There’s a difference of opinion between mainstream Hip-Hop and underground rap, but it wasn’t always like that. There used to be an era where rap thrived when the industry spat out rappers from all walks and with different flows and messages. But lately, it seems that the mainstream rap scene is afraid to let go of the Young Thug/Migos style of rap, leaving hip-hop with two types of fans: those who prefer mainstream music and those who prefer the underground scene.
The Origins Of Rap Music
Hip-hop was born in The Bronx, New York, in the 1970s. People often refer to Jamaican immigrant Dj Kool Herc as the founding father of the genre. However, there are a handful of people who shaped the culture, including the Sugarhill Gang, who helped bring the genre to the mainstream audience.
The Underground Rapper
To many Hip-hop fans, the key difference between the two groups all boils down to pen. The foundation of the genre usually inspires underground rappers. They love Old Skool music and want to walk in the path of those who came before them. That means that they work hard on their craft. They view hip-hop as an art style, so they’re poets before anything else. Their lyrical content is often socially conscious and positive. They tend to stray away from commercial messaging and often uplift and motivate their listener. Another major difference is that they’re considered more intelligent. They can freestyle and have a bigger vocabulary than the average artist across all genres.
The Mainstream Rapper
The mainstream rapper is, most of the time, the kind of rapper that most artists want to be. They’re famous, they get recognition and, of course, make big money, but this rapper is just that, a rapper. Hip-hop heads very rarely consider this rapper a part of Hip-Hop, the culture. The main reason is that Hip-Hop isn’t their main reason for making money. This rapper doesn’t care about lyrics or the messaging aligning with the culture. Instead, they opt for making music that will make people dance and have fun.
They care about money, and that is, at times, reflected in their lyricism. Though most of them, especially female rappers, hire ghostwriters, others don’t, and listeners can hear that in their lines. The words are repetitive and sometimes don’t even make sense because the lyrics weren’t the aim.
The Battle Of Authenticity In Hip-Hop
What does it mean to be an authentic rapper? Keeping it real is one of the most popular hip-hop mantras, but whether you’re rapping about real pain or the love of your possessions, it means the same thing in hip-hop spaces. Both sides are being their authentic selves in that aspect.
So, who is most hip-hop? It’s a matter of opinion. But to answer that without bias, one first needs to ask, What Is Hip-Hop? What is rap? And what’s the difference between the two? In her home, hip-hop culture accommodates various types of artists. Beatboxes, freestylers, graffiti artists, and various street dancers. Rap means ‘Rhythm and Poetry,’ and it’s when an artist recites lines rhythmically over an instrument. All kinds of rap fall under the Hip-hop umbrella, so when it comes to authenticity, they’re both valid and equally important.
In Conclusion
My take on this topic is that you need both. There was a time when people used to bump lyrical rap in the clubs, but these days, it’s one or the other, and it shouldn’t be like that. The fact that the combination is a lost art kind of sucks. In the 90s, rappers like Nelly were able to fall into both categories at the same time. Underground rappers could learn from their mainstream counterparts and have fun with their music. The opposite is true for commercial rappers. It is possible to make fun music and have it be pure poetry.
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