From The Unda To The Uppa

Kid B · Post by **Kid B** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 12:03 am

going Plat Plus :?:

the Wiper · Post by **the Wiper** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 12:08 am

i voted for sage, which means you must've voted for him too!

out of that group, sage is the man.

like it or not.

SYM · Post by **SYM** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 1:11 am

they all should.

The Iron Sheik · Post by **The Iron Sheik** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 2:20 am

Voted Sage. Woulda picked Jean Grae, but only because she definitely needs the money.

Doogs · Post by **Doogs** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 2:36 am

almost all of these artists appeal to me somewhat, but for the most part they are not artists with commercial appeal.

I suppose J-Live would have the most realistic chance. maybe Sage Francis. maybe.

and MF Doom I would LOVE to see blow up, but I'm afraid...in these days and times, that could never happen. I mean, beyond the success he already has.

The Frankest · Post by **The Frankest** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 6:32 am

it would be interesting to see Sage Francis handle that situation.

Moolah · Post by **Moolah** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 7:27 am

I'd like to see Sage become really successful but a part of me would feel like how I used to feel when I first started seeing 10 year old kids rocking Cartman shirts.

It feels a little less special once everyone knows about it, and as much as that's elitist bullshit, I know I would start feeling different if Sage blew the fuck up.

agent b · Post by **agent b** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 11:44 am

SUPASTITION

YouTube · Post by **Philaflava** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 11:48 am

agent b wrote:SUPASTITION

The Frankest · Post by **The Frankest** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 11:56 am

You got a point there, Moolah.

The Bza · Post by **The Bza** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 12:11 pm

Necro!

Just for the pure hilarity of him appearing on MTV.

Carson Daly - "So Necro what you been up to this Christmas"
Necro - "I'm Jewish you dumb cunt, I've been slicing up bitches with my fuckin butcher knife"
Carson Daly - "Ok lets go to a break"

Doogs · Post by **Doogs** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 12:19 pm

lol @ Necro ever being accepted by the general public.

the idea is quite hilarious though.

Jizzy · Post by **Jizzy** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 12:37 pm

Philaflava wrote:
agent b wrote:SUPASTITION

zoidberg · Post by **zoidberg** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 1:38 pm

The Bza wrote:Necro!

Just for the pure hilarity of him appearing on MTV.

Carson Daly - "So Necro what you been up to this Christmas"
Necro - "I'm Jewish you dumb cunt, I've been slicing up bitches with my fuckin butcher knife"
Carson Daly - "Ok lets go to a break"

:mrgreen:
that would be some ill shit hehe....

The ILLatino · Post by **The ILLatino** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 2:07 pm

Jean.

Funk Docta Bombay · Post by **Funk Docta Bombay** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 3:19 pm

Doom deserves a bzillion, fillion kajillion dollars.

but 30 odd year old fat people in masks will never make MTV so my second place vote goes to Cage.

hired gun · Post by **hired gun** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 3:46 pm

hard toss up between Jean and J. They all grind, and all are deserving, talented artist. Something about what the two J's do just needs to be heard though, down to earth, yet very insightful. not too mention entertaining.

AXEWOUNDFISTER · Post by **AXEWOUNDFISTER** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 6:26 pm

The Bza wrote:Necro!

Just for the pure hilarity of him appearing on MTV.

Carson Daly - "So Necro what you been up to this Christmas"
Necro - "I'm Jewish you dumb cunt, I've been slicing up bitches with my fuckin butcher knife"
Carson Daly - "Ok lets go to a break"

bwahahaha duke lookin all grimey with his shirt lookin mad beat up with a stretched out neck on sum, only makein comebacks every holloween type shit...

Employee · Post by **Employee** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 6:32 pm

The leader of this poll indicates that the atmosphere in this thread is RACIST.

Kid B · Post by **Kid B** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 3:26 am

Employee wrote:The leader of this poll indicates that the atmosphere in this thread is RACIST.

What is you talking about?

Sherlock · Post by **Sherlock** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 10:11 am

Employee wrote:The leader of this poll indicates that the atmosphere in this thread is RACIST.

atmosphere is incredibly close to mainstream success though

:mrgreen:

mud · Post by **mud** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 10:29 am

Philaflava wrote:
agent b wrote:SUPASTITION

FreshShabazz · Post by **FreshShabazz** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 12:53 am

This poll is too fanboyish.

I hate to bring up the age-old message board newjack argument... but hip hop and rap or underground and mainstream or whatever else you wanna call these two sub-genres really are different. No truly "underground" (and I use this term as an aesthitic classification) will ever appeal to mainstream audiences... never ever ever ever ever. The same people who make Nelly singing a country song and Eminem babling nonsense numer one hits will never roll down the streets bumping J Live. So until there is a sea-change to the extent that the average music buyer begins to like the somewhat essoteric (which by definition could never happen) version of hip hop that we call underground... none of these acts will ever see mainstream success.

Even Slug who is probably underground's biggest draw... even with the backing of Def Jam, Shady, Aftermath, and Donald Trump Slug would never be a true mainstream success, because he doesn't make music that appeals to that audience.

EDIT: And yes I do know the poll question says "Which artist would you like to see get mainstream success?" or something like that... But what all these artitsts would have to do to gain mainstream success I don't want to see happen.

Kid B · Post by **Kid B** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 1:30 am

FreshShabazz wrote:This poll is too fanboyish.

I hate to bring up the age-old message board newjack argument... but hip hop and rap or underground and mainstream or whatever else you wanna call these two sub-genres really are different. No truly "underground" (and I use this term as an aesthitic classification) will ever appeal to mainstream audiences... never ever ever ever ever. The same people who make Nelly singing a country song and Eminem babling nonsense numer one hits will never roll down the streets bumping J Live. So until there is a sea-change to the extent that the average music buyer begins to like the somewhat essoteric (which by definition could never happen) version of hip hop that we call underground... none of these acts will ever see mainstream success.

How unrealistic can this be? In 1991, a majority of people were listening to hair bands when a trio from Washington redefined rock music. It was one of the biggest paradigm shifts in the history of American music. Furthermore, rap music has been known to be cyclical. The first cycle already took place, the full circle of party rap has been realized. After the party era came the progressive lyrical and socially conscious movement. This transition happened over the course of seven years; 1979-1986. One can argue that the second wave of party rap started in 1998 with the success of artists like Ma$e, Jay-Z, Will Smith, etc. 2004 was a big year for Kanye West, who may not be one of the most proficient MCs, yet the content of his rhymes are head and shoulders above what's really good in rap today. I think 2005 will be a pivotal year for hip-hop music. I see big things poppin. You heard it here first.

FreshShabazz · Post by **FreshShabazz** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 1:51 am

^^^ It could happen but I doubt it will. I could go throught each one of your examples and explain why it doesn't really relate to the people you listed blowing up... but I'm really tired.

I think we're in a phase of hip hop that is strange and has become just as divided as ever... There are so many camps doing so many different things right now. In the early 90's Dre's west coast sound dominated popular music or how after big's death Puffy's jiggy rap took over and even influenced Jay-Z and Nas. We don't have that right now. There is no strong unified voice of hip hop: Eminem has one sound, Lil John has another, Nas is doing his thing, Ludacris is doing another. Soon Missy will drop something that's different from everyone else and Dipset will continue to have their thing and hip hop will remain muddy and ununified... I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

For a while it seemed as though Kanye's success was gonna usher in a new mainstream/underground fusion like we saw in the late 90's with Rawkus... but with unpopular releases from The Roots, Mos Def, and Talib I don't think we're headed in that direction. Kanye can't carry a movement on his back alone.

Anyway, all this confusion may leave a chance for underground to fill the void? But I doubt it. I think crunk is on it's way out as Lil John's album isn't creating the buzz of his last few projects. The way I see things going is a return to a NYC dominated sound with people just emceeing with little to no gimmicks... think of the success of Lean Back, New York, Breathe, and even Drop it Like it's Hot. These are all songs with rappers just rapping over good production that's accesible to the mainstream audience without being shallow and simplistic.

The Bza · Post by **The Bza** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 5:44 am

FreshShabazz wrote: Drop it Like it's Hot. These are all songs with rappers just rapping over good production.

:shock:

Fuckin hate this track! How anyone can say that this has good production is beyond me

FreshShabazz · Post by **FreshShabazz** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 9:33 am

The Bza wrote:
FreshShabazz wrote: Drop it Like it's Hot. These are all songs with rappers just rapping over good production.
:shock:

Fuckin hate this track! How anyone can say that this has good production is beyond me

Yeah, I love the production on this track. The rapping on the other hand...

I was just using it as an example of songs that have been recent hits that are stripped down of any gimmicks... they're not stories, they're not love songs, they're just people rapping... it's not always pretty but it looks like things are headed that way

The Bza · Post by **The Bza** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 12:42 pm

FreshShabazz wrote:
The Bza wrote:
FreshShabazz wrote: Drop it Like it's Hot. These are all songs with rappers just rapping over good production.
:shock:

Fuckin hate this track! How anyone can say that this has good production is beyond me
Yeah, I love the production on this track. The rapping on the other hand...

I was just using it as an example of songs that have been recent hits that are stripped down of any gimmicks... they're not stories, they're not love songs, they're just people rapping... it's not always pretty but it looks like things are headed that way

Good point. It is a very basic track and I too can see this trend continuing. I just simply can't stand this joint tho! The beat is dull as fuck and Snoop lost his charisma a loooooong time ago.

SYM · Post by **SYM** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 6:20 pm

the beat is the only thing i like about that song. it took seeing the video to appreciate how subtle the intricate additions are.

Sherlock · Post by **Sherlock** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 7:45 pm

SYMantiks wrote:the beat is the only thing i like about that song. it took seeing the video to appreciate how subtle the intricate additions are.

From The Unda To The Uppa

What Underground Rapper You'd Like To See Garner Mainstream Success?

From The Unda To The Uppa