour. So weak.

In 2015 it was corny to make fun of Kendrick Lamar, Death Grips, Kanye West, Drake, or Future

Like everyone was eating back then and that just went out the window. It's sad

How you hear something like this and get off that bullshit in the first sentence. Man I really hate you niggas

I didn't even hear of them until I got to this site

The africa sightseeing tour was about himself & his own spiritual journey less about the people I think. He’s from the #blackexcellence #blackcapitalism trope, praises Hov & distanced himself from being called a revolutionary idk what u’re expectations are now

So he's just f***ing wack

sees thread title
seems interesting, maybe
sees DRAKE in the first sentence
sighs

You Drake stans need to go find a f***ing hobby for real.

Rich artists don’t care this ain’t nothing new why you cherry pick Kendrick

"man isn't it so hard to talk about your feelings as a man" as your message as a rapper is some macklemore s***. No offense to macklemore. Go make some hits if you want to be quiet about the real world.

Weak criticism

A lot of positive messages are cheesy on a surface level and K Dot really knows how to conceptualize s*** in songs without it becoming corny imo

He's an egotistical capitalist at day's end man

The music is a bop and has a solid message in it most of the time. Take it for what it is

You're British?

He didn’t do a “Spotify sightseeing tour” that was a one off event led by Spotify in Ghana (be specific when you talk about my homeland cac, africa is not one country). Outside of that, he was exploring the country with Dave and his wife with local artists and community leaders. Y’all just love talking without actually looking s*** up

this Plight nigga been throwing a tantrum this entire thread

Should you compare Kendrick Lamar to Huey Newton or Thomas Sankara? No lmao

Does his s*** sound good? Yes

Is the message good? Generally yes

The heroes and revolutionaries are in your communities not at the Grammy's. 99% of the time the people at the Grammy's are the people you gotta fight the revolution against

Artists ain’t prophets man

That entire steppers role out rubbed me the wrong way. From the tiktok bait second song, him saying "I'm not your savior" as if his entire rise to stardom didn't come from saying the exact f***ing opposite. He's chickening out. And you shouldn't respect it as a man.

Kendrick gave you the hardest protest song of the 2010s

But he is not your savior