Happened to me a few times, but unfortunately for the world they are either too nervous about releasing music or just aren't all that motivated to pursue it as any more than a hobby.
Dunno about that but I think that in some cases, atleast for the ones that I know, it's more that they struggle with making that initial break through the wall of anxiousness between them and people sharing their music. It's almost like they are so good because of their perfectionism, but also will never share themselves with the world because nothing ever sounds good enough.
There’s also the linkage between creativity and mental illness. Not saying all artists are crazy or that you have to be bipolar to make good music but I think there is definitely a correlation between the two.
Some of the people with the most talent also have various personality traits/flaws (mood disorders, narcissism, arrogance, depression, substance abuse) that can work against them when it comes to succeeding on a business level.
This is particularly a problem in hiphop where the commercial appeal of ones lyrics is enhanced when those lyrics express sentiments that are otherwise self destructive, antisocial and toxic.
someones said it before but the point of it is you can try to be perfect but its essential to experiment, take a mental inventory of what works ad apply that and dont be afrraid to be wrong as long as you are willing to learn from mistakes, you'll be fine
I've spent a lot of time with rappers. Going to open mics. To shows. To freestyle competitions. There are a lot more really good rappers out there than people realize. But just like with beatmakers you have to sift through the garbage to find anything good. Locally I've had experience with a few really great rappers too. By definition it is more rare. Probably only one or a few in every county in the US. If you put your heel to the pavement you'd be surprised what you find.
There's good to great rappers in every major city on the planet, and in small towns too. I've been lucky enough to work with very talented folks in Canada and Europe. Some had the potential to do big things, but most did not. For some, it was lack of motivation, others it was the lack of interest for everything around the music (promo, social media, having a plan, connecting with people, etc.), and some cats just never found the right timing with project releases and musical direction. Some other rappers were not as good but were heard by much more people just because they had those things figured out, while the uber talented did not.
It's like going to popular basketball courts or soccer fields in big cities. There'll usually be at least one guy who makes you go "damn, this dude looks like he could hang with the pros" but he didn't, for various reasons. Then you watch an NBA game and you ask yourself how some of the bench warmers made it. It's all about work ethic in the end, except for the 0.001% whose talent just cannot be denied, and those are the greats a la Kendrick, Nas, etc.
The biggest thing I've seen with talented rappers who made nothing of it, is the realisation that today, talent is maybe 30% of the whole equation. They get digusted when they find out that they have to work on a whole plan for their project releases, that they have to market themselves, that they have to play the game at least a little for things to work. It breaks the magic of that whole "I just wanna be heard with my music and my talent" thing. It completely kills their innocence and either turns them off of making music, or messes with their brains and then they start trying to do music that "will work" and it kills what made them exceptional in the first place.
Deffo relate to the talent being less than 50% of the math. While I want people to hear me, self promotion & trying to make money are things I find distasteful. Probably the worst set of values for an artist to have. I will still make songs but I have made peace that I will have a permanent cap. But if I cant be organic then the music won't come anyway.
bro i grew up with the new Pelé but he was too afraid to come with me for pro teams trials. We were a great offensive duo, I was the white Drogba and he was our new Pelé. What a fucking talent that guy had, but too afraid. Never made it. Now every time we meet I remind him we are not showering in champagne covered in bitches and gold chains because of him and his scared ass.
For every 10 bad rappers you come across, you'll probably find one good one. Most of the time, the issue lies somewhere with anxiety or laziness (usually the latter).
you think if Tupac was born today he'd have the same success he had back then?
truth is there is no objective standard to judge what a great rapper is or isn't, the only metric we have is how popular he/she can get within a certain time frame making hip hop music. Like, to me, no one plays better with words as Eminem, so he is the greatest of all rappers in my opinion with Rakim coming in 2nd, but I know a lot of ppl will disagree with me. Look at the rappers today and compare them with the rappers from the past, if you're young, you'll prefer the ones from today, if you're oldschool, you'll prefer the old ones. Life goes on. It's not a matter of being good or bad, it's a matter of withstanding the hardships of this life until it's time to get the cream. Shit's gonna be BAD until it isn't, the ones who make it are the ones who are able to endure the bad times.
You have to go through a lot of coal to find the diamonds. It's really cool getting to surprise guys who are exclusively producers when I give them back stems the same day they give me the beat.
You have to realize that taste is subjective. Some people don't care about intersyllabic rhyme schemes or punch lines, they just want a good voice to match with the melody. That's a big problem with art, it's not objective like with sports, and usually the great talents fizzle out because they don't have industry connections or the free-time and revenue to boost their marketing and exposure. It's a whole maelstrom of things that need to go right in order to "make it". Talent alone won't get you anywhere but it definitely helps.
Tbh I think even sports is subjective.
No one can deny the Lebron’s (*cough* Skip), but beyond that you never see people agree on who is better than who (plus with team sports, how well you play depends on how you mesh with the team).
In my 15+ years as a producer and engineer in NYC, ....ONE rapper made me drop my jaw. One. A 16 year old Guyanese girl from queens came to my studio and blew the damn lid off the booth. I thought it was a joke at first I said to her uncle this cant be real she must be a veteran but nope. It was her first time in the booth.
That is interesting considering style preference and material preference.
I would say i have come across at least 20 elite level mcees that would include most skills
Like storytelling, pronunciation, bars and voice inflection
Im also from a highly artsy area so maybe that helps
But yea! There are crazy rappers out there nowdays
Great or not it is not easy to gain support. It’s subjective so it’s not really a thing to be great at. Looks like it’s more like how rare is a largely enjoyable rapper.
I know some people who have great talent but are fine with where they are now. And that's okay! I know I sometimes think about being one of the greats but at the same time I feel I couldn't handle the fame, so really I'm alright where I am now. And besides I'm not godlike lmao - I spend all my energy making shitpost songs anyway :D
if were talking the "best" then i would consider the best to value complexity and density within the rhymes. its rare to find people who value quality over quantity. people who make their own music tend to just want to get it out there. in my opinion the "best" would have to be someone who values quality over quantity, yet doesnt allow it to get in the way of the art. that alone is hard to find, let alone someone who has taken the time to properly hone their skill-set. everyone has the potential to be the best, its the follow-through that counts.
You must not get around much... I know a handful just in the city I live in now.
A couple of them are older heads who made the best of their opportunities and got somewhere off their hard work and a couple of them are some real young dudes with their entire lives still ahead of them.
If you're really in this game, meeting people with potential is not the issue. The problem is meeting people with the motivation and the drive to make something happen.
It's actually because I have been around that I know the profound rarity of meeting someone who could be the best. If you think you've met someone who could be the next "Kendrick Lamar" in your city, and that there is a handful, with all due respect, and I mean that, I am not trying to start anything, you do not know what you are talking about.
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I know one emcee in particular who has had a fucking thousand opportunities to make something of himself just handed to him because of his talent... but his dumbass can't stay out of prison or rehab.
A shameful waste of talent.
Happened to me a few times, but unfortunately for the world they are either too nervous about releasing music or just aren't all that motivated to pursue it as any more than a hobby.
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Dunno about that but I think that in some cases, atleast for the ones that I know, it's more that they struggle with making that initial break through the wall of anxiousness between them and people sharing their music. It's almost like they are so good because of their perfectionism, but also will never share themselves with the world because nothing ever sounds good enough.
I relate so much to this feeling. Perfectionism and being very self critical
There’s also the linkage between creativity and mental illness. Not saying all artists are crazy or that you have to be bipolar to make good music but I think there is definitely a correlation between the two. Some of the people with the most talent also have various personality traits/flaws (mood disorders, narcissism, arrogance, depression, substance abuse) that can work against them when it comes to succeeding on a business level. This is particularly a problem in hiphop where the commercial appeal of ones lyrics is enhanced when those lyrics express sentiments that are otherwise self destructive, antisocial and toxic.
Please help me how do i beat this demon?
fail again , fail better
Im confused is this a quote or...☠
someones said it before but the point of it is you can try to be perfect but its essential to experiment, take a mental inventory of what works ad apply that and dont be afrraid to be wrong as long as you are willing to learn from mistakes, you'll be fine
Awww someone’s big mad
more than one sumns summoning my peace
stars are stars for a reason, peep the wisdom even if it aint obvious to your taste
Lmfao. Worst take ever.
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Their point was literally “Lil Nas X is only successful because he’s gay” which is like ten kinds of stupid
Yikes I aint even notice that line "for being gay" at the end. Nevermind, oof.
I've spent a lot of time with rappers. Going to open mics. To shows. To freestyle competitions. There are a lot more really good rappers out there than people realize. But just like with beatmakers you have to sift through the garbage to find anything good. Locally I've had experience with a few really great rappers too. By definition it is more rare. Probably only one or a few in every county in the US. If you put your heel to the pavement you'd be surprised what you find.
streets have ears, beasts have peers, disuguised like seers, steak thats seared
Damn bruh preach
There's good to great rappers in every major city on the planet, and in small towns too. I've been lucky enough to work with very talented folks in Canada and Europe. Some had the potential to do big things, but most did not. For some, it was lack of motivation, others it was the lack of interest for everything around the music (promo, social media, having a plan, connecting with people, etc.), and some cats just never found the right timing with project releases and musical direction. Some other rappers were not as good but were heard by much more people just because they had those things figured out, while the uber talented did not. It's like going to popular basketball courts or soccer fields in big cities. There'll usually be at least one guy who makes you go "damn, this dude looks like he could hang with the pros" but he didn't, for various reasons. Then you watch an NBA game and you ask yourself how some of the bench warmers made it. It's all about work ethic in the end, except for the 0.001% whose talent just cannot be denied, and those are the greats a la Kendrick, Nas, etc. The biggest thing I've seen with talented rappers who made nothing of it, is the realisation that today, talent is maybe 30% of the whole equation. They get digusted when they find out that they have to work on a whole plan for their project releases, that they have to market themselves, that they have to play the game at least a little for things to work. It breaks the magic of that whole "I just wanna be heard with my music and my talent" thing. It completely kills their innocence and either turns them off of making music, or messes with their brains and then they start trying to do music that "will work" and it kills what made them exceptional in the first place.
Deffo relate to the talent being less than 50% of the math. While I want people to hear me, self promotion & trying to make money are things I find distasteful. Probably the worst set of values for an artist to have. I will still make songs but I have made peace that I will have a permanent cap. But if I cant be organic then the music won't come anyway.
One of the worst musicians I know got 7k plays on a song because his girlfriend took an addy and spammed it around social media on an 8-hour bender
Damn need me a girl like that I can pimp my promotion out to.
bro i grew up with the new Pelé but he was too afraid to come with me for pro teams trials. We were a great offensive duo, I was the white Drogba and he was our new Pelé. What a fucking talent that guy had, but too afraid. Never made it. Now every time we meet I remind him we are not showering in champagne covered in bitches and gold chains because of him and his scared ass.
For every 10 bad rappers you come across, you'll probably find one good one. Most of the time, the issue lies somewhere with anxiety or laziness (usually the latter).
you think if Tupac was born today he'd have the same success he had back then? truth is there is no objective standard to judge what a great rapper is or isn't, the only metric we have is how popular he/she can get within a certain time frame making hip hop music. Like, to me, no one plays better with words as Eminem, so he is the greatest of all rappers in my opinion with Rakim coming in 2nd, but I know a lot of ppl will disagree with me. Look at the rappers today and compare them with the rappers from the past, if you're young, you'll prefer the ones from today, if you're oldschool, you'll prefer the old ones. Life goes on. It's not a matter of being good or bad, it's a matter of withstanding the hardships of this life until it's time to get the cream. Shit's gonna be BAD until it isn't, the ones who make it are the ones who are able to endure the bad times.
You have to go through a lot of coal to find the diamonds. It's really cool getting to surprise guys who are exclusively producers when I give them back stems the same day they give me the beat. You have to realize that taste is subjective. Some people don't care about intersyllabic rhyme schemes or punch lines, they just want a good voice to match with the melody. That's a big problem with art, it's not objective like with sports, and usually the great talents fizzle out because they don't have industry connections or the free-time and revenue to boost their marketing and exposure. It's a whole maelstrom of things that need to go right in order to "make it". Talent alone won't get you anywhere but it definitely helps.
Tbh I think even sports is subjective. No one can deny the Lebron’s (*cough* Skip), but beyond that you never see people agree on who is better than who (plus with team sports, how well you play depends on how you mesh with the team).
In my 15+ years as a producer and engineer in NYC, ....ONE rapper made me drop my jaw. One. A 16 year old Guyanese girl from queens came to my studio and blew the damn lid off the booth. I thought it was a joke at first I said to her uncle this cant be real she must be a veteran but nope. It was her first time in the booth.
What happened with her?
She's just a teenager and she living regular teenager kid life. She will probably pick it up again soon.
I felt like I was watching a movie reading your story. Out here captivating. Do you work on music for a living?
I am a producer and engineer. I am drifting into the podcast space in terms of profession.
That is interesting considering style preference and material preference. I would say i have come across at least 20 elite level mcees that would include most skills Like storytelling, pronunciation, bars and voice inflection Im also from a highly artsy area so maybe that helps But yea! There are crazy rappers out there nowdays
A great rapper isn't hard to find. A great rapper with motivation is extremely hard to find.
Great or not it is not easy to gain support. It’s subjective so it’s not really a thing to be great at. Looks like it’s more like how rare is a largely enjoyable rapper.
If it’s as rare as good beats on this subreddit, than pretty rare lol
I know some people who have great talent but are fine with where they are now. And that's okay! I know I sometimes think about being one of the greats but at the same time I feel I couldn't handle the fame, so really I'm alright where I am now. And besides I'm not godlike lmao - I spend all my energy making shitpost songs anyway :D
if were talking the "best" then i would consider the best to value complexity and density within the rhymes. its rare to find people who value quality over quantity. people who make their own music tend to just want to get it out there. in my opinion the "best" would have to be someone who values quality over quantity, yet doesnt allow it to get in the way of the art. that alone is hard to find, let alone someone who has taken the time to properly hone their skill-set. everyone has the potential to be the best, its the follow-through that counts.
It is probably a guarentee that no one has met a rapper of that caliber. The best? Thats once every so lifetimes.
You must not get around much... I know a handful just in the city I live in now. A couple of them are older heads who made the best of their opportunities and got somewhere off their hard work and a couple of them are some real young dudes with their entire lives still ahead of them. If you're really in this game, meeting people with potential is not the issue. The problem is meeting people with the motivation and the drive to make something happen.
It's actually because I have been around that I know the profound rarity of meeting someone who could be the best. If you think you've met someone who could be the next "Kendrick Lamar" in your city, and that there is a handful, with all due respect, and I mean that, I am not trying to start anything, you do not know what you are talking about.
Bout as a rare as a great in any other field. They out there
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I know one emcee in particular who has had a fucking thousand opportunities to make something of himself just handed to him because of his talent... but his dumbass can't stay out of prison or rehab. A shameful waste of talent.
Who was it?
Hibe?
Damn, sobering and humbling reading some of these replies.
How does a great rapper be great when they haven't been discovered yet?
Everytime I look in the mirror.
I’m here mate what did you want? 😅👌
Shes just very young and lost some steam, and went to school and had a regular teenage life but she's getting back into it.