Essay No. 4 - What (Shit) Iz Real?

What Iz Real?

The question comes up all the time in hip hop. Who and what is real? and Who and what is fake?

The answers to some are simple, if you lived it you are real, if you didn't then you are fake. But is it really important to live everything you rap about? 2Pac made his career by rapping and THEN living out the things he rapped about. N.W.A. made a career rapping about what they saw as if they were doing it, when in fact none of them were in a gang, nor did any of them kill people. Yes they may have carried guns, but they weren't drug dealers or gang members. They simply REPRESENTED what was around them, as a voice of the community. A politician who is running for office will discuss plans to eliminate problems in the city, such as crime. This politician probably didn't kill anyone so what gives him the right talk about killing people? A minister will tell his church a story about a brutal murder in order to try to get his community to stop the violence. Does that minister have to be a victim of, or a instigator of, violence in order to talk about it. Does he have to be that brutal murderer in order to tell the story of that murderer.

Chuck D (who I believe to be the realest member of the hip hop nation) said it best when he said that rap music is like the black CNN. A journalist reports the news to either a television station, newspaper, or other source, who then relays it to the public. A rap artist reports the news to a record label, who then relays it to the public. The journalists who are out reporting the news (crimes) are not the ones doing the crimes, they are simply reporting what they are seeing. Therefore the rapper that reports what he SEES, not necessarily what he DOES, is real.

What constitutues "real" is also the ability to be diverse. If you sell drugs, great, I get it. At this point I think everyone knows the process of buying and selling drugs. We all know how to cook up crack and we all know that your money goes to cars and jewelry. We also know that in the process of selling drugs sometimes you encounter violence and the gun that you keep on you at all times will add to that violence. The drug dealing rappers that only rhyme about selling drugs are the ones that don't make it. It's the people like Jay-Z who flourish because they bring other subjects to the table.

Another trait of being "real" is, as strange as it might seem, being sensitive. Let's go back to Jay-Z for a second. Look at "Regrets" and "You Must Love Me". Pretty serious stuff for someone who is supposed to be a "hardcore street rapper". The man tells it like it is, the ups AND downs. He speaks on personal matters, detailing bad decisions in his life. Nas wrote a song for his mother when she died. Again, very personal. It gives the listener a chance to connect on another level with the performer. How many people can say they connected on a personal level with Soulja Boy? How many people can say they feel his pain? The ability to share those personal life-changing experiences is what rounds out a rapper as being "real" because it takes them down off of that "holier-than-thou" pedestal.

Consistency is also "real". This comes into question with rappers who have changed their style in order to compete with the market. A perfect example of this is Lil' Wayne. Love him or hate him, he is successful. Now my question to those people who are riding his train, what do you think of "The Block Is Hot"? Haven't heard it? Didn't think so. The album is his first, from many years ago when Cash Money Records was on top of the game (and they say that southern rap is just now getting its shine). To save you the traumatic experience let me just say that the album in question sounds absolutely nothing like his current releases. Now the excuse is of course that he "grew up" and in doing so, completely changed his style. My question is what was wrong with his original style. What was wrong with what he was doing about 6 years ago? Did it not sell records? Oh ok, it's about album sales, I get it now. Now I can already hear the retaliation...Gang Starr changed after album one, Tribe changed after album one. They didn't change, they grew. They didn't completely change what they did, they simply added on to it to create a better sound. Dr. Dre didn't change his style from N.W.A to The Chronic. He grew on what he was already doing and made it better. He didn't change it. Lil' Wayne changed how he rapped, changed his image, and now presents himself in a completely different manner than he did with his debut release. I question his realness.

So what rappers are "real"? Personally I believe that Chuck D is the realest person in the culture. He has never changed what he believed, changed his stance, altered his methods to reach a bigger audience. He makes records and even if the sound changes over time, the message and the intensity is there each and every time. He knows who he is in hip hop and he continues to be that person even though Public Enemy hasn't had a national success since 1998. He doesn't care because he is still making the music that he believes in. In the same breath is Jay-Z. He is real because he is a businessman and he has never strayed from that belief. Jay-Z has said that he didn't see himself having a career in rap because it came too easy to him and his mother always told him you have to work hard to succeed. He rapped because he was good at it and he made records as a way to make money. He has always stood by the fact that he is a businessman and he does what he has to do to make money. Fuck Cassidy, Jay-Z is a hustler. He knows how to make money. He is also real in that he may be a businessman but he represents what he is, not what people want him to be. How come he hasn't dropped an album like Reasonable Doubt again? Because his life is completely different now than it was back then. He's not a drug dealer, he's a CEO. He makes CEO rap. He makes rap that represents his age and place in life. So does Nas.

Rappers that aren't real? Well that list is a mile long and a huge argument so I won't list names but I will say this....

If you are worried about being "real", then you probably aren't. If you tell me, as a rapper, that you "keep it real", then you don't. And for fans, if you think realness is defined by a criminal record then you are wrong. Realness is defined by staying true to yourself and rhyming about what impacts your life. Whether it impacts your life from a direct personal involvment, or from outside looking in, the perspective is all the same as long as you give YOUR account, not what you think will sound cool. What would you think about Nas rhyming about going to a country hoedown and riding a bull in a sports bar? You'd call him crazy. By the same token I don't want to hear a redneck from Texas, while wearing a confederate belt buckle, rhyming about selling crack in the streets. But I would listen to that same redneck rhyme about his experiences at the bar riding the mechanical bull because at least it would be real, and original.

What about those gimmick rappers? or concept albums? Well gimmick rappers are just that, gimmick rappers. Insane Clown Posse might be great at what they do but they are not to be taken seriously. By the same token, concept albums are just that, concept albums. The rapper is typically playing a character and then encompasses that character for the album, like Kool Keith or recently MF Grimm. Is there anything "real" to playing a fake character? Yes, the realness is the dedication to the idea, and the ability to relay that idea while letting the listener know that this is a STORY. No one ever complained that Al Pacino wasn't a real cocaine dealer. He also never said he was a cocaine dealer, it was understood that he was playing a role. Just like a rapper announces that in a concept album, he is taking a role, and just like the movies, if the rapper sells the role well then the audience will enjoy it.

So in closing I'd like to explain why you should even read my judgments on realness. It's because I am real. My position in hip hop is real. I have never faked anything, represented myself incorrectly, or tried to be something I am not. I speak a lot on hip hop because I have a great deal of knowledge on the subject. I write rhymes that relate to what I have seen or done, or what I believe. I speak, act, and dress in a natural way. I present myself as the person I am, not the person I want to be or am trying to be.

I AM WHO I AM AND THAT IS WHAT MAKES A PERSON REAL.