There has been a not-so-recent movement to validate any form of “conscious” rap and dismiss less serious forms of rap as, at best, unnecessary, and at worst, harmful to the culture of hip-hop. This seems to come from the all too common presumption that if the music touches on serious issues then it must be good.
Just because an artist is considered deep, doesn’t automatically make them a great artist and not every song that touches on serious subject matter is a great song. There is a false notion, among many listeners of conscious rap, that they are superior to most listeners of mainstream rap. Because their taste in music supposedly requires deeper thought, this gives them the presumption of musical sophistication which makes them a better judge of quality music.
But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. It might be best to try and look into what exactly qualifies as conscious rap. Conscious rap will likely broach topics unassociated with the topics people stereotypically associate with rap including – but not limited to – money, sex and drugs.
Conscious rap will usually touch on subjects related to society, politics, religion and other topics largely deemed as serious. While there is an additional level of thought and nuance needed to appreciate so-called “conscious” rap songs, this should not allow listeners to carry a false sense of superiority.
Just because a person spends a majority of their music time listening to songs with deep meaning doesn’t make them a music connoisseur, it does not make them more intelligent; nor does it make them any better than someone who spends the majority of their time listening to music more often associated with clubs, regardless if it’s mainstream or not.
Most conscious rap champions – if they’re being honest – enjoy music that can’t be mistook for conscious rap. Many of these people listen to other genres of music which do not always touch on serious subject matter and enjoy this music just as much, if not more, than conscious rap.
The issue is that many conscious rap fans do all they can to avoid openly admitting they thoroughly enjoy music that the masses enjoy too. Many of these people think of music as black or white. In other words, real vs. fake. 2Pac, Nas, Killer Mike, Kendrick Lamar, J Cole and other similar artists represent “real” music – the epitome of how music should sound. According to these listeners artists like Drake, Migos, Rae Sremmurd, Gucci Mane and even Kanye represent the antithesis of “real” music.
This thought process not only diminishes the work and talent of artists not considered conscious but also completely diminishes the complexity of artists who are considered deep. Lest we forget, all artists have a variety of talent and skillsets which deserve recognition. Many lyrical maestros of rap do not have the ability to make hits as frequently as artists like Migos or Rae Sremmurd.
People tend to underestimate the talent of certain artists who rely on their flow and ability to adlib over production. Just because the music may not have great lyricism doesn’t mean the ability to make songs sonically pleasing should be dismissed. On the opposite end of the spectrum, those same artists could not come up with the same metaphors, double entendre and detailed story telling of a Kendrick Lamar, Black Thought, Andre 3000 or J Cole. This does not make any artist inherently worse than the other; it only means their talent and interests lie in different areas.
Many conscious rappers also have songs which do not always touch on serious topics. They are complex artists, which means categorizing them into one category is futile and demeaning to their overall talent as an artist. Human beings are all wired differently based on different experiences and circumstances we face or have faced from society on a day-to-day basis. How human beings place value on different ideas, such as music, is dependent on individual experiences. What one person deems to be great another person could deem to be the exact opposite.
What a person determines as valuable also depends on context. Let’s use food as an example: Someone may absolutely love carrot cake and consider it their favorite dessert. That same person may likely turn away from carrot cake given to them during breakfast. That person still loves carrot cake, but doesn’t think it’s the best idea to eat it as part of their breakfast.
Everyone has different attitudes on a variety of things based on timing and context. Just because someone does not like a form of music in one context doesn’t mean their opinion won’t shift if it’s introduced in a different context.
This phenomenon is especially noticed when any half-conscious rap artist begins to get noticed by the mainstream audience. As the artist creates songs that begin to chart on Billboard and bring in new fans, all of a sudden, “original” fans begin to sour on artists they once enjoyed. The artist could be making the same type of music – potentially better music – but because they’re now popular, their music may be looked at more skeptically from their once-loyal fan base.
This idea that an artist is a sellout because their music is considered ‘hot’ is, more often than not, unfounded and shows a tremendous amount of self-entitlement. In many cases when an artist decides to take a different direction creatively, this agitates their fan base because they view this as a means of appealing to the less-educated masses.
While many artists aim to appeal to a wider fan base, this ambition hurts them in the eyes of certain fans. It is selfish to wish for any of a fan’s favorite artists to stay on a narrow path with limited results rather than appreciating their favorite artists attempting new things and being more successful in the process. Fans that show this level of selfishness are haters to the nth degree.
Music that touches on society’s issues is important. However, it can’t automatically be deemed better than other forms of rap just because it’s classified as “conscious.” Just because a song’s subject matter is more serious, doesn’t mean it’s automatically a better song. Music is incredibly subjective. Different people value different aspects of a song.
There will be people who place high value on lyricism, while others decide production takes prominence. And still, others favor creativity that continues to push the genre to forward.
All listeners have their own preferences. Rather than focusing on how another person has less discernable taste, focus on whether you are letting quality music pass you by.
