What race is fantano? He has the most uneven melanin distribution. His eyes are way too dark for his super pale skin tone. Unfortunately he has an Italian last name, which is a shame to us Italians. I hope his poor ancestors moved to the us many many generations ago, so his Italian heritage is lost
@@thewritermichaelis200Yeah that's part of why the bar's so clever - having Jack Harlow as your favorite current rapper is like having KFC as your favorite fried chicken joint
Fantano hearing FD make fun of Drake's girlfriend story and having Vietnam flashbacks to Drake's super fan talking for 20 minutes about how that's a genuinely serious issue that Drake needs to talk about on his album
@@cbfire9987 They semi-consistently blur the chat just because it's not worth the effort to go through 2 hours of it to make sure nobody's saying some awful shit. I think they sometimes leave it in on shorter videos.
As a white kid who grew up listening to and playing reggae, I rarely saw white reggae artists without it stirring up negative and critical feelings for me. In retrospect my feelings came down to authenticity not race. You can just feel it when someone's trying to be something they're not! I don't wanna hear a white band/singer covering Burning Spear's "slavery days" In contrast, when you hear someone like Gentleman (white German reggae artist) you can just feel that it's genuine. Great art in any medium comes from the genuine passion to express truth through creation.
unironically Snow is a more legitimate reggae artist than most gave him credit for at the time, and Jim Carrey should be ashamed of shitting on him on In Living Colour. I mean the dude literally got the name from Jamaican immigrants and was serving a jail sentence while his song charted, the man grew up in the projects. Also there are some pretty decent Polish reggae artists.
I love that FD touched on "Blacker the Berry" in the "white Kendrick fan" piece of the discussion because that track, and the entirety of To Pimp a Butterfly has always been an important touchstone for me in this kind of conversation. I'm a white hip-hop fan and definitely a big fan of Kendrick. I remember first putting on "... Butterfly" when it dropped and being floored. Being genuinely pumped that it received the accolades it did. And also being very, VERY, acutely aware that this was an absolutely brilliant piece of music that was not "for me". I could absolutely engage with it as a fan of both hip-hop and music in general and love it for that. I could absolutely learn from the album and music. But when i listened, I knew full well that "I am not black, urban youth, and this album is not about 'my struggles' ". I love it even more for that, although admittedly I don't return to it with the frequency I might an album like... Aquemini. Or to a completely different vein: Atrocity Exhibition. "Exhibition", while still being distinctly "rap music" (and proving Danny Brown can somehow spit over literally anything somehow), tackled subject matter that I have been more "directly" connected to, but via the realm of more experimental hip-hop. That was one of the first rap records I had heard in years that, without some of the dicier elements of Dead Prez maybe, clearly stated "if you're not "in the struggle", you will only be able to engage halfway", and that made it so much more interesting.
I think factors that played into jack harlow's clout is the timing - him doing all the 'suss' jokes built a sense of comfort with queerer spaces, he had a run of being supportive of black women in interviews and at his shows while Meg was getting shot at and the Dababy was yelling about AIDs, and then that feature with LNX. I think beyond his whiteness he appeared as empathetic, chill and less problematic (a good 'example') and that perception itself blew him up way more than his talent warranted
This all seems eminently reasonable to me. With conversations like this I wish that Nielsen and Billboard data was much more publicly available so that we could know, for example, how many black queer people and black women really listen to Jack Harlow’s music. If a lot of black queer people and black women listen to him, then he’s much more like Drake than Eminem demographically, so the way his whiteness plays into his success is different and it calls for a different analysis. The paradox might be interesting for him because Jack Harlow wasn’t contributing to black culture, but instead bringing a very mildly more inclusive atmosphere to rap that portions of both black and white audiences are receptive to. So he both does and doesn’t contribute to black culture: doesn’t because he clearly is separate from the history, does because he’s challenging- even in an extremely milquetoast way - the bad exclusive parts of black culture.
I feel that yes he does appeal to many diverse groups. I don't like the word whiteness because its making every white person just this amorphous blob that exists to move forward as a all consuming musical theft corps like the guest thinks we are lol. There are so many different types of white people personalities, socioeconomic groups (there are more poor whites than poor blacks) and the richest of the rich. I think his music about his rough upbringing mixed with his catchy party hits both done with some care and lyrical flourish are what is so attractive to white audiences. But people like the guest think white people just magically unfairly get money for the color of their skin which is just BS.@@mandobrownie
@@JGarcia-yr9fxbut that’s 2 out of a bunch of them. Like Em said himself, if it’s solely based on his skin tone how come other white rappers didn’t sell the same?
In my view, the future of hip hop is in non English markets with their own unique styles. Reggaeton continues to maintain popularity and influence other forms of Spanish language music, and hip hop remains at its peak in places like France with its own homegrown industry and culture.
As a hispanic guy, those of us that grew in the culture of Reggaeton from youth can clearly seeing it permeating mainstream music in English and Spanish both, feels good to walk in a club and see the influences of Reggaeton, Dancehall, Bachata, Afrobeats and more all enriching mainstream sound.
Honestly, I really like the potential of that. Mainstream American hiphop is hot ass right now, and I think the culture could really benefit from the influence of the interesting shit happening with hiphop around the world. It'd be sick for a foreign rapper to make it big in the US and have some more influence and respect in the genre.
So true. A lot of European countries have class acts rn. France, Germany, Ireland, even Nordic countries are doing well. I don't listen to modern US rap artists because what they rap about feels very surface level compared to 90s hip hop which is unmatched.
Really love the analogy of what rock went through and what hiphop is going through now. Read a biography of Jim Morrison (the doors) and as someone growing up in the 90s, not much of that was left by the time I heard it.
Super happy to see this chat happen. Been following fantano and fiq for awhile. His latest vid on em & white rappers was on-point, as is this discussion. Appreciate you two a whole lot. ✌
So, I actually have an inside scoop on lil Mabu. He went to Collegiate, a private school in NYC that a close friend of mine also went to. It is an extremely exclusive, extremely rich school. The problems with lil Mabu are very very real- his father is some sort of marketing executive, and is said to have had a significant hand in Mabu's success. Additionally, in his rise to fame (?) lil Mabu has used and highlighted the divide between the privileged areas of New York and the less privileged areas of New York City, a very real problem and divide that Mabu plays for laughs. It's a very disturbing, clueless examination and exploitation of real cultural and social divides and barriers in our country, used by a privileged white guy to further his own fame.
I was just researching more about “what happened to rock,” which Fiq brings up about 1:18:00 or so. It’s shocking how many bands broke up in 2000-2001. The narrative that endures is that file sharing gets a lot of the blame, as does the rise of teen pop and nu metal. I’d say the amount of buyouts and record label mergers that swallowed up bands whole is overlooked, I believe.
yeah, honestly up until probably 2010 a decent number of the bigger names of that era would have had no problem touring, and selling merch if they had no interest or nothing to say so they weren't about to try and record a new ep or album. I get that. Composing, and song writing are skills that you cannot let sit they are nothing like riding a bike, but rather more akin to Newton's first law of motion "A body in motion, will stay in motion, a body at rest will stay at rest" itss 100% a skill that oxidizes over time due to lack of vigilance
@@donnydarko7624 I find its a lot like riding a bike and infact time away even of significant lengths can really ignite that creative spark like a full tank of gas in a new car. To each their own and how they choose to see things.
we as a society have decided to put on our blinders when it comes to hollywood and celebrity culture, which the rockstars absolutely inhabit. you do not get into these spaces by being a good person. you present a good person persona of course, but when it comes to how you must operate in the industry to get to the top, you are not going to get away from fucking over A LOT of folks to make it big. that's just the facts. it's why i was too disgusted to continue my audio engineer career with my extreme disability after the surgery only made me 75% better followed by 2 decades of malpractice instead of the help i needed. i just don't have the energy to hustle clients who don't stand a chance of actually making it.
I have what I think is a pretty unique perspective on this. I am a 40 sometime black man who grew up in the 80s and 90s and I was heavily into both rap and hard rock and metal. I am a vocalist and guitarist and I started out early 90s in the hardcore punk scene in NYC. I was mainly a singer then. A few years into my teens and playing in bands I started rapping and making beats but it was initially separate from the the rock based projects. Around 93 or 94 we blended them but a song here or there I never intentionally tried to mix the two. But my experience has always kept me open minded about what an artist looks like or his background. No one in 1992 expects a teenage black kid to be singing Axl Rose or Layne Staley vocals but there I was. And I think it actually helped that I was black because it blew people away that I "sang like a white boy" and it was "authentic". So i can kinda understand how it works the other way around...if i was white i don't know if the attention would've been the same. I think being white in rap has pros and cons and I think we do judge a bit differently based on color and background. But a good rapper is a good rapper no matter what and I don't think I judge too much differently just because I can kinda see it from an outside and inside way lol
Interesting. I'm Mex-American from L.A. from the 80s/90s, and all the music that I loved that I grew up on were genre-defying or a 'blending' of genres where race was almost overlooked. Some of my 1990's hometown favorites: Rage Against the Machine (conscious Rock), early Chili Peppers (Funk, Rock), Cypress Hill (Latino Hip hop?), Sublime (Reagae infused Rock), No Doubt (Ska, Hip hop, Pop punk?), Beck (Nerd Rock with Hip hop influence), along with Snoop, Ice Cube... and maybe the most genre-defying, Ozomatli (Big band, Hip hop, Cumbia, Rock, Funk, ???) they had Asian, White, Black and Mexican band members.
I'm really glad I didn't post my comment half way through the video because you guys are making all the points that my former essay was making, which is essentially that hip hop is at it's hair metal phase.
@@sensitiffly That would include acts like motley crue, guns n roses, or Twisted Sister. (it's also called power metal). Hair Metal leaned into excessive and outrageous outfits, drugs, and partying rather than the music and it ushered in the age of alternative rock and grunge, which went against those aesthetics. I think hip hop in a similar place.
On the “piece of the pie” topic. Most people don’t really listen to that much variety of music at any given time, especially in the mainstream. So when you have certain people dominating the airwaves or the Spotify playlists, then they really are dominating the landscape of their respective genre for a sizeable portion of listeners.
Dope collab- was looking frwrd to the vid ended up watching this first. Didn't know y'all did some streams together. Any time I tap into an FD Signifier vidd it's always a stimulating listen! Dood alwys has some solid well rounded perspectives.
21:00 there's SO many white rappers who bring up that they're "greater than Eminem" or "the next Eminem" or "i never even listened to Eminem" and it's like... y'all are still stuck in the doorway to hip hop. there are so many albums not called The Marshal Mathers LP that you can listen to.
If they say " Im the next Nas" they'll be accused of cultural appropriation or worse. So they play safe and name a white rapper and get accused of not appreciating the culture. Lol.
@@tc98826as much as I don't like Snoop. I agree with his take. So many people say "Imma be the next Pac." But I think it's important to understand the legacy a specific artist stood for. Too many white people who only appreciate hip hop for the aggressive elements will most likely only know songs like "If I die 2nite" and "Hit em Up." Or just the mainstream hits like California Love. But Pac has whole albums of sentimental songs that discuss depression. Women's rights. And forgiveness. Too many people put rappers in a box and forget that they are humans that have real life experiences like anyone else.
I'm currently learning about how the record industry helped bolster segregation by genre defining and sometimes genre flipping Blues and Country. I realized that I am putting my toe into being that person who has put the time and energy to learn about that subject matter. As a white kid in a almost entirely white high school I did do the work to learn everything I could about Hip-Hop, but it took many more years to really be aware that I was living and seeing a different cultural reality than others experience. To clarify doing the work I learned about the founders, the elements, and was listening to some of the solid golden age records. As a 16 or 17 year old I even voiced the differences I perceived in lived reality, but I know I did not "get it" until much later.
i agree, but artists like the roots and common rarely get accolades in the "culture" to begin with. the industry focuses on negativity and stereotypes, which is why songs like the roots' 'what they do' and common's 'i used to love h.e.r.' even exist in the first place.
I’m a Lifelong hip hop fan and older than both of you and as a woman I get Jack’s appeal. His core fanbase is female so I think beyond race he has a core fanbase that are the greatest consumers of pretty much everything in society so the consumer power is like that of Taylor Swift and Beyonce. Eminem, or other White rappers haven’t had that. As an MC I think he’s not a lyrical miracle but above mid and industry wise he seems to be quite respected for his character which is refreshing. He is also tall, good looking, funny, charismatic, and you see him around his family a lot. He makes music with women in mind and is kind of emo so I think when it comes to him men don’t discuss the female element and just focus on race
great conversation ❤❤❤ as a gen z musician, i think fd is really accurate about what's next for black music and its interesting to think about in relation to late stage capitalism. The girls are making the soundtrack to the dystopia we observe around us. I think that's the sound in a nutshell. It can be uplifting or chaotic or dancey or chill but it's dissonant and hyper-charged. and in terms of black music all popular music is very black and brown because of the way that liberation movements have utilized art to communicate between marginalized people. I think we're gonna keep seeing a fusion of all the liberation sounds. thats what hip-hop even is. that's what jazz is, and that's what the next black music pandora's box will be.
Wait that's not what I wanted to say though. I wanted to say, i think if we want our music cultures to stop dying, we've got to get serious about the ethics of our consumption. It's actually insane to think that a genre like hip hop only got 50 years of cultural cache. A big reason for that is how the gatekeepers of the industry have encouraged a consumerism that is only viable and sustainable for themselves, the billionaire black capitalist. They exploit their underlings to pump out unsustainable and unattainable for most images of wealth and grandeur, and they sever OUR musical traditions from OUR communities. Like regardless of how important some figures in hip hop are, they are no more important than the DJs, the dancers, the party goers, the people who buy and tell people about the records they like. The billionaires of hip hop don't want us to be empowered in our consumption, that's something we should do more actively. Like literally, why won't most ppl listen to their cousin's music on SoundCloud instead of the new drake song? Why do you need your music stamped and approved for your consumption?
There is no " black and " brown " popular music. Just Fba black culture and that's it. Stop giving away free passes to everyone to our shit, it's tired.
FD actually discusses them in his video on white rappers, albeit briefly and seemingly not buying into their first album being satirical. I agree that they're generally disregarded despite their impact.
The Beastie Boys are, by far, the toughest edge case to really engage with, because they honestly have very few problematic elements, came along early enough that their interest in the medium/culture was earned, because they got in before hip hop opened up enough to really be hit by the culture vultures, and they always just sort of did their own thing, effortlessly. The fact so much of their music goes into the alternative genre neatly somewhat insulates them as well, but those guys are generally just hard to deal with because they really buck almost every narrative one would usually try to apply.
@@aeschafer1 The thing is, like in the other video, Vanilla Ice really didnt do anything wrong. He was a genuine guy with a genuinely love of and involvement in hip hop culture. He was just a goober in his early 20s and sold out to Ninja Turtle movies. However, he kinda got hit from white media from the other side because they weren't really into hip hop yet (plenty were still in the "you can't spell crap without rap" thinking) so they brought up the sampling part and "stealing" a song when they know hip hop is built on samples. They made a gooberish dude make himself look foolish having to explain as obvious thing to new audiences. They used him to shit on hip hop without coming off as racist.
It's still wild to me that Stan became an identifier for people like why do you want to be called someone's Stan did you listen to that song?! Cause he's real clear on why that man was not a good man, and absolutely not someone from whom you should take inspiration. He was stalking Em! He was an abusive partner and ultimately killed both himself and her, while she was pregnant!
True....but it's also the element of being parasocial....that Stan character was very parasocial.. unfortunately alot of fans of music artist fall into that...let's be real being parasocial happens in all forms of entertainment.. content creators, actors, actress, especially with social media...Stan's are parasocial fans just hopefully they don't fall even farther down the hole and become homicidal or abusive towards these artist or others ...
Nothing wrong with admiring an artist.. just understand as the listener that they aren't literally speaking to u...they aren't ur friend....they just are expressing an experience u as the listener might relate too...but it doesn't mean you and the artist are actually friends...
One of my new favorite bands is Filth, it's a marrying of mainly metal, with hip-hop. Lowkey want this to continue, but I also don't want hiphop to die or simmer down to almost nothing.
I don't know if hiphop will ever "die", but the sound and community might go underground for a bit, meaning you'll have to pay attention to good new tracks. I used to think modern country was all crap and "bro" country until I was convinced I had to dig a little deeper and find the artists making music with heart and meaning. They were there, just not getting any radio play so I had to actively seek them. I could see rap/hiphop going a similar way for awhile, but seeing as tastes come a go and nostalgia is a helluva thing, chances are good even if it did simmer a bit it'd be due for a resurgence sooner or later, plus there's probably a lot of young upcoming artists growing up on rap/hiphop who might make a different sound but will still do funky hiphop infusions. Look at acts like Sublime that, through their short and cut off far too soon catalogue of songs and covers, hit so many different kinds of genres and sounds just by being unafraid to be experimental and funky and honest with an interesting sound over trying to be marketable, and then somehow they still became crazy marketable.
@@gregvs.theworld451I feel like it will end up like rock. Had a good 30 years of being culturally Dominate but at some point the best cash making music was made from an era before the current time. This results in radios playing the same thing in the 2010s like tgey do with the 70s and labels moving onto the next big thing. Like Rock and Roll, hip hop lives on but in just smaller communities not getting mainstream attention other then a few standouts.
Love this video - two of my absolute favorite creators having an incredibly interesting discussion - but every time I look at the screen, Fantano's damn beanie makes me think he's wearing the Oliver Tree bowl cut.
you know, given the discussion in the second half of this video about how the hiphop that addresses social issues doesnt get played as much anymore, it is really significant that Not Like Us dropped a few months later and became one of the biggest songs of the year in any genre, let alone in hiphop. a song with a history lesson about how people came to atlanta to exploit black people. obviously this one song doesnt undo the overarching trend, kendrick has always been a really interesting exception that proves the rule, but it does just feel really good to have a song that dense and poignant also bop as hard as it does and be as ubiquitous as it is. it doesnt fix the general trend, but it feels pretty good that it exists
I’ve maintained this opinion since he blew up as someone who supported Harlow and his earlier output, he conveyed a much different image and style before he blew up versus what he puts out now. Not that he stylistically made a huge shift, but you can tell he’s searching for a different end product in his music now compared to tracks such as Sundown, Eastern Parkway or Dark Knight
@@cbfire9987he did indeed it’s really sad to see because there was a time where I was actively showing friends his music because he was putting out stuff with a lot more artistic effort and intention, and me and a lot of those same friends now have the conversation of wow this guy fucking sold out
Hip- hop was multicultural from the jump. It’s an American art form. It’s always been predominately black and drew its influences mostly from black music. Vanilla ice was the first pop mainstream white rapper not the first white rapper. Hispanic people and white people have been in hip hop from the get go, rapping and producing. If you don’t want to hear it from a white lah like me there’s an interview with rza (I think on the breakfast club) where he addresses this. The funny thing is I think it was NWA and the gangster rap movement that created the shift to it as just a black thing. Which is sinister because that flip started selling black people these ideals to promote and seek to display negative stereotypes in there own community. We can really see how damaging this became now. Drill has lost all the observations and introspection old gangster rap used to have. No more Big L street struck. Now it sells to be a “demon”… the record labels hijacked black culture and are selling black Americans back a poisonous self image. IMO. Maybe I’m wrong. It’s not like I grew up in New York or anything in that time to truely understand the intricacies.
I'd like to see another video discussing your perspectives on white producers in hip hop. Is it any different from the rappers? I feel like that's a whole other conversation
It’s half the same and half different. Because the thing about the rapper is they bring with them their stories and an image, and let’s be real, white people see that and go “hey I relate to that”. All the producer really brings is the sound, and a white “sound” is not the same level of marketability as a white lyrics and a white face (unless you are metro boomin) White producers might have setbacks and privileges getting into the industry, not having to worry about their image (being hood or being a lyrical myrical backpacker cliche)
Lofi Hip Hop should be brought to the forefront in this conversation because it’s one of those subgenres that has some bad players in it, despite me loving it and also partaking in it. I think the main focus should be on the gentrification of hip hop music and production… (mostly) white kids taking a sound that has been well-established and rebranding it as something new and fresh… While at the same time dumbing it down to just background/study music and completely misappropriating the term “lofi.”
I think it's different but connected. The biggest problems of White Rappers FD discussed come about with the commodification of their art and when the money rolls in; Producers generally ARE the money, the first step into that commodification, and therefore the harbinger of those biggest problems. Not to say they don't bring a lot of good; without producers, there would be no industry. But the discussion is definitely very different between rappers and producers. The artist and their moneyman are different but intertwined individuals; so the producer needs to be analyzed way differently.
Lupe is a lot of peoples king from all walks of life. I don't really listen to him much anymore bc sonically it doesn't really hold up, but lyrically he was and still is head & shoulders over basically anybody
Hell yeah, I so remember "Self Destruction". That song was huge when I was a kid. All the popular rappers of the time was on it, it really was like the hip-hop "We Are The World". It's also the last time I can remember a positive movement like that in Black music that involved all of the popular rappers of the time.
That whole period led to the decline in crime in the late 80s/early 90s. If you were just walking around in the city, you could feel it. I remember talking to my father who worked at a men's shelter, and he had noticed the same thing: the crack wars were winding down because the communities involved were making a concerted effort to put a stop to them. I talk to other white people now, and they think I'm joking, while they're busy arguing whether it was Giuliani or Clinton smh.
Oh my god I'm so glad to hear someone way more knowledgeable from the community say it! The Roots being a house band for Jimmy Fallon of all people, like it just felt like such a defanging to me, even as someone who was only, at the time, kinda familiar with the Roots and their position
Example I thought of off what FD Signifier was saying about erasure of Black artists in an information-abundance landscape: The Weeknd is consistently the #1 artist on Spotify by a margin of over 10 million monthly listeners, but he's very small in the overall culture compared to Taylor Swift. Anyway great conversation guys
On the topic of rap-rock. I have thought about that for many years. I grew up when glam and thrash were hitting their peak, but that means I grew up with the Anthrax/Public Enemy "crossover" songs. And of course with Faith No More; which hit it huge when I was in 7th grade. I often wonder if Faith No More were the first actually kind of rap-rock band or is it earlier? Freddie Mercury seems to kind of rap-rock on 1977's We Will Rock You. Just like everybody thinks all metal began with Black Sabbath (not 100% true, as other acts were doing heavy shit before Sabbath), rap-rock probably started just like I suggest and evolved over the years. Good stuff guys. Love heavy music and talking music in general.
Everyone in music/entertainment is a nepo baby. It wasn't until the rise of the internet that some artist weren't nepo babies, but even then, you still need nepotism and connections to get anywhere.
@@gilbertoflores7397Eh, this is only true to an extent, obv a ton of artists have always been nepo and that’s built into the music industry, but hiphop has always had stars who genuinely rise up from the bottom with no connections. It’s kind of the classic rapper story tbh. It’s also more common in that genre than others I feel
@@gilbertoflores7397 "everyone" is too wide of a generalization, especially since we're talking about hiphop. there are definitely industry plants in modern hiphop but the main topic of this exact video is how it came from struggle and a very specific black american experience. damn near all of the most iconic figures in hiphop had an authentic rise to fame nepo baby isn't the same as an industry plant either. not sure what point you're trying to make
@@earl0000 hip hop has been curated the whole time, nwa and all those "rebel" groups were picked to be what they were. The labels had been pulling the strings most of the time. Industry plant was a nepo baby. Were just upset with them now because it's an age where you can get big all on your own with the internet. A plant is someone the Industry grooms and backs to get them famous, and tries to .ake it look like it was the rags to riches type story. Industry plant and nepo baby aren't different.
I also think something FD might be overlooking or not taking into account is that hip hop isn't the same as back in the day is because the culture and struggle has changed. That some (not all) struggles that much of the early rap derived from has expanded beyond race to a more economical struggle? That's why some of these white rappers are "believable" in what they are saying because it's real and similar to the struggle of rappers in the past?
On gatekeepers and algorithms, I’m not convinced that DIY artists make it to the top on their own. That is, largely, a selling point of a new artist on the scene. I think record labels boost those artists to achieve a high level of visibility and success behind the scenes.
This and the more recent video you did with FD have really made me more appreciative of the culture(s) responsible for birthing genres. Thank you guys for sharing this awesome discussion! Subbed to FD
@2:22 The CrazyTown disrespect is wild. If you think they only made “Butterfly” I advise you to listen to CXT and Darkhorse! They are both hidden gems that talk from unique perspectives. I love “Change” from the Darkhorse album. I get it…they did not appeal to the mainstream, and in that same reason they made music like there was nothing to lose, which resulted in some beyond their time results. But I refuse to change minds around how they perceive CrazyTown! If you know, you know.
I genuinely got a lot out of this video and I really appreciate this topic and having so much to think about walking away from this. That being said, hearing Anthony compare GKMC to The Lion King gave me whiplash, two pieces of art I never thought would be in the same sentence together
@@baronvonbeandip He does love fame. He’s awkward and it’s not like that Beyoncé super stardom, but he wants to be seen as that rapper. He’s constantly doing things for his audience.
M&M did complain about Norah Jones winning the Grammy over him for the Album of the Year, though. He said in an interview something like "Don't invite us all here just to stiff us"
This interview was very unexpected, but very welcome. I've been watching Fantano for ages and the past few months really got into FD. Any fantano regulars check FD out his content is awesome
34:29 I think Eminem went through both. He started off humble, he had fun with fame, but never embraced it and would rather name drop or spend time putting focus on the artist he was with. He wasn't radio friendly (he rebelled from it) and stayed true to himself, even mentioned his responsibility and impact because he's white, and he didn't care about mics/awards/critics he cared about the respect from his peers. He even lived a pretty challenging life and has some respect in that regard too. Then I think the drugs happened, then he snapped out and recovers, drops a few albums (that did decent) trying to get back on his feet (also get a feel for where he stands), gets a good response, then somewhere something got to him around Rap God MMLP2... He thinks he can recapture the crown and is surprised to find people have, not only moved on, but others have started getting better...now he has to show out and make sure that he's still known for the legacy he held (even though it was never questioned because we all heard him, his true fans understood, and even hiphop heads gave him his due respects), and these new fans just amp him up to be something he's not (because rap is even more commercial now, so they really lack even more understanding than the previous fans of hiphop/rap, some are even em fans that got turned onto hip-hop, because of him), so now he's on some sort of mission to re-prove himself, not realizing he became everything he resented... listen to his last good album, Til I Collapse, if that isn't em describing himself (currently)... I don't know what is.... He literally describes what he doesn't want to be and what he thinks of his position in rap (wasn't calling himself a God, he put himself last on his list), then goes on to talk about the disgust he has for the fans/people that don't get it (and why he's last on the list), but that he just cares about the respect and acknowledgment he's gotten from them (more than his awards and fame), especially when they also deserve it. He also speaks about what it would take for him to feel he's not worthy...and if that description isn't him today...then again...I don't know what is..
People like Snoop saying he wasn't even in the top 10 rappers I think it drove him insane to prove that he was in the top ten so he tried too hard to make the most spectacular bars ever but it took away from the rawness of his music and made it overwrought and cheesy. I still think some of Ems greatest bars ever were after he turned 50 and I appreciate stuff like Godzilla.
@@Cinemagrins well I do think snoop has a little resentment because he was Dre's big protege, the came Pac and Snoop got lazy (also had some resentment for Pac), then came Em... Snoop never upped his game and he can make hits and excuses, but he never really evolved or did anything that spectacular past his prime (which was short lived because of Pac coming in). Snoop is more of a personality now than anything. Em only took slight and took that hard because (as far as he was concerned) he and Snoop were on the same side, and (even if Snoop didn't feel Em's music, which is a lie to some degree) he didn't have to say it with the disrespect he put on it (plus he was still throwing shade on Em for a while before that, ex: his interview with sno the product). So I can see Em being a little miffed by that... He indeed tried too hard, which was apart of his list in Til I Collapse (he cares too much about the wrong things now), he even went pop (did a basically a pink song featuring him....on his own album). The only thing he's improved on is rhyming... Making songs, beat selection (which was never the best without Dre), content, flow, hip-hop, and respect all went out the window....
Eminem fans will bump The Eminem Show then turn around and say he wasn't making songs for the radio and he wasn't ultra ultra mainstream. Which he was.
@@Tirgo69 ehhh ..not really, he made one or two for commercial use (which still was usually heavily censored) and then the rest of his album wasn't usually that popy..... The Eminem show was a bit more commercial than the two prior... But absolutely not, half of his songs are him talking about how hard it is to get a song to even be accepted to put on an album and how much they make him rewrite shit to make it more commercial, because he hit a level of popularity he didn't want wasn't his fault. Encore (and every album since) those were all made for radio/mainstream appeal...which is why there is a drastic difference in his music from that point on
so grateful to see FD on this channel, but can I just point out how great Melon’s hoodie is today? like goddamn, Anthony, send me a link where I can buy it.
Yeah it's so bad. There are some people trying to make something different but they seem totally boxed out of mainstream success. Ever since the Dixie chicks got cancelled
It's the fault of the industry almost 100% tho. It sucks but capitalism loves to water down stuff till it's a soulless parody of itself, and that was before the Internet only made that problem worse, at least in regards to the charts
@@sainthuckelberry totally agree. There's a great independent scene but even then, as Anthony says, there's not a lot Woody Guthries out there. The music has become almost entirely divorced from talking about real, current experiences with anything resembling a critical lens.
I think the last really interesting country artist I’ve listened too was Ryan Bingham. I’m sure there are some other awesome people out there but it’s sad cause country can be so fucking cool when people are just talking about break ups, beer, and pick up trucks.
The best white rapper is arguably the most unnoticed and underrated. Aesop never gets brought up but he clears most MCs that have ever picked up a mic and he raps about his cat instead of pretending to be a badass.
Aesop hasn't made music as iconic as Ems first 3 album run. The dude could never escape the underground stigma. I also don't think he's more skilled than guys like RA the Rugged Man or Vinnie Paz.
@@dominic7114 corny??? RA released All my heroes are dead . Which was one the best rap albums of 2020. It had ghostFace, Cool G rap, Brand Nubian, Ice T, Immortal technique,Chris Rivers and quite a few more legendary hip hop figures. Dude commands crazy respect and for good reason RA has EVERYTHING skill wise Flows, Cadences, Rhyme Schemes, Charisma and Id bet would he'd best Aesop Bar for Bar. Like I said Aesop could never evolve past the underground/ back pack stigma either.
One weirdly anecdotal but still very accurate way to put it is that there are countless people who’s favorite rappers are all white and those rappers would be like Eminem, mgk, post Malone, NF even. But there are definitely fewer if any people who enjoy EL P, Aesop rock etc that don’t also enjoy black rappers
the 6th decade of hip hop. Jazz's 6th decade was the 80's early digital synth smooth jazz. Ppl tried to evolve the genre and it just sounded like the music in the bar where Arnold's lady friend worked at in Total Recall. Also I absolutely listen to current jazz.
@@donnydarko7624 absolutely, miles is a legend but he has some duds too. i think jazz is in a much better place now. i’m always trying to find more modern jazz stuff that’s good - who’s your favs?
@@jenconvertibles Yussef dayes and Kamaal Williams are probably 2 of my favorite younger artists. Adrian Younge, and Ali shaheed Muhammad's label jazz is dead is great also. Bbng and domi and jd Beck are solid too
BTW Metallica lost to Jethro Tull in the first ever Hard Rock Metal category 1989, just saying in regards to Macklemore 2014 Grammy. Conversely the Best Rap album category has been around since 1996.
I mean Jethro Tull is a much more creative and interesting band though… Coming from someone who had both playing in the house as a kid, Metallica was something I loved, but grew out of. Jethro Tull is something to grow into.
I remember when I was in high school in the late '90s, before I actually got into hip hop, I pretty much exclusively listened to the local alternative rock radio station. That station, despite sticking to an alternative rock format, also played two hip hop artists. Guess who? Eminem and the Beastie Boys. I really discovered and got into hip hop in about 2001 and have been doing my best to deep dive into the genre ever since and from that perspective I have a great deal of respect for both Eminem and the Beastie Boys, but there's a very obvious reason that those two artists were deemed acceptable for an alt-rock radio station, and none of their influences or contemporaries were.
Anthony: can you explain what the white rapper paradox is
FD: It starts with-
Mike shinoda: One thing, I don't know why
It doesn't even matter how hard you try
Keep that in mind, I designed this rhyme@@RegisteredLate123
Mike is Asian.
Nice, I love Limp Bizkit
M Shinod is japanese
Glad to see FD get a biracial rapper’s perspective on this!
Funny
You guys gotta get a new joke man
once in a blue moon somebody comments something actually funny under a fantano video
What race is fantano? He has the most uneven melanin distribution. His eyes are way too dark for his super pale skin tone. Unfortunately he has an Italian last name, which is a shame to us Italians. I hope his poor ancestors moved to the us many many generations ago, so his Italian heritage is lost
@@dtanoboI’m not here enough for it to get old to me. This is still fresh in my mind.
"Ya'll let jack harlow sell ya'll chicken" - Danny Brown
exactlyyyy sth for the win
Jack Harlow combo meal
Bruh that my fav bar whole album lmao
Oh cmon bro is actually from Kentucky tho lol
@@thewritermichaelis200Yeah that's part of why the bar's so clever - having Jack Harlow as your favorite current rapper is like having KFC as your favorite fried chicken joint
Fantano hearing FD make fun of Drake's girlfriend story and having Vietnam flashbacks to Drake's super fan talking for 20 minutes about how that's a genuinely serious issue that Drake needs to talk about on his album
why is so funny to me that Signifier has this beatyuful mane and fantano is bald af, imagine if they fuse ala DBZ hha im so highsrry
best comment
LMFAO
Least insane stoner activities
i don't remember writing this, definetly smoking some good stuff i was, don't even remember listening to this podcast
@@Sodrigo_Rosa I envy you so bad, you have no idea
shoutout to the person who had the idea to blur chat, ur a real one
Why did they blur it actually? Just that toxic?
@@cbfire9987 Most of the fantano fans are r3tarded and hate everything that's why
@@cbfire9987 average twitch chat imo, most of them are awful
@@cbfire9987 all chat should be permanently blurred forever
@@cbfire9987 They semi-consistently blur the chat just because it's not worth the effort to go through 2 hours of it to make sure nobody's saying some awful shit. I think they sometimes leave it in on shorter videos.
Its nice to see 2 black content creators finally put out some heat together.
The streets needed this. Fantano, you're saving the culture rn.
Why are Fantano fans so lame? Guy seems chill yet you lot are so corny.
@@NicholasSeamans damn seamans, with a name like that, I'm not surprised that you can't take a joke.
@@asmodeusguys4472😂😂😂
@@NicholasSeamanslmfaaaaaaooo bro being hella blunt
🌽🏀
As a white kid who grew up listening to and playing reggae, I rarely saw white reggae artists without it stirring up negative and critical feelings for me. In retrospect my feelings came down to authenticity not race. You can just feel it when someone's trying to be something they're not! I don't wanna hear a white band/singer covering Burning Spear's "slavery days" In contrast, when you hear someone like Gentleman (white German reggae artist) you can just feel that it's genuine.
Great art in any medium comes from the genuine passion to express truth through creation.
Foreign man has great video on cod reggae
@@johnindigo5477what is it
Every race has been in slavery before, black people just happen to be the most butthurt about it, lol.
unironically Snow is a more legitimate reggae artist than most gave him credit for at the time, and Jim Carrey should be ashamed of shitting on him on In Living Colour.
I mean the dude literally got the name from Jamaican immigrants and was serving a jail sentence while his song charted, the man grew up in the projects.
Also there are some pretty decent Polish reggae artists.
@@REDDAWNproject but he is white and that is the problem according to FD
Really enjoyed this, you guys have good chemistry, very thought provoking conversation
Anthony kinda sucking him a bit tho. Woulda thought he'd defend Kendrick but nope
I love that FD touched on "Blacker the Berry" in the "white Kendrick fan" piece of the discussion because that track, and the entirety of To Pimp a Butterfly has always been an important touchstone for me in this kind of conversation. I'm a white hip-hop fan and definitely a big fan of Kendrick. I remember first putting on "... Butterfly" when it dropped and being floored. Being genuinely pumped that it received the accolades it did. And also being very, VERY, acutely aware that this was an absolutely brilliant piece of music that was not "for me". I could absolutely engage with it as a fan of both hip-hop and music in general and love it for that. I could absolutely learn from the album and music. But when i listened, I knew full well that "I am not black, urban youth, and this album is not about 'my struggles' ". I love it even more for that, although admittedly I don't return to it with the frequency I might an album like... Aquemini. Or to a completely different vein: Atrocity Exhibition. "Exhibition", while still being distinctly "rap music" (and proving Danny Brown can somehow spit over literally anything somehow), tackled subject matter that I have been more "directly" connected to, but via the realm of more experimental hip-hop.
That was one of the first rap records I had heard in years that, without some of the dicier elements of Dead Prez maybe, clearly stated "if you're not "in the struggle", you will only be able to engage halfway", and that made it so much more interesting.
white people are the only ethnic group in recorded history to have a negative in-group bias.
Do you always bow down to segregationists?
@@angrybellsprout I literally can't imagine what this combination of words even means. Other than that it's really stupid.
@skippidypowpow8660 thanks for confirming how you bow down to segregationists
@@angrybellsprout🤡
I think factors that played into jack harlow's clout is the timing - him doing all the 'suss' jokes built a sense of comfort with queerer spaces, he had a run of being supportive of black women in interviews and at his shows while Meg was getting shot at and the Dababy was yelling about AIDs, and then that feature with LNX. I think beyond his whiteness he appeared as empathetic, chill and less problematic (a good 'example') and that perception itself blew him up way more than his talent warranted
This all seems eminently reasonable to me. With conversations like this I wish that Nielsen and Billboard data was much more publicly available so that we could know, for example, how many black queer people and black women really listen to Jack Harlow’s music. If a lot of black queer people and black women listen to him, then he’s much more like Drake than Eminem demographically, so the way his whiteness plays into his success is different and it calls for a different analysis. The paradox might be interesting for him because Jack Harlow wasn’t contributing to black culture, but instead bringing a very mildly more inclusive atmosphere to rap that portions of both black and white audiences are receptive to. So he both does and doesn’t contribute to black culture: doesn’t because he clearly is separate from the history, does because he’s challenging- even in an extremely milquetoast way - the bad exclusive parts of black culture.
I feel that yes he does appeal to many diverse groups. I don't like the word whiteness because its making every white person just this amorphous blob that exists to move forward as a all consuming musical theft corps like the guest thinks we are lol. There are so many different types of white people personalities, socioeconomic groups (there are more poor whites than poor blacks) and the richest of the rich. I think his music about his rough upbringing mixed with his catchy party hits both done with some care and lyrical flourish are what is so attractive to white audiences. But people like the guest think white people just magically unfairly get money for the color of their skin which is just BS.@@mandobrownie
@@Cinemagrins Its not bs lol. Js look at eminem or vanilla ice.
@@JGarcia-yr9fxbut that’s 2 out of a bunch of them. Like Em said himself, if it’s solely based on his skin tone how come other white rappers didn’t sell the same?
@@Dontdoit_ "Let's do the math -- if I was black, I would've sold half." ever hear of canibus?
In my view, the future of hip hop is in non English markets with their own unique styles. Reggaeton continues to maintain popularity and influence other forms of Spanish language music, and hip hop remains at its peak in places like France with its own homegrown industry and culture.
Underrated comment.
As a hispanic guy, those of us that grew in the culture of Reggaeton from youth can clearly seeing it permeating mainstream music in English and Spanish both, feels good to walk in a club and see the influences of Reggaeton, Dancehall, Bachata, Afrobeats and more all enriching mainstream sound.
French rap SLAPS af to me haha, has been since I saw Taxi as a child
Honestly, I really like the potential of that. Mainstream American hiphop is hot ass right now, and I think the culture could really benefit from the influence of the interesting shit happening with hiphop around the world. It'd be sick for a foreign rapper to make it big in the US and have some more influence and respect in the genre.
So true. A lot of European countries have class acts rn. France, Germany, Ireland, even Nordic countries are doing well. I don't listen to modern US rap artists because what they rap about feels very surface level compared to 90s hip hop which is unmatched.
Really love the analogy of what rock went through and what hiphop is going through now. Read a biography of Jim Morrison (the doors) and as someone growing up in the 90s, not much of that was left by the time I heard it.
OnLy White pE0plE cAn d0 r0cK!!!
Super happy to see this chat happen. Been following fantano and fiq for awhile. His latest vid on em & white rappers was on-point, as is this discussion. Appreciate you two a whole lot. ✌
I enjoy FDs Signifiers takes a lot. He really sharpened my understanding of some things
So, I actually have an inside scoop on lil Mabu. He went to Collegiate, a private school in NYC that a close friend of mine also went to. It is an extremely exclusive, extremely rich school. The problems with lil Mabu are very very real- his father is some sort of marketing executive, and is said to have had a significant hand in Mabu's success. Additionally, in his rise to fame (?) lil Mabu has used and highlighted the divide between the privileged areas of New York and the less privileged areas of New York City, a very real problem and divide that Mabu plays for laughs. It's a very disturbing, clueless examination and exploitation of real cultural and social divides and barriers in our country, used by a privileged white guy to further his own fame.
Lil Mabu is not every white rapper and nor does he represent white rappers.
never said he was or did@@isaacjones5687
Bros “inside scoop” is common knowledge
This isn’t inside scoop, it’s public info. Literally googled it and it was highlighted with big letters.
***COLLEGIATE SCHOOL***
fair point lol@@JohnDoe-rr1fz
i know it’s jack harlow on the right of the thumbnail but it looks like jschlatt and it’s funny to imagine it is based on his ai mf doom covers
Literally just watched the white rapper paradox video last night crazy good timing for this to come out.
literally?
SAME
Same! Incredible video, I’m excited to glean some more insight from this interview
Same here, home skillet.
Awesome collab. A great person to bring on about this subject
I was just researching more about “what happened to rock,” which Fiq brings up about 1:18:00 or so. It’s shocking how many bands broke up in 2000-2001. The narrative that endures is that file sharing gets a lot of the blame, as does the rise of teen pop and nu metal. I’d say the amount of buyouts and record label mergers that swallowed up bands whole is overlooked, I believe.
yeah, honestly up until probably 2010 a decent number of the bigger names of that era would have had no problem touring, and selling merch if they had no interest or nothing to say so they weren't about to try and record a new ep or album. I get that. Composing, and song writing are skills that you cannot let sit they are nothing like riding a bike, but rather more akin to Newton's first law of motion "A body in motion, will stay in motion, a body at rest will stay at rest" itss 100% a skill that oxidizes over time due to lack of vigilance
@@donnydarko7624 I find its a lot like riding a bike and infact time away even of significant lengths can really ignite that creative spark like a full tank of gas in a new car. To each their own and how they choose to see things.
Maybe I perceive it that way because I played instruments in grade school and have forgotten most of the music theory I did know.@@joshviggiani9844
we as a society have decided to put on our blinders when it comes to hollywood and celebrity culture, which the rockstars absolutely inhabit. you do not get into these spaces by being a good person. you present a good person persona of course, but when it comes to how you must operate in the industry to get to the top, you are not going to get away from fucking over A LOT of folks to make it big. that's just the facts. it's why i was too disgusted to continue my audio engineer career with my extreme disability after the surgery only made me 75% better followed by 2 decades of malpractice instead of the help i needed. i just don't have the energy to hustle clients who don't stand a chance of actually making it.
literally day one in college audio engineering class was the lesson that the engineer is the first in line to get fucked over.
I have what I think is a pretty unique perspective on this. I am a 40 sometime black man who grew up in the 80s and 90s and I was heavily into both rap and hard rock and metal. I am a vocalist and guitarist and I started out early 90s in the hardcore punk scene in NYC. I was mainly a singer then. A few years into my teens and playing in bands I started rapping and making beats but it was initially separate from the the rock based projects. Around 93 or 94 we blended them but a song here or there I never intentionally tried to mix the two. But my experience has always kept me open minded about what an artist looks like or his background. No one in 1992 expects a teenage black kid to be singing Axl Rose or Layne Staley vocals but there I was. And I think it actually helped that I was black because it blew people away that I "sang like a white boy" and it was "authentic". So i can kinda understand how it works the other way around...if i was white i don't know if the attention would've been the same. I think being white in rap has pros and cons and I think we do judge a bit differently based on color and background. But a good rapper is a good rapper no matter what and I don't think I judge too much differently just because I can kinda see it from an outside and inside way lol
Interesting. I'm Mex-American from L.A. from the 80s/90s, and all the music that I loved that I grew up on were genre-defying or a 'blending' of genres where race was almost overlooked.
Some of my 1990's hometown favorites: Rage Against the Machine (conscious Rock), early Chili Peppers (Funk, Rock), Cypress Hill (Latino Hip hop?), Sublime (Reagae infused Rock), No Doubt (Ska, Hip hop, Pop punk?), Beck (Nerd Rock with Hip hop influence), along with Snoop, Ice Cube... and maybe the most genre-defying, Ozomatli (Big band, Hip hop, Cumbia, Rock, Funk, ???) they had Asian, White, Black and Mexican band members.
I never could've seen this collab coming 🥴
But since I'm subscribed to both of you, I gotta say it's a welcome one
Melon seems to be the guy who keeps leaking into other realms of things I enjoy more than many others
Im stoked too. Ive been hoping for a long form collab since fantano made that lil cameo in fiq's essay a while ago.
He's been in some of fiq's videos before
Makes a lot of sense. 2 extremely leftist people who talk about music and political issues seems like an easy collab to me.
@@Mighty_Atheismo yea the canIbus one
I love your agreements and disagreement, finishing the video touching on misogyny was great. Looking forward to 2024 with you two!
I'm really glad I didn't post my comment half way through the video because you guys are making all the points that my former essay was making, which is essentially that hip hop is at it's hair metal phase.
and just like then, the UK is killing it while the US disappears up it's own ass again.
And then imagine if modern social media existed during rock's hair metal phase.
Would've been dope and fucked up@@lasagnahog7695
what do you mean by hair metal phase? I've never heard that saying before
@@sensitiffly That would include acts like motley crue, guns n roses, or Twisted Sister. (it's also called power metal). Hair Metal leaned into excessive and outrageous outfits, drugs, and partying rather than the music and it ushered in the age of alternative rock and grunge, which went against those aesthetics. I think hip hop in a similar place.
On the “piece of the pie” topic. Most people don’t really listen to that much variety of music at any given time, especially in the mainstream. So when you have certain people dominating the airwaves or the Spotify playlists, then they really are dominating the landscape of their respective genre for a sizeable portion of listeners.
Dope collab- was looking frwrd to the vid ended up watching this first. Didn't know y'all did some streams together. Any time I tap into an FD Signifier vidd it's always a stimulating listen! Dood alwys has some solid well rounded perspectives.
FD at 5:27 "It starts with..."
My brain "One thing, I don't know why, it doesn't even matter how hard you try..."
Funny he didn't even mention Shinoda in his video.
@@mindlander Shinoda is white-passing, so he is mentioned indirectly.
@@mindlanderShinoda falls in the rock/rap category.
Pendulum swang
This helped me understand FD's video much better, still don't agree with everything he says but it contextualised what he was going for more for me.
21:00 there's SO many white rappers who bring up that they're "greater than Eminem" or "the next Eminem" or "i never even listened to Eminem" and it's like... y'all are still stuck in the doorway to hip hop. there are so many albums not called The Marshal Mathers LP that you can listen to.
Does mmlp2 count? 🙏
If they say " Im the next Nas" they'll be accused of cultural appropriation or worse. So they play safe and name a white rapper and get accused of not appreciating the culture. Lol.
@@tc98826as much as I don't like Snoop.
I agree with his take.
So many people say "Imma be the next Pac."
But I think it's important to understand the legacy a specific artist stood for.
Too many white people who only appreciate hip hop for the aggressive elements will most likely only know songs like
"If I die 2nite" and "Hit em Up."
Or just the mainstream hits like California Love.
But Pac has whole albums of sentimental songs that discuss depression. Women's rights. And forgiveness.
Too many people put rappers in a box and forget that they are humans that have real life experiences like anyone else.
They just might be the next best thing but not quite him
I'm currently learning about how the record industry helped bolster segregation by genre defining and sometimes genre flipping Blues and Country. I realized that I am putting my toe into being that person who has put the time and energy to learn about that subject matter.
As a white kid in a almost entirely white high school I did do the work to learn everything I could about Hip-Hop, but it took many more years to really be aware that I was living and seeing a different cultural reality than others experience. To clarify doing the work I learned about the founders, the elements, and was listening to some of the solid golden age records.
As a 16 or 17 year old I even voiced the differences I perceived in lived reality, but I know I did not "get it" until much later.
i agree, but artists like the roots and common rarely get accolades in the "culture" to begin with. the industry focuses on negativity and stereotypes, which is why songs like the roots' 'what they do' and common's 'i used to love h.e.r.' even exist in the first place.
I mean hip heads know about Common and the Roots...but true they both never popped off financial speaking
Because the negativity and stereotypes were more commercially appealing to white audiences.
I’m a Lifelong hip hop fan and older than both of you and as a woman I get Jack’s appeal. His core fanbase is female so I think beyond race he has a core fanbase that are the greatest consumers of pretty much everything in society so the consumer power is like that of Taylor Swift and Beyonce.
Eminem, or other White rappers haven’t had that. As an MC I think he’s not a lyrical miracle but above mid and industry wise he seems to be quite respected for his character which is refreshing. He is also tall, good looking, funny, charismatic, and you see him around his family a lot. He makes music with women in mind and is kind of emo so I think when it comes to him men don’t discuss the female element and just focus on race
Even his charismatic persona is a cosplay of black men though.
@@raymonds7492 harlow's sex appeal has more in common with justin beiber than any stereotypically masculine black rapper imo
This is a perspective I haven't really thought about. Good take.
Jack Harlow is just MGK 2. change my mind lol.
Same thing with MGK and G-Eazy -- their popularity comes from being hot and white
great conversation ❤❤❤ as a gen z musician, i think fd is really accurate about what's next for black music and its interesting to think about in relation to late stage capitalism. The girls are making the soundtrack to the dystopia we observe around us. I think that's the sound in a nutshell. It can be uplifting or chaotic or dancey or chill but it's dissonant and hyper-charged. and in terms of black music all popular music is very black and brown because of the way that liberation movements have utilized art to communicate between marginalized people. I think we're gonna keep seeing a fusion of all the liberation sounds. thats what hip-hop even is. that's what jazz is, and that's what the next black music pandora's box will be.
Also I have an extensive playlist of this sound, 12 hours, it’s called pillow punk kingdom 💃🏿🔥✨
Wait that's not what I wanted to say though. I wanted to say, i think if we want our music cultures to stop dying, we've got to get serious about the ethics of our consumption. It's actually insane to think that a genre like hip hop only got 50 years of cultural cache. A big reason for that is how the gatekeepers of the industry have encouraged a consumerism that is only viable and sustainable for themselves, the billionaire black capitalist. They exploit their underlings to pump out unsustainable and unattainable for most images of wealth and grandeur, and they sever OUR musical traditions from OUR communities. Like regardless of how important some figures in hip hop are, they are no more important than the DJs, the dancers, the party goers, the people who buy and tell people about the records they like. The billionaires of hip hop don't want us to be empowered in our consumption, that's something we should do more actively. Like literally, why won't most ppl listen to their cousin's music on SoundCloud instead of the new drake song? Why do you need your music stamped and approved for your consumption?
This is a really insightful comment and I love your description of that music scene. It definitely made me want to check out your Playlist!
@@wizzytalksalot Jay Z is particularly obnoxious in that respect, I can't stand him frankly.
There is no " black and " brown " popular music. Just Fba black culture and that's it. Stop giving away free passes to everyone to our shit, it's tired.
This was a good convo, I really liked the expansion on FD's video (which i thought was awesome). I wish Anthony had interrupted him less though
folks bring up vanilla ice but ignore the beastie boys' impact
FD actually discusses them in his video on white rappers, albeit briefly and seemingly not buying into their first album being satirical. I agree that they're generally disregarded despite their impact.
The Beastie Boys are, by far, the toughest edge case to really engage with, because they honestly have very few problematic elements, came along early enough that their interest in the medium/culture was earned, because they got in before hip hop opened up enough to really be hit by the culture vultures, and they always just sort of did their own thing, effortlessly. The fact so much of their music goes into the alternative genre neatly somewhat insulates them as well, but those guys are generally just hard to deal with because they really buck almost every narrative one would usually try to apply.
@@aeschafer1 The thing is, like in the other video, Vanilla Ice really didnt do anything wrong. He was a genuine guy with a genuinely love of and involvement in hip hop culture. He was just a goober in his early 20s and sold out to Ninja Turtle movies. However, he kinda got hit from white media from the other side because they weren't really into hip hop yet (plenty were still in the "you can't spell crap without rap" thinking) so they brought up the sampling part and "stealing" a song when they know hip hop is built on samples. They made a gooberish dude make himself look foolish having to explain as obvious thing to new audiences. They used him to shit on hip hop without coming off as racist.
It's still wild to me that Stan became an identifier for people like why do you want to be called someone's Stan did you listen to that song?! Cause he's real clear on why that man was not a good man, and absolutely not someone from whom you should take inspiration. He was stalking Em! He was an abusive partner and ultimately killed both himself and her, while she was pregnant!
True....but it's also the element of being parasocial....that Stan character was very parasocial.. unfortunately alot of fans of music artist fall into that...let's be real being parasocial happens in all forms of entertainment.. content creators, actors, actress, especially with social media...Stan's are parasocial fans just hopefully they don't fall even farther down the hole and become homicidal or abusive towards these artist or others ...
Nothing wrong with admiring an artist.. just understand as the listener that they aren't literally speaking to u...they aren't ur friend....they just are expressing an experience u as the listener might relate too...but it doesn't mean you and the artist are actually friends...
Yeah, people use 'Stan' as a hyperbolic description of their admiration. It's not meant to be taken that literally.
Stan is usually used derogatorily, in my experience.
Gonna be honest.
Because I'm very dumb, I thought "Stan" was short of "stand" as in "I stand for/with" or something like that
One of my new favorite bands is Filth, it's a marrying of mainly metal, with hip-hop. Lowkey want this to continue, but I also don't want hiphop to die or simmer down to almost nothing.
Filth are great! The frontman is super versatile!
I don't know if hiphop will ever "die", but the sound and community might go underground for a bit, meaning you'll have to pay attention to good new tracks. I used to think modern country was all crap and "bro" country until I was convinced I had to dig a little deeper and find the artists making music with heart and meaning. They were there, just not getting any radio play so I had to actively seek them. I could see rap/hiphop going a similar way for awhile, but seeing as tastes come a go and nostalgia is a helluva thing, chances are good even if it did simmer a bit it'd be due for a resurgence sooner or later, plus there's probably a lot of young upcoming artists growing up on rap/hiphop who might make a different sound but will still do funky hiphop infusions. Look at acts like Sublime that, through their short and cut off far too soon catalogue of songs and covers, hit so many different kinds of genres and sounds just by being unafraid to be experimental and funky and honest with an interesting sound over trying to be marketable, and then somehow they still became crazy marketable.
@@gregvs.theworld451I feel like it will end up like rock. Had a good 30 years of being culturally Dominate but at some point the best cash making music was made from an era before the current time. This results in radios playing the same thing in the 2010s like tgey do with the 70s and labels moving onto the next big thing.
Like Rock and Roll, hip hop lives on but in just smaller communities not getting mainstream attention other then a few standouts.
Love this video - two of my absolute favorite creators having an incredibly interesting discussion - but every time I look at the screen, Fantano's damn beanie makes me think he's wearing the Oliver Tree bowl cut.
fuck I can't unsee it now 💀
Cannot unsee
FD is the worst I actually have less respect for Anthony
@@daddykarlmarx6183? How is FD the worst
@@daddykarlmarx6183 ?
Amazing conversation, love when we can have these discussions about culture.
you know, given the discussion in the second half of this video about how the hiphop that addresses social issues doesnt get played as much anymore, it is really significant that Not Like Us dropped a few months later and became one of the biggest songs of the year in any genre, let alone in hiphop. a song with a history lesson about how people came to atlanta to exploit black people. obviously this one song doesnt undo the overarching trend, kendrick has always been a really interesting exception that proves the rule, but it does just feel really good to have a song that dense and poignant also bop as hard as it does and be as ubiquitous as it is. it doesnt fix the general trend, but it feels pretty good that it exists
I'm glad my fav FD Signifier is amplifying small channels.
I’ve maintained this opinion since he blew up as someone who supported Harlow and his earlier output, he conveyed a much different image and style before he blew up versus what he puts out now. Not that he stylistically made a huge shift, but you can tell he’s searching for a different end product in his music now compared to tracks such as Sundown, Eastern Parkway or Dark Knight
He bit the cookie
@@cbfire9987he did indeed it’s really sad to see because there was a time where I was actively showing friends his music because he was putting out stuff with a lot more artistic effort and intention, and me and a lot of those same friends now have the conversation of wow this guy fucking sold out
I'm not really a hip hop listener, but I really enjoyed this conversation. Thank you guys!
This was so good! I hope you guys collaborate more.
Hip- hop was multicultural from the jump. It’s an American art form. It’s always been predominately black and drew its influences mostly from black music. Vanilla ice was the first pop mainstream white rapper not the first white rapper. Hispanic people and white people have been in hip hop from the get go, rapping and producing. If you don’t want to hear it from a white lah like me there’s an interview with rza (I think on the breakfast club) where he addresses this. The funny thing is I think it was NWA and the gangster rap movement that created the shift to it as just a black thing. Which is sinister because that flip started selling black people these ideals to promote and seek to display negative stereotypes in there own community. We can really see how damaging this became now. Drill has lost all the observations and introspection old gangster rap used to have. No more Big L street struck. Now it sells to be a “demon”… the record labels hijacked black culture and are selling black Americans back a poisonous self image. IMO. Maybe I’m wrong. It’s not like I grew up in New York or anything in that time to truely understand the intricacies.
I'd like to see another video discussing your perspectives on white producers in hip hop. Is it any different from the rappers? I feel like that's a whole other conversation
It’s half the same and half different. Because the thing about the rapper is they bring with them their stories and an image, and let’s be real, white people see that and go “hey I relate to that”. All the producer really brings is the sound, and a white “sound” is not the same level of marketability as a white lyrics and a white face (unless you are metro boomin)
White producers might have setbacks and privileges getting into the industry, not having to worry about their image (being hood or being a lyrical myrical backpacker cliche)
Great question
Lofi Hip Hop should be brought to the forefront in this conversation because it’s one of those subgenres that has some bad players in it, despite me loving it and also partaking in it. I think the main focus should be on the gentrification of hip hop music and production… (mostly) white kids taking a sound that has been well-established and rebranding it as something new and fresh… While at the same time dumbing it down to just background/study music and completely misappropriating the term “lofi.”
I think it's different but connected. The biggest problems of White Rappers FD discussed come about with the commodification of their art and when the money rolls in; Producers generally ARE the money, the first step into that commodification, and therefore the harbinger of those biggest problems. Not to say they don't bring a lot of good; without producers, there would be no industry. But the discussion is definitely very different between rappers and producers.
The artist and their moneyman are different but intertwined individuals; so the producer needs to be analyzed way differently.
Word. Segregation at the studio is in the building frfr!
FD Signifier really the Steve Carell of UA-cam, old man finally on the come up!
I’m grateful I found the blog/nerdcore rap scene to be more relatable to me than Eminem. Lupe Fiasco is my king at the end of the day.
I thought you were gonna name some cringelord like chris webby
Mega ran?
@@vitaminwater9662 boo ba
@@8BitsOfFun1323the true goat of nerdcore
Lupe is a lot of peoples king from all walks of life. I don't really listen to him much anymore bc sonically it doesn't really hold up, but lyrically he was and still is head & shoulders over basically anybody
Oh hell yeah it’s one of my favorite collabs back at it
Hell yeah, I so remember "Self Destruction". That song was huge when I was a kid. All the popular rappers of the time was on it, it really was like the hip-hop "We Are The World". It's also the last time I can remember a positive movement like that in Black music that involved all of the popular rappers of the time.
That whole period led to the decline in crime in the late 80s/early 90s. If you were just walking around in the city, you could feel it. I remember talking to my father who worked at a men's shelter, and he had noticed the same thing: the crack wars were winding down because the communities involved were making a concerted effort to put a stop to them.
I talk to other white people now, and they think I'm joking, while they're busy arguing whether it was Giuliani or Clinton smh.
We're all in the same gang was essentially the West Coast version of Self Destruction.
@@theleelife313 Yeah. I was a teenager in Brooklyn so that was my perspective. "Truce" was a big word on both coasts.
@@jessejordache1869😊
Oh my god I'm so glad to hear someone way more knowledgeable from the community say it! The Roots being a house band for Jimmy Fallon of all people, like it just felt like such a defanging to me, even as someone who was only, at the time, kinda familiar with the Roots and their position
Example I thought of off what FD Signifier was saying about erasure of Black artists in an information-abundance landscape: The Weeknd is consistently the #1 artist on Spotify by a margin of over 10 million monthly listeners, but he's very small in the overall culture compared to Taylor Swift. Anyway great conversation guys
Well to be fair you can fuck to a Weeknd song, it’s multipurpose in that way.
Wishing you all the best. Keep working hard as always.
The world is healing a bit guys. Thank you for putting out this collaboration. ♡
On the topic of rap-rock. I have thought about that for many years. I grew up when glam and thrash were hitting their peak, but that means I grew up with the Anthrax/Public Enemy "crossover" songs. And of course with Faith No More; which hit it huge when I was in 7th grade. I often wonder if Faith No More were the first actually kind of rap-rock band or is it earlier? Freddie Mercury seems to kind of rap-rock on 1977's We Will Rock You. Just like everybody thinks all metal began with Black Sabbath (not 100% true, as other acts were doing heavy shit before Sabbath), rap-rock probably started just like I suggest and evolved over the years. Good stuff guys. Love heavy music and talking music in general.
The hopeful note at the end about what the youth can create and possibly do better got me. That cheered me up.
Lil Mabu is also son to a billionaire record executive, the most clear industry plant ever
Everyone in music/entertainment is a nepo baby. It wasn't until the rise of the internet that some artist weren't nepo babies, but even then, you still need nepotism and connections to get anywhere.
Jason Derulo agrees
@@gilbertoflores7397Eh, this is only true to an extent, obv a ton of artists have always been nepo and that’s built into the music industry, but hiphop has always had stars who genuinely rise up from the bottom with no connections. It’s kind of the classic rapper story tbh. It’s also more common in that genre than others I feel
@@gilbertoflores7397 "everyone" is too wide of a generalization, especially since we're talking about hiphop. there are definitely industry plants in modern hiphop but the main topic of this exact video is how it came from struggle and a very specific black american experience. damn near all of the most iconic figures in hiphop had an authentic rise to fame
nepo baby isn't the same as an industry plant either. not sure what point you're trying to make
@@earl0000 hip hop has been curated the whole time, nwa and all those "rebel" groups were picked to be what they were. The labels had been pulling the strings most of the time. Industry plant was a nepo baby. Were just upset with them now because it's an age where you can get big all on your own with the internet. A plant is someone the Industry grooms and backs to get them famous, and tries to .ake it look like it was the rags to riches type story. Industry plant and nepo baby aren't different.
I also think something FD might be overlooking or not taking into account is that hip hop isn't the same as back in the day is because the culture and struggle has changed. That some (not all) struggles that much of the early rap derived from has expanded beyond race to a more economical struggle? That's why some of these white rappers are "believable" in what they are saying because it's real and similar to the struggle of rappers in the past?
1:08:39 FD killed me with this Donald Glover/Fred Hampton line as he compares to Drake. I literally spit out my water lol great interview
Two queens coming together to maximise their joint slay
😂
This combo, this collab ! 😍👏👏👏 love to see it!
you should do more together - great dynamic!
agreed
Crazy this came out day after i watched FD's video 🎉
On gatekeepers and algorithms, I’m not convinced that DIY artists make it to the top on their own. That is, largely, a selling point of a new artist on the scene. I think record labels boost those artists to achieve a high level of visibility and success behind the scenes.
This and the more recent video you did with FD have really made me more appreciative of the culture(s) responsible for birthing genres. Thank you guys for sharing this awesome discussion! Subbed to FD
love seeing this as a younger fan I love learning about music
YOOOOO. been waitin on this convo to happen
@2:22 The CrazyTown disrespect is wild. If you think they only made “Butterfly” I advise you to listen to CXT and Darkhorse! They are both hidden gems that talk from unique perspectives. I love “Change” from the Darkhorse album. I get it…they did not appeal to the mainstream, and in that same reason they made music like there was nothing to lose, which resulted in some beyond their time results. But I refuse to change minds around how they perceive CrazyTown! If you know, you know.
Personally wasn’t a huge crazy town fan. But DJ AM was a legend taken from us too soon.
@@suspencer1531 and now Shifty!
I genuinely got a lot out of this video and I really appreciate this topic and having so much to think about walking away from this.
That being said, hearing Anthony compare GKMC to The Lion King gave me whiplash, two pieces of art I never thought would be in the same sentence together
Not really Kendrick was on the lion king album
good lion mad jungle
Great video I had no idea you spoke on these kinds of things
people forget Eminem HATES being famous.
Do you see him at award shows? Do you see him on the red carpet? no
Someone once said "You think I give a damn about a Grammy? Half of you critics can't even stomach me, let alone stand me."
@@baronvonbeandip
He does love fame. He’s awkward and it’s not like that Beyoncé super stardom, but he wants to be seen as that rapper. He’s constantly doing things for his audience.
@@corydk4834 It kinda is like the beyonce super stardom though, EVERYONE in the US knows eminem.
M&M did complain about Norah Jones winning the Grammy over him for the Album of the Year, though. He said in an interview something like "Don't invite us all here just to stiff us"
fd is such an awesome content creator. glad to see other youtubers showing him to people who may not have known about him otherwise
Unexpected but super cool collab! Looking forward to watch
They've talked before, right?
@@ohno5559 it's entirely possible lol
Fantano was in FD's video about canibus
It’s great to get more FD content
This interview was very unexpected, but very welcome. I've been watching Fantano for ages and the past few months really got into FD. Any fantano regulars check FD out his content is awesome
MELON AND FIQ?! THE STARS HAVE ALIGNED!
Ngl I was hoping to see something like this after FDs video
I saw this collab coming. Much needed.
34:29 I think Eminem went through both.
He started off humble, he had fun with fame, but never embraced it and would rather name drop or spend time putting focus on the artist he was with. He wasn't radio friendly (he rebelled from it) and stayed true to himself, even mentioned his responsibility and impact because he's white, and he didn't care about mics/awards/critics he cared about the respect from his peers.
He even lived a pretty challenging life and has some respect in that regard too.
Then I think the drugs happened, then he snapped out and recovers, drops a few albums (that did decent) trying to get back on his feet (also get a feel for where he stands), gets a good response, then somewhere something got to him around Rap God MMLP2... He thinks he can recapture the crown and is surprised to find people have, not only moved on, but others have started getting better...now he has to show out and make sure that he's still known for the legacy he held (even though it was never questioned because we all heard him, his true fans understood, and even hiphop heads gave him his due respects), and these new fans just amp him up to be something he's not (because rap is even more commercial now, so they really lack even more understanding than the previous fans of hiphop/rap, some are even em fans that got turned onto hip-hop, because of him), so now he's on some sort of mission to re-prove himself, not realizing he became everything he resented... listen to his last good album, Til I Collapse, if that isn't em describing himself (currently)... I don't know what is.... He literally describes what he doesn't want to be and what he thinks of his position in rap (wasn't calling himself a God, he put himself last on his list), then goes on to talk about the disgust he has for the fans/people that don't get it (and why he's last on the list), but that he just cares about the respect and acknowledgment he's gotten from them (more than his awards and fame), especially when they also deserve it. He also speaks about what it would take for him to feel he's not worthy...and if that description isn't him today...then again...I don't know what is..
People like Snoop saying he wasn't even in the top 10 rappers I think it drove him insane to prove that he was in the top ten so he tried too hard to make the most spectacular bars ever but it took away from the rawness of his music and made it overwrought and cheesy. I still think some of Ems greatest bars ever were after he turned 50 and I appreciate stuff like Godzilla.
@@Cinemagrins well I do think snoop has a little resentment because he was Dre's big protege, the came Pac and Snoop got lazy (also had some resentment for Pac), then came Em... Snoop never upped his game and he can make hits and excuses, but he never really evolved or did anything that spectacular past his prime (which was short lived because of Pac coming in).
Snoop is more of a personality now than anything.
Em only took slight and took that hard because (as far as he was concerned) he and Snoop were on the same side, and (even if Snoop didn't feel Em's music, which is a lie to some degree) he didn't have to say it with the disrespect he put on it (plus he was still throwing shade on Em for a while before that, ex: his interview with sno the product).
So I can see Em being a little miffed by that...
He indeed tried too hard, which was apart of his list in Til I Collapse (he cares too much about the wrong things now), he even went pop (did a basically a pink song featuring him....on his own album).
The only thing he's improved on is rhyming... Making songs, beat selection (which was never the best without Dre), content, flow, hip-hop, and respect all went out the window....
Relapse was the last good album
Eminem fans will bump The Eminem Show then turn around and say he wasn't making songs for the radio and he wasn't ultra ultra mainstream. Which he was.
@@Tirgo69 ehhh ..not really, he made one or two for commercial use (which still was usually heavily censored) and then the rest of his album wasn't usually that popy..... The Eminem show was a bit more commercial than the two prior...
But absolutely not, half of his songs are him talking about how hard it is to get a song to even be accepted to put on an album and how much they make him rewrite shit to make it more commercial, because he hit a level of popularity he didn't want wasn't his fault.
Encore (and every album since) those were all made for radio/mainstream appeal...which is why there is a drastic difference in his music from that point on
man fd is so smart im so glad you had him on after his video
this is dope, i just watched FD’s video on this right after watching Shawn Cee tell TND some of the same points that FD said in his video
The way I was thinking this collab would be a cool idea and now here it is
Fantano adds nothing to this
Damn. I need a podcast with you two on it.
Just found out about FD a few months ago and now this. Glad to see it
remembering that i found fd through you is so crazy coming back 8 months later
These two are important. Happy holidays fam.
so grateful to see FD on this channel, but can I just point out how great Melon’s hoodie is today? like goddamn, Anthony, send me a link where I can buy it.
Second this. It’s Teddy Fresh but the specific hoodie idk.
I knew I wasnt alone!
I’m gonna be real that’s one of the ugliest things I’ve seen in a minute. To each their own tho
As a country/folk artist, the part where they talk about the state of that scene hits hard. Like, we really have to do better...
Yeah it's so bad. There are some people trying to make something different but they seem totally boxed out of mainstream success. Ever since the Dixie chicks got cancelled
It's the fault of the industry almost 100% tho. It sucks but capitalism loves to water down stuff till it's a soulless parody of itself, and that was before the Internet only made that problem worse, at least in regards to the charts
@@sainthuckelberry totally agree. There's a great independent scene but even then, as Anthony says, there's not a lot Woody Guthries out there. The music has become almost entirely divorced from talking about real, current experiences with anything resembling a critical lens.
There is a killer podcast that sort of gets into why called cocaine and rhinestones. @@derekalexandersmith
I think the last really interesting country artist I’ve listened too was Ryan Bingham. I’m sure there are some other awesome people out there but it’s sad cause country can be so fucking cool when people are just talking about break ups, beer, and pick up trucks.
The best white rapper is arguably the most unnoticed and underrated. Aesop never gets brought up but he clears most MCs that have ever picked up a mic and he raps about his cat instead of pretending to be a badass.
Aesop hasn't made music as iconic as Ems first 3 album run. The dude could never escape the underground stigma. I also don't think he's more skilled than guys like RA the Rugged Man or Vinnie Paz.
@@STARK0181ra the rugged man is corny and vinnie paz/jedi mind tricks couldn't mature as artists and fell off quality wise in the 2010s
@@dominic7114 corny???
RA released All my heroes are dead . Which was one the best rap albums of 2020. It had ghostFace, Cool G rap, Brand Nubian, Ice T, Immortal technique,Chris Rivers and quite a few more legendary hip hop figures. Dude commands crazy respect and for good reason
RA has EVERYTHING skill wise Flows, Cadences, Rhyme Schemes, Charisma and Id bet would he'd best Aesop Bar for Bar. Like I said Aesop could never evolve past the underground/ back pack stigma either.
One weirdly anecdotal but still very accurate way to put it is that there are countless people who’s favorite rappers are all white and those rappers would be like Eminem, mgk, post Malone, NF even. But there are definitely fewer if any people who enjoy EL P, Aesop rock etc that don’t also enjoy black rappers
Woah, fuck yeah! Hyped to see this in my feed! Love both these guys
Melon and Unc the duo I thought I’d never see
This was awesome. You guys should collab more. c:
the 6th decade of hip hop. Jazz's 6th decade was the 80's early digital synth smooth jazz. Ppl tried to evolve the genre and it just sounded like the music in the bar where Arnold's lady friend worked at in Total Recall. Also I absolutely listen to current jazz.
jesus this just reminded me of how bad so much of 80s jazz is lol
@@jenconvertibles Im in agreement. The thing that is so frustrating with that is that Miles Davis actually was a massive influence towards that sound.
@@donnydarko7624 absolutely, miles is a legend but he has some duds too. i think jazz is in a much better place now. i’m always trying to find more modern jazz stuff that’s good - who’s your favs?
@@jenconvertibles Yussef dayes and Kamaal Williams are probably 2 of my favorite younger artists. Adrian Younge, and Ali shaheed Muhammad's label jazz is dead is great also. Bbng and domi and jd Beck are solid too
@@donnydarko7624 cool, i don’t know adrian younge so i’ll check him out. yussef dayes had album of the year last year imo
Never thought these two would chop it up. This is dope
Oh hey, bbymutha mention. Everybody go stream Molly House. Both the original mixes & the remixes have some *_BANGERS_* .
BTW Metallica lost to Jethro Tull in the first ever Hard Rock Metal category 1989, just saying in regards to Macklemore 2014 Grammy. Conversely the Best Rap album category has been around since 1996.
I mean Jethro Tull is a much more creative and interesting band though…
Coming from someone who had both playing in the house as a kid, Metallica was something I loved, but grew out of. Jethro Tull is something to grow into.
This flower hoodie is worthy of an equal amount of discussion I’m afraid
the way anthony describes lil mabu so perfectly describes the dissonance between the fantasies of sheltered kids vs reality
also describes yeat -- hes like if holden caufield was a rapper
@@iLikeToShankI’ve read catcher in the rye and I don’t really know what you mean by that comparison. Nevertheless, I stand by it.
@@bestwesternerdamn i was just thinking about catcher in the rye earlier
@@bestwesterner the opps yeat raps about are just the phonies holden caufield complains about; they dont really exist as problems outside of his mind
@@iLikeToShanki dont get how yeat compares to holden caulfield can you enlightenment me
The GKMC->Lion King analogy is so perfect
I remember when I was in high school in the late '90s, before I actually got into hip hop, I pretty much exclusively listened to the local alternative rock radio station. That station, despite sticking to an alternative rock format, also played two hip hop artists. Guess who? Eminem and the Beastie Boys. I really discovered and got into hip hop in about 2001 and have been doing my best to deep dive into the genre ever since and from that perspective I have a great deal of respect for both Eminem and the Beastie Boys, but there's a very obvious reason that those two artists were deemed acceptable for an alt-rock radio station, and none of their influences or contemporaries were.