Ronaldo on why today's rappers suck...

[Iron Keys]

...well, not quite exactly.

He was speaking generally about 'this generation of kids', particularly in regards to football, but the points he made were very poignant. Especially in regards to our conversations about 'rap today'.

Some key points;
- They have everything so easy; everything is there for them. They don't have to work for it. In regards to music, this even comes down to how you consume music --- people used to have to go to the store, get a vinyl/cassette/CD, or tune into a radio, WAIT for the song to play. There was physical investment, you had to put in time and effort and money to listen to music. Now, music at your fingertips for free 24/7. This also goes for music making --- you can get free high quality DAWs, high quality samples, plugins etc, release and promote it for free etc etc. Put it out there without any talent or skill or effort. This all ties in with what i said about 'accessibility' of music today.
- They don't care/respect the OGs; we see this today, these new rappers/kids/whoever don't give a shit about the music and artists that came before them, hip-hop is pretty young so the people who came before them are pretty much the originators and pioneers and the ones who came from them. Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best footballers in the world/of a generation, when he was young and coming up, he always watched, admired, studied, respected and learned from the OG players in the teams he played for, and that's part of how he was able to become one of the best. He's since returned to his original team where he had success and fame, and he's said most of the 'kids' (young players) "don't care", they literally have no interest or care that they have the opportunity to learn from one of the very best in the world. Exactly why you can't expect these current day 'rappers' to be good, they don't look to the greats before them for inspiration.
- They think they know best; this is kind of part 2 of the previous point, with no care of what came before, not even the greats, they'll hear some advice or such and it's straight out the other ear, and they'll just do what they think.
- They've never suffered; kind of inline with the first point, they've never really had to 'earn' their rewards, it's all just there for them. That sense of entitlement. That's why you see rookies in sports rolling about like they're a 10x champion hall of famer and don't have the genuine hunger or dedication, just walk around thinking they're owed it all. That influencer type of culture.
- distractions; I'm viewing this in terms of social media. They can believe their own hype, their own platform and audience. Seek likes and stuff to feel themselves. If you wanted to be 'on the radar' back in the day, you really had to put in that work... you needed to be so good, and doing so much, that others would be talking about you, that you'd get into articles, spoken about, plays. Now you can be utter shit, post online, you're bound to find a handful of people who like what you do, then you can delete any view that don't support that.

anyway, thought this was an interesting and insightful parallel.

You can catch the section of the interview here...

 

[guitardep]

Excellent comparison...but in the end i think that those who are dedicated...who are more old school type, hard work..etc.. Will be rememberd...

 

[Fade]

These are great points and it's really interesting because it's not just about music but like you said, it's sports too.

Just the other day I saw a clip (and read numerous times in the past) of various older wrestlers that were talking about the same thing. The one I just saw was Booker T, Rey Mysterio and JBL and they were saying how the young guys are much more athletic than they were but that goes with how everything is there for them. Same with bodybuilders from years ago that would do the same compound exercises over and over and ate raw eggs in their shakes. They didn't have tons of protein powders to choose from and other stuff like creatine, NO, etc. Now they do, they have supplements for whatever.

The other thing the wrestlers mentioned is the young ones don't ask them for advice. There's a lot of older wrestlers working backstage now and have years of experience yet no one's really asking them for feedback. I remember an interview years ago with a baseball coach that used to play. He said now when the team gets on the bus/plane all the players just play with their phones and have earbuds on and don't want to be bothered or they're talking to their agent. He said when he was playing, all the teammates would talk and hang out but also give each other feedback on their game. Now it's the entitlement aspect.

As far as music though, it's just so weird that only within the Hip Hop community (and it's less and less like a community anyway), the younger generation doesn't pay homage to the older ones. Like with that guy 21 Savage talking shit about Nas, it shows how ignorant they can be. Most of them probably have never even heard of KRS, Doug E Fresh, Slick Rick, etc and don't care to.

The biggest difference though is that everything is there now so it makes everything easier in that sense. Instead of reading the manual, just watch a Youtube video. Instead of calling a radio station and asking them to play your favorite song, just go on Spotify.

 

[OGBama]

I @Fade love and hate how everything is all there but radio sucks ass and has for a long time re: calling and asking them. I hate how manuals now are .PDF or a literal physical one sheet of nothing.

 

[InsideOutBeats]

Sad but true! I understand most things like general questions that young might of asked years back being practically obsolete now as you can search the answers yourself and save face too depending on the subject matter.

In that sense the younger generations have such an advantage in the knowledge they can acquire if they put down their TikTok for a second.
But! You cannot beat face to face advice from genuine men and women that have experienced and lived it. So, in the sense of legends of music, sport or whatever I do not understand if given the opportunity you wouldn't mine their minds for all those golden nuggets of wisdom!

The one thing I see at the moment though (and trust me I can't stand fucking mumble rap), is almost an internet us vs them, old vs new which just gets everyone's back up against each other instead of respecting each other.

21 Savage saying Nas is not relevant at first gets my back up but reflecting on his statement he's kind of right in relation to his generation and what all the youngsters listen to now, none of the legends are 'relevant' but they should be! They should understand and study the greats before them and at least have respect.

 

[OGBama]

Another @Fade @InsideOutBeats aspect not talked about with 21 Savage vs Nas beyond the fact that not only is it another tired war that dates back to the genesis of music e.g. one era disrespecting another, but the deeper aspect is that, and I can say this, is that in the Black community there has always been a tendency for us collectively to be on the "what's hot now" train as opposed to letting whatever is "current" rock for more than a millisecond (depending on quality, and "mumble" and "Trap" damn sure ain't quality).

 

[Iron Keys]

'relevant'

this is the issue tho

this kiddie mindset of 'relevant'.

What came before is relevant. If you don't understand that (which they dont), is why they're trash. It's like saying 'the alphabet isn't relevant' or 'mathematics aren't relevant'.

It's the foundations and fundamentals. You can't build something proper without them. And that's why they'll always be relevant. This goes back again to 'thinking they know best'. And probably not having any real world experience to show them 'no you fucking don't.

Maybe if these young clowns listened to the OGs they wouldn't be snitching on themselves or getting killed so frequently. All they know or think is 'relevant' is whatever the next YouTuber/TikToker tells them.

Like Cristiano said, those ones not approaching it the proper way, won't have longevity. I said it before, you wont see 'superstars' or 'legends' in music like we used to. Least not in Hip-Hop.

 

[OGBama]

The @Iron Keys "what came before is relevant" is why I can (and do) choose to listen to older acts (Stevie, Donny Hathaway, etc.) and I feel the greatness pouring out of the music. When you said what you did about foundations and fundamentals, it dawned on me that in other places I'm active at (one such is the Singing subreddit) many people wanna go from 0 to 60 before getting the basics in between. With regard to making music and my personal journey, knowing what I don't know is why I'm not delusional about things.

 

[InsideOutBeats]

Speaking of 'relevant' I just had to post this up again, Ice Cube pretty much says what's what:

Disclaimer - Loudness is advised!




I can't get bored of this!!!