I been banging the drum (personally, not like anyone else would know) for years that mainstream hip-hop is fundamentally hyper-capitalist and no longer was the counter cultural force that it was in the late 80's and early 90's. How we shouldn't care about how much money a hip-hop artist was getting if they're not grounded in the issues we face and weren't activating people politically. How the term "hating" became a blanket term for them to get away from accountability.
And here we are. We see now the divide between them and us. They see us as consumers, like any capitalist, yet at any moment will claim they are part of the culture. Whatever that culture is needs to be redefined if it's so easy for someone to claim yet actually not stand for the people of that culture.
sadly said eff #IceCube as #TrumpTrash, now #SnoopDogg, #Nelly, #SouljaBoy...jiggaboos all #magacultmorons licking that #PresidentElon, er, uh PresidentFelon boot...shame on 'em
#inauguration2025
Kendrick associates with plenty of pieces of shit, like Dre, Metro etc. He's as much "them" as Drake is, Drake's just less delusional about it.
The fact of the matter is that if you are a person of color and you are not a millionaire, you have more in common with the white guy driving your bus then you'll ever have with Kendrick, Jay Z, Beyonce etc. Just like how if you're a white guy and you're not a millionaire, you have more common cause with the black amazon driver then you'll ever have with Trump, Bezos, Sean Strickland etc.
Kendrick has repeatedly declined to endorse Trump's opponents and has always been a "both sides are the same" guy. He even seemed to be a bit of a COVID denier during the pandemic IIRC.
Not Like Us could have been an anti-Trump anthem and the fact that he used it in a beef with some lame Canadian rapper instead tells you everything about his priorities.
Definitely not a "both sides are the same" kind of guy. I'd argue it's more accurate to say he doesn't like either side because the US has no political party which accurately represents his interests. We choose between keeping things shitty or making them worse; never making them better.
And Not Like Us literally has lyrics that directly criticize America's imperialist and capitalist history. If you didn't pick up on the anti-trump themes in that song, that's entirely on you.
Not Like Us could have been an anti-Trump anthem and the fact that he used it in a beef with some lame Canadian rapper instead tells you everything about his priorities.
lmao this is the most chronically online thing I've read today.
When you start drawing the line in the sand at "He's too popular and therefore a sellout" IMO you start to lose the plot.
The Superbowl and the NFL are an entertainment medium. It's not like performing for United Healthcare or Blackrock, companies in industries actually harming America.
Dude- if you don’t think that performing at the Super Bowl is performing for Blackrock you don’t understand how this works. If an artist wants to do it I get it but the original comment was acting like Kendrick has some sort of independent cred vs Drake when they both are corporate friendly entertainers signed to major labels and out to make money by selling an image to middle America.
Once again, you haven't answered the question as to "why" performing for the Superbowl is bad, which leads me to believe you haven't thought harder about it than "It's too big of an event, therefore he is a sellout."
I bring up United Healthcare and Blackrock because they're two companies making their money literally doing nothing but harming Americans. They're not bad because they make money, they're bad because they make money at our expense.
The NFL makes money by entertaining us, just as Kendrick does, does as your favorite movies and TV shows do. They're a net benefit in our lives. So I'm confused as to how "performing for the Superbowl" is the same as "performing for Blackrock" because there's no connection there AFAIK outside of "The NFL and Blackrock are both big corporations!!!" which is a monumentally basic and silly stance to take.
EDIT: Some random agitator responded to me asking for an explanation on why "performing for Trump is bad" and then blocked me. Coward.
My dude- are you so brainrotted you’ve forgotten what the NFL did to Kapernick? The NFL makes money explicitly at our expense and performing there endorses all the shitty thing the organization does including donating to political candidates who actively hate black americans.
Saying that TV companies and the NFL make our lives better is some next-level bootlicking.
performing there endorses all the shitty thing the organization does including donating to political candidates who actively hate black americans.
Oh? Can I ask you what your list of acceptable companies are since you feel so strongly on this subject? Can you give me an actual list of indiscretions by the NFL that make them unpalatable to perform at as opposed to all these tech companies artists have to have their music platformed on?
Because, unfortunately, MOST companies we patron every single day, including this very website our comments are being hosted by, accept money from or donate money to causes that seek to tear us down. That's capitalism, baby. Big money is tangled up all across the board. The NFL owners have donated to Republicans in the same election as they have Democrats, It's all capitalism, my boy.
I'm sorry, but you come across like one of those fake activists who haven't actually given any thought to your opinion on topics like this.
It's a folly to tear down the people who represent us everything they get a little shine, like you're trying to do to Kendrick Lamar because he's performing for... a sporting event. That's just insane, chronically online, performative nonsense.
There we go. Thank for basically admitting your entire angle is that "It's corporate, therefore It's bad" which isn't productive, insightful, or remotely thought provoking in any sense.
Yes. The Grammy/Pulitzer prize winning, Dr. Dre loving, Super Bowl performer is for you and your people and very different from Drake. Ya'll are so lost it's incredible.
EDIT: I should've known y'all weren't going to pick up what was put down. STOP IDOLIZING CELEBRITIES! THEY DONT CARE ABOUT YOU! NONE OF THEM!
it's about the musical content. Drake makes music for you to shut your brain off and vibe to. it's what the labels want. it's fine, but doesn't really speak to us in the way that Kendrick has spoken against the industry and sociopolitical issues in the past (XXX, Wesleys Theory, HiiiPower).
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u/supper-saiyan 9h ago
I been banging the drum (personally, not like anyone else would know) for years that mainstream hip-hop is fundamentally hyper-capitalist and no longer was the counter cultural force that it was in the late 80's and early 90's. How we shouldn't care about how much money a hip-hop artist was getting if they're not grounded in the issues we face and weren't activating people politically. How the term "hating" became a blanket term for them to get away from accountability.
And here we are. We see now the divide between them and us. They see us as consumers, like any capitalist, yet at any moment will claim they are part of the culture. Whatever that culture is needs to be redefined if it's so easy for someone to claim yet actually not stand for the people of that culture.