Perspective from a Hip-Hop Fan:

At the end of the day, it's all about the quality of the music. If you have ghost-writers, be honest about it. Fans will still buy your albums if the records are classic material, especially. As a fan, I don't like being lied to. Certain things just don't add up with certain hip-hop artists, whether it's their street credibility, them being an infamous gangster that faked his death, later becoming the biggest gangster of all-time, or if it was flaunting his/her jewelry to make his/her own lyricism sell. People tend to love any famous person or celebrity, no matter what that star portrays him/herself to be, simply because of that famous star's wealth. Some people greedily hunger over a celebrity's fame, while trying to receive some of the benefits at the other end. I'm just a real hip-hop fan who calls it how I see it and how certain rap artists appear to me. Truthfully, if I honestly give out my opinion no matter how harsh the sincerity may be, the controversy and gossip will still most likely benefit the hip-hop star no matter what I say. There is nothing a freelance writer or critic can say that will damage a famous hip-hop star's legacy within the legendary rap music which was created from whatever artist. What we have in the music industry are rap artists and rap record-labels that will make up any sort of gossip and controversy, in order to feed the buying public their music products. In any turn of events, they will try to make the consumer feel bad for voicing their opinions about aforementioned artists in question, when it was all a hustled marketing scheme for all the music fans to fall into this buying frenzy, for the specific music artist or artists.

The hip-hop industry coined the slang terminology and word "beef", as meaning a hip-hop war, which is sort of hip-hop sacred warfare like Muslims performing jihad, except on a smaller scale hopefully. Besides the deaths of 2Pac and Biggie, there are plenty of false and phony beefs or rap disputes made to trick hip-hop consumers into buying the hip-hop products from whatever musical mom-and-pops store. What about if all the current or past current hip-hop feuds were really marketing ploys like the infamous Jay-Z and Nas rap battle? At least that battle between those two emcees is what both emcees' fans wanted to see before that marketing strategy came into place. What if Ja Rule and 50 Cent were really friends who wanted the general public to pick 50 Cent over Ja Rule in a popularity contest, just to have Ja come back in the most powerful way ever? All they would have to do is not properly market Ja Rule's music projects so he purposely wouldn't sell much compact disc albums, then give Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson all of his marketing budget from another record label as a cover-up from industry insiders, to make 50 Cent the new poster-child of rap. Nobody questions the hip-hop industry's motives when they are hustling the music fans out of pocket with their ghetto lies and fables of making it big, depending upon certain artists record deals and its clout. Nobody cares when hip-hop artists make diss records towards their own fans about making more money than them. I'm not speaking on a hip-hop artist boasting about a particular fan who hates on their riches, but in a general sense where the rapper doesn't specify this, so it effects all of us having to put up with that constant braggadocio.

We as the hip-hop community of purchasers and buyers really have the power of who becomes the next top rapper. I think we deserve that respect instead of hearing entertainment which we do not want to hear. We tend to second-guess ourselves thinking we have to jump on the band-wagon and join into buying a particular artist's album to be accepted by our peers. The hip-hop industry really has a majority of hip-hop consumers confused then if that is the case. I mean, peer pressure is all about having a certain status of money and business ties, but how naive can the hip-hop consumers be? Well, I used to be one of them, but never again! That is why I only respect certain artists, and if I don't particularly care for a rapper's attitude, I buy hip-hop based upon whether I like the music or not. It is about the hip-hop fan actually buying a rap album he or she wants to listen to on a daily basis, compared to getting a terrible album from a lazy artist who did not want to put the time into recording good material. So now all you can listen to is like three good singles on that album. So in all honesty, do not tell me and the rest of us hip-hop fans what to think when choosing to buy these records or not! If you are a hip-hop fan, don't boast about your favorite artist to me, especially if you are the type of person that easily falls into peer-pressure, and you buy that certain rapper's album because you think he's hot or the most popular artist in his region. Don't give me that non-sense! If you disagree with my thoughts about that artist, but still like that artist because you honestly like him or her, much respect goes to you. In hip-hop, there is something called "dick riders", and I'm definitely not one of those! My father was a hustling blue-collared worker, and nobody can jive or hustle me out of spending my hard-earned money. I do like hearing street tales and other war stories, but as long it isn't being used for a selfish artist to con me to believe is life story. You really are rich off of slanging things? Sure, I believe you in my very sarcastic tone. As long as you are doing something that doesn't conflict with my living space or anybody else important to me for that matter, I do not care. In the words of Russell Simmons, "Do you!"

I love most of the Lil' Wayne songs I've heard him ever rap, but the record-label marketing schemes and politics will sometimes have you question any artist that your grew up listening to as a fan, and their companies know this! Everybody in the rap artists community wants to rap about being gang-affiliated and selling drugs. That sounds like a good Denzel Washington movie called "American Gangster" which I would like to view, but just because you were a real felon in real life that got locked up, it doesn't make you a rich millionaire from selling those drugs. You had to get locked up and most of your work confiscated to want to change your life around to make money with music instead of being caught up in a DEA raid. Unless you are that stupid to snitch on yourself in front of authorities while bragging about the men you killed, be my guest to help us innocent citizens protect ourselves from such psycho-paths. Sure, I don't think Lil' Wayne writes his own newly inspired lyrics half the time. The hip-hop industry has something called song-pools which certain ghost-writers get a private check for writing those inspired lyrics you like so much. Maybe, it is the very rumors the media or that rap record-label owned by the artist and his entourage, which gives me the impression of all this he-say, she-say about their own darn artist.

Could the fraud lyricism of Weezy F Baby, also known as Lil' Wayne be used as a whole marketing strategy and ploy? Just the thought of him kissing Baby, also known as the Number 1 Stunner, is that also used to market themselves out to the gays and lesbians of America, while at the same time sticking to Gangsta Rap's No-Homo Movement, which is followed by the supposed No Snitching Movement? Well, when 50 Cent went overseas to talk on a gay talk-show host's television show to market himself, then come back to the states, if a fan says 50 Cent may be gay, you other fans get offended and buy into this marketing ploy which only makes these rap record-labels rich? I am not knocking any legal hustle of any corporation's way of getting money, but as a hip-hop fan, I just think we deserve more honesty and integrity over rap artists' projects. We shouldn't have to listen to a crappy sounding album that we thought was going to sound very good when we first purchased it. I don't know. Could 50 Cent dissing so many other rap artists be used to make records sell? Oh, and when 50 Cent disses your favorite emcee, and which appears to be your helpless favorite rapper, won't that make you want to run to the stores and support your now under-rated rapper? As a hip-hop fan, I demand to be respected, and if I come across to find certain conclusions about certain rappers not writing their own material, it is not my fault when certain record labels plot is to seemingly confuse the hip-hop consumer to feed into a rap artist's personal life, causing so much gossip and controversy to sell that artist's project to you.

Realistically, those salesmen artists are no better than you or I, and no matter what reason we fall into buying the artist's album, I think the artist himself would not take our constant opinionated talk about him too seriously. The hip-hop labels and marketing teams do want any publicity for their artists to generate any sales for their companies and artists at any cost. Maybe Lil' Wayne does write his own lyrics, although the controversy and what it appears to be would suggest other-wise. Maybe 50 Cent really is thugging the industry right now. Nobody shows love to Ja Rule as much as before because of the supposed battle with 50 Cent, but I still am a fan of his and not because of the continuous marketing schemes these hip-hop labels pitch to us hip-hop consumers. All of you peer-pressured or loving fans that want to protect these artists so much, I doubt Lil' Wayne, 50 Cent, or Ja Rule would even care what we think of them that much. Those rap celebrities know who they are, whether they write their own lyrics or not, and what they have to do along with their companies to keep up a public interest for fans to want to hear their music. In conclusion, I seriously doubt these artists and others would care what we supposed little people think. If we did buy their albums after being confused so much by the hip-hop police, rumors, sales-campaigns, and latest trash-talk, these artists would probably just be glad we bought their albums. If I bought a 50 Cent CD, never met the man before, call him a punk in how he appears to me on television, or what it seems to me as a marketing ploy how he clowns other rappers, then later on met him in person and asked for an autograph... That would not make this fan the bad guy, I would just be a confused fan who just wanted justice and fairness from anybody trying to hustle my hard-earned money from me. If I did buy that artist's album, it was probably because I was giving that artist the benefit of the doubt. Either way, 50 would probably just sign the autograph being happy I bought his album without a care about the industry politics, and I would still be enjoying the latest 50 Cent CD. Everybody wins, just make sure you do!