Drake Isn't The Only Artist Comin' Up
Part of the problem I think that hip hop is having right now is that we are looking for the ONE person to bring it back, as if there can only be one big name at a time. Many have already given Drake the title of the next big artists that will help to revive hip hop. I don't want to come across as a hater because I honestly think that he is very talented and I enjoy some of the songs that he has out, but personally, I'm trying to figure out two things; 1) why does it seem he is the only artist that seems to be getting all of this publicity and 2) I don't think he is the next best hip hop artist out there.
Back in the day, there were so many artists that we could pay attention to and people would go to the store buying 3 and 4 cds at a time. Now, we try to bring one artist in at a time and that doesn't help anybody or anything. Has our attention span has gotten so short that we can only pay attention to one person at a time? Why can't other artists (who I will mention in just a minute) get the same publicity that Drake is getting? The attention he is getting is deserved, but he should not be the only one. There are plenty of other artists who are getting minimal to no exposure.
Now in terms of who else deserves some more exposure, ya'll already know how big of a fan I am of Slaughterhouse (if one group is going to bring back hip hop, it is them), so I won't even mention them after this, but what about somebody like B.O.B. a.k.a. Bobby Ray? Honestly, this guy reminds me of Outkast back in the day. Not necessarily lyrically (even though he is very nice in that area), but musically. He has the full package. His production is incredible, his lyrics are very nice, he is just an overall artist. He doesn't sound like anybody else out there. I would love to see him doing more performances and interviews. Why is it that Drake is getting interviewed every other day and getting performances all over TV, but B.O.B. only pops up once a month?
In the interest of hip hop, let's not focus on just one act. This is the reason many talented artists aren't getting signed and getting records put out because they want that one guy/gal that everybody is checking for and the rest just fall by the waist side. If we really want hip hop to get back to where it was from the beginning, let's demand that more artists, including Drake, get exposure on the radio, TV, internet, etc.
What are your thoughts? Is Drake just that good or over hyped? Who else do you want to get some shine? Comment or e-mail at straightouttahiphop@gmail.com
Peace.
P.S. I want to let you guys know that the next few posts, there will be a little bit of a transition. Slip N Slide records has agreed for me to do a couple of interviews with some of their new artists, but they are more on the R&B side. We all know that R&B and hip hop are now heavily intertwined so we're going to show those that can sing some love and then jump right back into hip hop. However, this could be big for both me and ya'll because if this goes well, who's to say that other interviews won't be coming from other artists and labels. So even though its a transition, I think you guys will enjoy it. It's some fresh new talent and this can only lead to bigger and better things. And trust we're gonna get right back to the real hip hop right after the interviews. Stay tuned!
Categories: General
Tags: artist Outkast hip hop Drake B.O.B.
I agree that there are other artists out there that need more publicity and support from the Hip-Hop community. I'm not hip to B.O.B., but will be after reading your post. The two guys that I suggest can/will challenge Drake are Blu and J. Cole. Blu is exceptional and J. Cole isn't far behind.
Like you mention...there's room for everyone to fly. And when the Hip-Hop community comes to terms with that, we'll see more artists flourish.
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