In this classic Dj Vlad interview, which is a few years old now, KRS-One goes in on how ‘Real Men’ don’t exist in this new form of ‘mainstream’ Hip Hop. Even though this video was recorded a few years ago, it still rings true today. In fact, I think it stands even more true today than when he did the interview. These days, the Rappers or Hip Hop artists we hear about most often aren’t talking about anything that is of constructive value to the masses. Keep in mind I said most, not all.
According to the modern Hip Hop culture, you are only a legitimate artists if you are able to accrue massive amounts of cash and spend it all on white supremacist fashion companies (Gucci, Versace, etc.) as well as overpriced jewelry (which is not owned by black people and is probably fake most of the time).
Gaining fame and monetary gain in the industry is no longer based on lyrical skill, content, cultural value or any other logical measurement.
If you can show that you have no sense of cultural integrity by spending all of your money outside of your community, demonstrate your ability to take as many mind altering substances as possible without dying, and prove that you are willing to ‘kill a nigga’ at any moment but never lift an eyebrow to anyone white with authority, then you can make it as a rapper.
That does not sound like a man, that sounds like a boy to me. Men stand for something of constructive value. Men stand for their family. Men stand for their community. I know there’s a lot of real men in the Hip Hop and Rap community, but they aren’t promoted like boys are. Why? Because the powers that be want us to be constantly exposed to music that brings out the boy in us, not the man.
They don’t fear boys. They fear men.
