When I make a song that I consider to be real, it gets slept on. But I make a song like Fuck All You Hoes and the horrible Bitches Be Jockin or Look Like You and people fuck with it. This is the point that I've been making to people for a couple years now. It proves that this music formally known as hip hop has changed so much. I think we all would agree that Lloyd Banks is 1,000 times better than Bobby Shmurda rapping wise. But why did Shmurda have more success than Lloyd Banks over the same beat? Because his flow was current. And nothing else but that.
Banks would rap circles around Shmurda. But that doesn't mean shit anymore. Bobby has a hit and he did it without a hook! All because his flow was current. His lyrics are weak as hell. But his flow is on point, at least on point with the fads. I've been working for a year to dumb down my flow. I get criticized for it. In Due Time was the last flow that I did that was complex. That was over a year ago. But both of the songs that we have released so far have been my most popular mostly because of the streaming radio sites like Beats and iTunes. We're just starting to focus on Youtube and Soundcloud.
All those years of learning how to rap like the best emcees means nothing now. It's mandatory to dumb down the flow. My idea of "dumbed down" just means the Biggie Flow isn't necessary. Shit is so backwards that knowing how to rap isn't enough. Even when the beat is dope. You have to have the right flow on a beat even if the best flow is a weak flow. Our job as music makers is to make music that people like. So if I have to ABC a flow and put the blandest lyrics in a song that's just what I have to do. If I could rap like Mos Def and Nas and get away with it, I would. And could. But that would get me nowhere. Not yet at least. Hip hop is dead and it has been dead for a long time.
People can, and will, think it's wack. But it's all a numbers game. No matter how you do it, some people just won't fuck with it regardless. It's just about making shit that people can feel. Your skill as a rapper really has nothing to do with it anymore. It's just a bonus if you can rap. But it's not required. All this is based off what I see people respond to. My music and other peoples music. I have friends that say they hate a song on the radio, but they know every word, and bought the song on their iTunes. So this brings up an even bigger question, do you as a fan of music know what you really want to listen to? You confuse us. That's where the satire comes in with me. My most ridiculous songs have been and continue to be the most popular. So what you expect me to do?
We as rappers, can't just expect people to listen to us just because we believe that we are saying something deep, heavy, or thought provoking. We have to earn that right. I think it all starts with the punchlines. People love punchlines. Clever sayings and witty dialog. As lyrical as Eminem is he didn't just start out that way. He did actually but nobody listened to Infinite. He started saying crazy shit on the Slim Shady EP and he earned the right of having us hung on every syllable by the time the Eminem show came out. The crazy part is, with me moving more towards punchline driven verses, is that if they hit, some years from now people will go back and listen to a song like Life's Too Real For A Hook and appreciate it for what it is. Maybe.
Jay ZThe fuck am I busting my brain for?
It's just the way the game go, oh, it takes two to tango
You call this a lame flow, you bought the shit
I guess you to blame too, I just found an angle
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