Imagine the game of basketball. Over the years played and enjoyed and above all; agreed upon in it’s rules and regulations. You HAVE to dribble the ball or it’s traveling. The nets MUST be so and so feet above the ground. You CANNOT goaltend etc…The list goes on and on. It’s the same for anything, any game, any procedure. Rap is not excluded from this! So when Lil’ Yachty went on to say recently that the rap game has changed, and it has to be accepted (a sentiment expressed by many other new age artists), he made a statement which is only partially true. Yes whatever the music is like and how it’s changed has to be accepted. People are enjoying it, making money from it, improving their lives with it and having the best parties of their youth with it as the soundtrack. If the old heads don’t like it then fine but it must be accepted. What doesn’t have to accepted is that music being called rap. It might be similar to rap but it doesn’t really qualify. Mumbling the same phrase or slogan and repeating paragraphs with only slight modifications to the words is not t
he same as a rap verse. It may bear similarities to rap, and share a basic image and framework, but there are too many fundamental aspects missing for it to be considered the same artform. It matters little if you are in a basketball stadium wearing a jersey, if you don’t dribble the ball and the nets are only 6 feet off the ground, you’re not playing basketball anymore. Even if the place is filled with screaming fans. Saying “the game has changed and y’all need to accept it” or “look at all the people enjoying it”would look ridiculous to anyone who’s been paying attention to the game. It’s popularity would not magically transform it into legit basketball. So why not with rap?. Holding a mic with a DJ behind you in a packed concert hall doesn’t make you a rapper if you’re just gonna stand there and shout “hey” for 32 bars. No matter who tells you and how much they believe it. It has become something else. Perhaps “rap inspired” would be more accurate. Accept that!
