Why do so many Rappers put off a "Thug" or Uneducated Image?

Prove it!

Have you ever seen white country music stars? Americans, white or black, want stars they can relate to. That means affecting an everyman or trashy image.

Why do straight, white women do the same?

True, as do country singers do that over-the-top fake accent. When you listen to some of their interviews way early on, they somehow have more of a country accent now than when they started.

Childish Gambino aka Donald Glover graduated from NYU

Young MC graduated from University of Southern California

J Cole graduated from St. Johns University

Ludacris graduated from Georgia State University

those are just a few.

Ice Cube earned a degree from Phoenix Institute of Technology in 1988, before joining NWA

My favorite is Flava Flav earned a degree in Radio Communications and Business from Adelphi University.

You're spending a lot of time replying to yourself, OP.

You could say the same thing about Mick Jagger. It's hardly a new phenomenon.

White middle class kids are a big portion of the audience for rap music. Rappers may be pandering to them.

I remember when Straight Outta Compton came out and I went to see it, and almost all the audience was young white males.

[quote] Is it to sell more albums to a specific group?

Yes, Rose: to the Junior League.

I think it's evil to misspell all their lyrics and song titles. Kno wander geto kidz be illitrit.

R5, Childish Gambino and Young MC aren't gangsta or trap rappers.

Nor is/was Public Enemy, R7.

And NWA/Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Ren, at al. always showed great fluency of thought in lyrics and performance.

You do understand there are different subgenres of rap, yes?

Not err'body dat rap got Lean Brain.

Geez.

Bump

You’re such a genius, OP

Record labels look for that type. They like promoting the druggy rappers who look and talk like they just finished sipping lean.

The music-consuming public wants rappers to be hard, thuggish, tough. They don’t want a soft or corny rapper. The appeal of rap is it’s urban, tough, Alpha dominance.

Rap is a genre where you get credibility and popularity by being shot and going to prison. The public doesn’t want a whitebread or soft rapper.

R15 what was the point of bumping this thread?

why does Prince Harry speak with a fairly working class accent even though he’s from the absolute apex of social class? It’s to appeal to the masses.

R14 Yep, I think the less-than-informed think any rap is "thuglife" and uneducated. Kanye (who is dead to me, with his support of the Dictator) grew up in a solid middle class home, his mother with a doctorate. He lived in China as a kid, and went to college, before dropping out because his music career was taking off. His first albums "the Dropout", "Graduation", was reflective of that relatively privileged life... but a black man in a racist environment. Most DLers who don't understand hip hop would call Kanye a "thug" I suppose. And who writes more educated music than Common's poetic.. well, etc.

Most thug rappers have helium in their heels.

Guapdad, a young and up-and-coming rapper, is the perfect example of this.

He raps about typical rapper stuff, but ask him about anything other than rap and he is a practically a genius. He spoke about architecture and gentrification in California like he has a masters degree on the topic. He was bused to special schools because of his braininess, but used his intelligence to become a scammer.

Because it's cool to be ignorant. Donald Trump seems to have that one down pat.

They can be smart, but they must be tough, Street to have mass popularity.

I think the face of hip-hop is different than the cream of the crop. Drake is arguably the biggest rapper in the world and he’s not gangster nor does he try to be. His latest hit song is a dance.

Drake certainly tries to seem hard and street, despite his background. He uses the language of the street (bitches, niggas, hos) and is formidable in testosterone bravado and battles. He impregnated a sex worker. He does all he can to avoid the Stigma of being soft and white.

Well street language has become more mainstream. People love urban culture, you don't necessarily need to be a thug to be urban sounding anymore.

It’s the bravado, the attitude that is attractive to the masses