Conclusion

May 30, 2019

Hip-hop originated as a way for people to express their frustrations over the circumstances they would not change. Nihilism is understandably a common theme in rap songs. As its popularity in minority communities grew, the genre drew the interest of people from the outside. Major record labels saw hip-hop’s potential and capitalized on the opportunity to cash in. In the music industry, only a handful of companies decide the majority of what is played on the radio.

As a result, more and more artists started making content about money, drugs and violence because it appealed to larger audiences. Since hip-hop emerged as an original form of expression for predominantly black populations, the commodification of hip-hop cemented a ghettocentric image of what it means to be black. Underground hip-hop grew alongside mainstream hip-hop but fell into the same lyrical patterns in order to build and maintain an audience.

SoundCloud was a major platform for independent talent. As underground artists’ popularity grew, major labels quickly signed and amplified the platform’s biggest stars. They were deemed SoundCloud rappers or emo rappers because their lyrical content heavily referenced sadness, heartbreak and death. These themes appeal to teenage audiences that heavily consumed rap but grew up with punk rock. Two of the sub-genre’s most influential stars XXXtentacion and Lil Peep both achieved fame on their own before attracting record deals. However, influenced by the music that came before them, X frequently engaged in violence and Peep engaged in drug use. Almost as if fulfilling the prophecy they rapped about, they both passed away at an early age. Their fame attracted media attention which translated to more streams. Their respective record labels released posthumous albums on their behalf which artificially continued their musical legacies and thus, the monetary benefits as well.

For Peep, his album did not demonstrate the growth he was making as a human and instead, capitalized further on the drug use that killed him in the first place. For X, fans were disappointed in the album and was devoid of the complex emotions he poured into his earlier tracks. For an artist, their music is their legacy and especially for SoundCloud artists that rose to fame independently, they deserve control over how they are remembered. Whether it’s molding the hip-hop genre into a profitable and ingenuine model that generates profit and glorifies death violence and drug use, releasing an artists’ music after their death, major record labels have changed the authenticity of rappers’ experiences and music.

Conclusion

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