Hate It Or Love It: Controversy, Would You Really Care Without It?
Published: Friday - March 7, 2008
Words by Paulie Soprano
L to R: 50 Cent, Papoose, Nas and Fat Joe (Photo: Interscope, Jive Records, Columbia, Atlantic Records)
I had a thought this week while reading all the garbage about the Papoose, 50 Cent versus Fat Joe news, following the fight between Joey Crack and Pap. What is it about beefs, arrests and publicity stunts that drive fans' interest?
With that being said, every time a rapper gets involved in a beef with another rapper, puts out a diss record, gets arrested or even shot, it's headline news across the internet and celebrity outlets. It's rather sad if you ask me. Even so, I'm not immune to the curiosity it builds either and find myself scouring the net trying to find out exactly what happened.
However, have you ever thought and stopped to think why? I mean, it's not just hip-hop, it's all across the board. Whenever a mainstream celeb is involved in some sort of scandal it's the hottest topic of the moment. Human kind is infatuated with the pain and suffering of others, as long as it's not them that has to endure this. This is pretty common knowledge.
But, my argument is this. Does the publicity stunts, beefs and controversy hurt hip-hop? I believe it does. Why? Well, I think it hurts the art form because over the years, as artists blow up because of the controversy they create, hip-hop fans have become somewhat of disconnected from the actual music of the artist and would rather know more about their personal life and negativity that take place with them.
In turn, if fans are more interested in the negative, then they aren’t likely to check out someone's music unless they are beefing with someone, been shot, busted with guns, etc etc. This also influences artists as well, because they know that controversy sells, so a lot of artists trying to get recognized seem to get themselves into bad situations just for the publicity to get their music talked about more widely.
Thus, this takes away from the art form, because fans -- generally speaking -- only care to check for artists with this controversial appeal. Yes, you're saying that's not me... some of you at least, but there are exceptions to every statement. Generally speaking, though, I'm right.
I mean, look at Fat Joe and Papoose. Right now, he's one of the most talked about rappers on the net right now. Of course, they've had buzzes before this, but they kind of fell off as of late and only resurface if there's news of a fight, or a video of someone getting snuffed on YouTube.
Even Nas, who has named his album, Nigger, is getting national attention, not just from within the hip-hop industry, but mainstream media as well. Sure, Nas has a reason for the title, as he usually does, but you can't help but think that he knew it would generate 100x more buzz then if he just self-titled his album or came with a more conventional title. More power to him, but he feeds into these buzz generating tactics as well.
Also, there's the question as to what to really believe. What is real? What is staged? The whole 50/Kanye beef was just a ploy to generate buzz, so who's to say all these other things that pop up every day aren't conjured up to help fuels sales and interest in the artists or artist? It's hard to really say, but I'm sick of it, honestly.
To sum things up a bit, these types of things kind of water down the whole essence of the culture. It makes it harder for aspiring hip-hop artists to break as well. Already most artists have to follow trends to get on -- an example would be creating a dance/club track for ringtone value -- but now, once they do hit with their singles, more buzz has to follow, so their actual album can either come out or generate semi-decent sales.
So, before I go, ask yourself, would you care about an artist if these factors weren't shoved down your throat daily? My guess? Probably not. Should you care? Yes, music should be given a chance by itself without all the outside factors driving interest into the artists creating the music just so you will listen.
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