Classic or hit song!

Would you rather produce hit songs or a "classic record"


  • Total voters
    32
  • Poll closed .

skidflow

Boom Bap is precious art
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 220
at the end of the day...a "classic" is what you wanna be known for...I mean, for the most part dont all classic start out as hits? Me personally...I expect to be compensated well for either. I mean I dont buy Nellys music, but when its "getting hot in hurr" comes on at any party...the floor is packed. Some music just feels good for years and years...like "OPP"by "NBN"...I consider those the classics.

For the most part...in hip hop I feel cats have more classic albums as oppose to classic songs...a classic album to me is an album that was just amazing that everyone remembers but a hit song did not generate from the album...like Illmatic...none of those songs really top the charts individually...atleast not that I know of.
 

shadeed

Go Digital or Go Home
ill o.g.
For what its worth Illmuzik, Nelly's name has been thrown around in this thread as to say his music is the definition of "hit songs".
Country Grammar is a classic album, one of the top 10 greatest albums from the Midwest and Nelly's dropped a few absolute classic singles, as many of you who actively DJ can vouch for. Not the focal point of the thread, but a lot of people sleep on "pop-hop" when dudes like Luke, Hammer, and Nelly really put it down in their own way.
 

mono

the invisible visible
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 20
if you do it for the money you do it for the money. if you dont you dont. whether your tracks turn out be hits or classics is another story. as long as you produce what you would listen to personally its all cool. when you start chasing trends to make money, thats where you become an opportunistic whore
 

Fury

W.W.F.D
ill o.g.
fuck that we in a recession niggas is BROKE gimme the quick cash
 

MagnaOpera

Comes Equipped...
ill o.g.
Whether or not you can intentionally produce a hit or classic is irrelevant, the question is which would you RATHER produce? It's a totally theoretical question...

if you do it for the money you do it for the money. if you dont you dont. whether your tracks turn out be hits or classics is another story. as long as you produce what you would listen to personally its all cool. when you start chasing trends to make money, thats where you become an opportunistic whore
cosign
 

Ash Holmz

The Bed-Stuy Fly Guy
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 207
this question is way to hypothetical an open ended to b taken seriously. u need a hit to make a classic. very few classic songs werent hits.. in fact i cant name one cuz it doesnt exist. but if the question is would i rather make a quick buck and bounce off the scene or make something that stays around for generations i think the answer is pretty clear. A true classic will generate revenue for a lifetime so i dont really know what the hell u guys are talkin bout u would rather have a hit than a classic. tag team is still gettin paid off "whoop there it is" that song is classic. "baby got back" is classic, "juicy" is a classic, even vanilla ice has a classic song like it or not. "wipe me down" is a hit. "stanky leg" is a hit. skee lo "i wish" is a hit. how u guys come to the conclusion that a hit will generate more revenue than a classic is puzzling to say the least. a "real" classic you could probably live off of the rest of your life if u invest ur dough correctly.
 

Kontents

I like Gearslutz
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 5
this question is way to hypothetical an open ended to b taken seriously. u need a hit to make a classic. very few classic songs werent hits.. in fact i cant name one cuz it doesnt exist. but if the question is would i rather make a quick buck and bounce off the scene or make something that stays around for generations i think the answer is pretty clear. A true classic will generate revenue for a lifetime so i dont really know what the hell u guys are talkin bout u would rather have a hit than a classic. tag team is still gettin paid off "whoop there it is" that song is classic. "baby got back" is classic, "juicy" is a classic, even vanilla ice has a classic song like it or not. "wipe me down" is a hit. "stanky leg" is a hit. skee lo "i wish" is a hit. how u guys come to the conclusion that a hit will generate more revenue than a classic is puzzling to say the least.

That sums up my view on it.

If the question isn't looked at like this then there really isn't a reason to choose betweent "Hit'' and "Classic".


I stand behind Classic as my weapon of choice :rapper:
 

Big Tone

You done fucked up
ill o.g.
you need a hit first in order to make the classic(s) later.
 

Sucio

Old and dirty...
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 304
Well....

All arguments here are valid until the word "heart" and "integrity" get thrown in....

I think the word "integrity" doesn't belong there unless the person gets credit for a track they didn't do/produce and stole the idea to make $...that's where integrity comes into play...

If an A&R from a big label offered you $20k to make a synthy snap beat....you lose your integrity to make the beat..and refuse to do it??

You're a fucking retard if you don't...and that's impossible because none of you would turn it down....fuck that...integrity.....come on now....let's be serious here....

Heart? you gotta be joking me...Your heart is in your music...if you get the opportunity to do music for a living..which you LOVE to do...(if you didn't, wouldn't be in this convo)...you would do it..because it's not WORK if you love what you do...that's where your heart is.....

Please don't throw heart and integrity in and around this convo because they hold ZERO weight...

Give me that NOW money..this way I could invest in ventures that would have my money make money......and not take the risk of hoping something becomes a classic.....
 

LDB

Banned
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 73
The question was never about making a "quick" buck. For one I have gotten to "some what" know most of the members here through what they do and how they move on the forum. Realistically the quick buck question is not one to even be thrown around on ILL. I've been around for what,over a year. Some members have been around for many many years. That in itself shows most are pretty damn dedicated to music in some form or fashion whether it be hip hop, rap, hip pop or however you want to label it.

If you've been at this for several years there is no way in hell you can be in it for the "quick buck". Nobody here has "blown da fuck up" and quite a few projects or albums have come out of the members. I personally don't question one members heart or integrity here.

Unless you're sporting a pirated copy of "fruity loops" and have spent less than a bill on your craft but you're trying to beat "a hit" out of that pirated copy (on your computer keyboard mind you with a mouse...lmao), you have heart, integrity, drive, guts, nutz and you're partially crazy because 98% of us doing this will never "blow the fuck up" but we LOVE what we do just the same. Many of us have tried to walk away from this shit at least once in our lives to find ourselves "RIGHT BACK AT IT".

SO ENOUGH WITH THE INTEGRITY AND HEART BS ALREADY! 1HUNID!
 

Sucio

Old and dirty...
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 304
I've used pirated software...mainly because I couldn't afford it.....but I've purchased things to compliment them (headphones, midi controllers, etc.)

It's like coming across a stolen MPC and using it...people hustle crills to get equipment......

LIke I stated in another thread...it's a means to an end.....
 

Ash Holmz

The Bed-Stuy Fly Guy
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 207
The question was never about making a "quick" buck. For one I have gotten to "some what" know most of the members here through what they do and how they move on the forum. Realistically the quick buck question is not one to even be thrown around on ILL. I've been around for what,over a year. Some members have been around for many many years. That in itself shows most are pretty damn dedicated to music in some form or fashion whether it be hip hop, rap, hip pop or however you want to label it.

If you've been at this for several years there is no way in hell you can be in it for the "quick buck". Nobody here has "blown da fuck up" and quite a few projects or albums have come out of the members. I personally don't question one members heart or integrity here.

Unless you're sporting a pirated copy of "fruity loops" and have spent less than a bill on your craft but you're trying to beat "a hit" out of that pirated copy (on your computer keyboard mind you with a mouse...lmao), you have heart, integrity, drive, guts, nutz and you're partially crazy because 98% of us doing this will never "blow the fuck up" but we LOVE what we do just the same. Many of us have tried to walk away from this shit at least once in our lives to find ourselves "RIGHT BACK AT IT".

SO ENOUGH WITH THE INTEGRITY AND HEART BS ALREADY! 1HUNID!

real talk.
 

hanayalator

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 11
The question was would you rather produce a hit "SONG" or a classic "RECORD". Those are two very different entities, and in my mind, a classic record is by far better, as you'll generally have some hit songs on that. It's also interesting to note that we don't really have a lot of classic records these days. With itunes and mp3s andn such, singles are king, and albums have taken a back seat. They used to print singles off back in the day, taking a loss on them just so that the music would get out there to sell albums and make a profit. Nowadays it's all about a hit song making it onto the radio. There's so much turnover in the artists and producers we hear.

H
 

Sucio

Old and dirty...
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 304
I love this shit..



But yeah...everyone has tried to walk away to some extent...and have always come back...it's a healthy addiction to have...as long as it doesn't consume your well being...


BTW..lookin @ that advertisement for the new Prius...I'm tempted to cop one....NYC trip on 2 tanks of gas? Shieeeet...
 

UNORTHODOX

Father Timeless
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 44
Seriously Define "hit" for me. I'm having a hard time really believing hits and classiks are interchangeable. there are plenty of hits that never became classiks and there are pleny of "classiks" that were never hits. sure a classik album may have had a hit or two but majority of the time theres only a few. not to mention the field has changed drasticaly in the last decade. "Hits" and "classiks" are fabricated through maketing. Anyone can have a hit but how many classics have arose in the last 8 years (even in the minds of 13+ year olds; I work with about 50 of them daily- none of them really ride for any records. its more of a social/follower type of thing)
 

LDB

Banned
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 73
U can chop, screw and stretch these opinions in this thread many ways. There are some songs that some "think are classics" especially from the golden era of hip hop that simply ARE NOT! Classics are not made they just happen.

A classic to me is a record you can put on in L.A and people go crazy, u can put that same record on deep down south and people get stupid, drop the same tune in the heart of New York people go bananas etc etc.

i.e Anything from Dre's- Chronic album(anything), Eric B and Rakim-Paid in full-Microphone fiend,Snoop-Gin N Juice-Murder was the case, Biz-Vapors-Make the music with your mouth, KRS-Philosophy-The bridge is ova-Still number one,UTFO-Roxanne Roxanne, Whodini-five minutes of funk-the freaks come out at night, Dougie Fresh and Slick Rick- La di da di, Heavy D-Over weight lover, Slick Rick-A children's story, Beastie boys-Paul Revere-Brass Monkey etc etc

U smell me? If you can't spin it on any Coast, any hood, world wide and it still get the same reaction from the people it's NOT a classic to me. Nothing that has been put out in the last ten or more years has reached that classic status yet....some have the potential but non is there yet.
 

UNORTHODOX

Father Timeless
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 44
A classic to me is a record you can put on in L.A and people go crazy, u can put that same record on deep down south and people get stupid, drop the same tune in the heart of New York people go bananas etc etc.
QUOTE]

I agree. A hit MAY be able to do this, a classik Will! Still classik all day!
 

shadeed

Go Digital or Go Home
ill o.g.
A classic to me is a record you can put on in L.A and people go crazy, u can put that same record on deep down south and people get stupid, drop the same tune in the heart of New York people go bananas etc etc.
QUOTE]

I agree. A hit MAY be able to do this, a classik Will! Still classik all day!

At the same time, there is a such thing as regional classics as well. If I play Lil Keke's "Southside" in a club in Philly, most people probably won't know the song, but I go to most locations throughout the South, the whole club will do the Southside dance in unison.

Being that you're based in DC, you definitely know that there's Go-Go classics that if you play anywhere in the District, Southern MD, or Northern VA, it'll be pandemonium.
Same with Baltimore and club music. A record like Nothin But a G-Thang or Summertime are universal classics but certain records are eternal depending on where you're at as well.
 
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