Believe it or not, the world doesn't revolve around the Bay...
- Thread starter Leon Kage
- Start date
To respond to some points in Kaveo's post, here is my take on the mainstream/underground thang. This is just how I see it:
Mainstream - Big Label, Big Name, National or International recognition. Artists like Eminem, Nelly, Ja Rule, all appear in this category.
Mainstream-Underground - The Bigger names on the smaller scale. They can be on somewhat large labels, but they usually do not blow up nationwide. In this category are rappers like Yukmouth and Lynch. E-40 might be slightly bigger, but he is not MAINSTREAM fully... no way.
Underground - The portion of the rap game who have only gained notoriety through their own community or location. The "Up And Comers" also start in this category, as they are not really known when starting off. Tons of bay artists are still deeply underground, which is what I love.
All in all, if youre talking the "official" word, I'd have to say Yukmouth isn't Mainstream and he isn't really Underground, BUT, he leans more towards the underground than the nationwide status. Hopefully this will change.
Mainstream - Big Label, Big Name, National or International recognition. Artists like Eminem, Nelly, Ja Rule, all appear in this category.
Mainstream-Underground - The Bigger names on the smaller scale. They can be on somewhat large labels, but they usually do not blow up nationwide. In this category are rappers like Yukmouth and Lynch. E-40 might be slightly bigger, but he is not MAINSTREAM fully... no way.
Underground - The portion of the rap game who have only gained notoriety through their own community or location. The "Up And Comers" also start in this category, as they are not really known when starting off. Tons of bay artists are still deeply underground, which is what I love.
All in all, if youre talking the "official" word, I'd have to say Yukmouth isn't Mainstream and he isn't really Underground, BUT, he leans more towards the underground than the nationwide status. Hopefully this will change.
So MAck 10 is underground? WC was/is underground? Juvenile?? See, RICHIE RICH did the Def JAm thing and i still feel he was underground i guess. ITs not really the label i consider. Its more of attention/popularity. Like, say you are on a independant label and sell 4 million copies...dogg your not underground. Any label can do any number of sales from 30,000 units to 5,000,000 units and they could be "independant". Its one of those things that can never be answered...lol I Created a monster....
I've seen some really intelligent posts in here, and I've seen some ignorant shit.
For ONE, y'all are mad and you think KMEL and 94.9 CAN help if they played local shit. Well, KMEL and KYLD ain't gonna make anybody known outside of the Bay Area, cause they are bay area stations, and outside of the bay, cities have their own stations, BELIEVE IT OR NOT!! So who gives a flying fuck if they play local shit, it won't make a HUGE difference, especially if the shit ain't on regular rotation. Unless of course, being known AROUND THE BAY and Northern Cali means you're famous and as successful as possible.
Cats in the bay ARE stuck in the old era. What do you think about when you think of Bay Rap? MOB SHIT!! Well, nobody outside the bay really wants to hear that anymore. This happened with the death of 2Pac and Biggie, if you all didn't notice the change in music shortly after those incidents occured. Rap will never be the same and people will never look at it like they did back then, pure FACT!! Bay cats can sell 100,000+ copies, but that ain't shit when you sit back and think, there's a million people in San Jose alone...ya know?
H. Heated knows EXACTLY what's up. The Bay either needs to change (if those certain rappers wanna blow the fuck up) or just hang it up. If being famous in one region makes you happy, go for it. As for my group and I, we're not your average BAY rappers. We sat back for 2 years, studied the game, see where it was going, and we're changing our shit up, in a major way. My first album is SHIT compared to what we're doing right now, and a lot of folks LOVE my album.
So all in all, dude is right, people need to change with the times, or even BEFORE, and ride that shit til the wheels fall off. People don't respond to the same shit they used to, the audience has changed, we have new kids out here listening to different shit and they are our future, and that's a fact in this game. Nobody is on MTV or big in New York because we have nobody willing to make the change. If they do make the change, they are one step behind and it's already been done. You have to BE THE GAME, THINK GAME, and FUCK THE GAME!! Plain and simple!!
For ONE, y'all are mad and you think KMEL and 94.9 CAN help if they played local shit. Well, KMEL and KYLD ain't gonna make anybody known outside of the Bay Area, cause they are bay area stations, and outside of the bay, cities have their own stations, BELIEVE IT OR NOT!! So who gives a flying fuck if they play local shit, it won't make a HUGE difference, especially if the shit ain't on regular rotation. Unless of course, being known AROUND THE BAY and Northern Cali means you're famous and as successful as possible.
Cats in the bay ARE stuck in the old era. What do you think about when you think of Bay Rap? MOB SHIT!! Well, nobody outside the bay really wants to hear that anymore. This happened with the death of 2Pac and Biggie, if you all didn't notice the change in music shortly after those incidents occured. Rap will never be the same and people will never look at it like they did back then, pure FACT!! Bay cats can sell 100,000+ copies, but that ain't shit when you sit back and think, there's a million people in San Jose alone...ya know?
H. Heated knows EXACTLY what's up. The Bay either needs to change (if those certain rappers wanna blow the fuck up) or just hang it up. If being famous in one region makes you happy, go for it. As for my group and I, we're not your average BAY rappers. We sat back for 2 years, studied the game, see where it was going, and we're changing our shit up, in a major way. My first album is SHIT compared to what we're doing right now, and a lot of folks LOVE my album.
So all in all, dude is right, people need to change with the times, or even BEFORE, and ride that shit til the wheels fall off. People don't respond to the same shit they used to, the audience has changed, we have new kids out here listening to different shit and they are our future, and that's a fact in this game. Nobody is on MTV or big in New York because we have nobody willing to make the change. If they do make the change, they are one step behind and it's already been done. You have to BE THE GAME, THINK GAME, and FUCK THE GAME!! Plain and simple!!
^^^ Sydal, nicely put there! I see that too, and I hope that other people see this message.
I think the reason cats are still on that old mob shit is cause they want to bring it back to that point where 2Pac was putting the bay on the map the way he was. Nobody else but pac can do that, and basically yall need to look in a new light if you all want to blow up!
I think the reason cats are still on that old mob shit is cause they want to bring it back to that point where 2Pac was putting the bay on the map the way he was. Nobody else but pac can do that, and basically yall need to look in a new light if you all want to blow up!