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Conscious Rap – noun:
a genre of hip-hop that focuses on uplifting and educating the community. knowledge comes through self-discovery and it is through this genre of music that that aesthetic is imparted on the listener.
Swag Rap – noun:
the genre of hip-hop music that is fueling the industry today. this genre may lack lyrically; however, the moving force behind its popularity is the swag or personality of that said rapper.
Growing up in one of the toughest parts of DC wasn’t as rough as it may seem. We all knew someone who had been killed from gun violence, we all saw what the different drugs looked like, and we all did some dumb (hood) stuff back in the day. There wasn’t anything unsafe about hanging on the corner with your friends. The streets were a game, and the gangsta music I grew up listening to were hints and cheat-codes on how to get to the next level.
While in college, I flirted with the idea of not only bettering myself and educating myself, but also the community as a whole. What appealed to me was conscious rap. I substituted Jay-Z for Nas. I wanted to know how could I prescribe a message that could better the community. I started listening to Wale, since he was from DC and all (Maryland depending on where one lives in the area).
However, all that conscious rap stuff has DIED. Finit. No more!
The debate used to be about dance songs and club songs in hip-hop, but I’ll decide to take that a step further and make a claim for Swag Rap as the rap of 2011. I don’t want to be educated about my plight. I know enough. I don’t want to be told what I should do to make black people look good through music. BET (Black Entertainment Television) does enough to ruin our image already.
But with all jokes aside, Swag Rap is in full-effect this year.
Arguably the ultimate swag rapper, Jay-Z has catipulted rap to another level. He’s taken rap so far to benefit his career that his raps aren’t relevant to majority of his audience. He has reached a level of swag maximus. He swags too much on a song. He approves million dollar deals through thin air, way before the invention of the blue-tooth. His life is a living postcard. He can board a plane to get away from rainy weather. He can leap hoes in a single bound. PLUS, he got the baddest chick in the game wearing his chain. #Hmph! That type of stuff.
I am pro-swag rap because it shows how far we can go and how far we have come as a culture. Swag Rap as a genre also host some of the most prolific names in hip-hop today. You ask a 15 year old kid today the names of Common, Mos Def, KRS-One, the Roots, and even sadly Nas, and they'll stare at you with a blank face.
Mention names like Jay-Z, Weezy F. Baby (Lil Wayne), Gucci Mane, Lil B, and Drake and they'll go crazy with excitement. Besides, the only difference between J. Cole and Drake is that of swag and message. J. Cole is a conscious rapper and I believe, others like myself tune him out. Don't get me wrong, I love Jermaine Cole, but if he earned an A in the swag department, he would be well on his way to becoming a platinum selling artist.
Don't just take my word for it either. People in the world don't like those who don't have swag. Take Twitter for instance, there you can follow the mind of your favorite rapper. If they are wack (swack = no swag) then you can always hit the unfollow button and decide not to listen to any of their music as I have done.
But I've been through too much. I don't want to hear about the same ole same ole, century old shit about the plight of the black man. I want to hear about how they're living. Don't judge me for this, but:
When it comes to rappers like Wiz Khalifa, I know he smokes the dopest dopes. I want to hear about the names of those trees. They aren't your everyday treat, ya know? I wanna hear about the many different ways he could be creeping with my girlfriend. I want to hear about living the life. Sleep, wake up, bake up, cake up, perform at shows and do it in every city.
When it comes to Lil B, as sad as it is to admit this: I want to hear about the 30,000 “bitches” (his language not mine) that he’s been with. The pretty boys never had a say in rap. I think it’s funny how loyal his fans are. They don’t care about their significant others and can be found saying, “Based God can have all my bitches.” In a world where some women are licentious, I don’t mind a few whoops and swags and i got bitches.
Curre$y is a broke man’s Jay-Z. What types of Old school Chevy’s do you drive? I want to know! He swags and has your lady in the palm of his hands. Am I wrong for singing along?
Swag rap is taking over the culture of rap. Swag is the Lazarus to hip-hop. It isn’t dead anymore.
Kanye West blurs the line between swag rap and conscious rap. He’s not the only rapper to be succesful at that either. Lupe Fiasco, doesn’t need an iPhone or Blackberry to swag out a freestyle. That’s why he’s so accepted by any age of hip-hopper. He can be confusing as hell with his Marxist/Communist like rhymes, but he can also swag it out the Chicago way with his flow as well.
The late & great 2Pac is also a gamechanger blurring the line between swag rap and conscious rap.
Before I end this, I must say I love swag rap. It gives me something to look forward to. If you have the latest and greatest, I’m not going to hate, I’ll appreciate and live vicariously through the music.
#BigUps to the rappers who never turn their swag off. You’re keeping hip-hop alive.
#SWAG #WHOOP #SWAG *throws in cliche* #SWAG.
LIST OF CONSCIOUS RAPPERS:
Common
Nas
Talib Kweli
Mos Def
J. Cole
KRS-One
The Roots
Swag Rappers:
Jay-Z
Lil B
Wiz Khalifa
Currensy
Weezy
Drake
Gucci
Big Sean
MANY MORE.
“He has reached a level of swag maximus.”
I’m in love with this sentence!
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I actually enjoyed reading this article even though I don’t necessarily agree with it. That being said you are one of the few people I’ve heard of that can give a legitimate argument for “Swag Rap”. I personally dislike those types of rappers but to all his own. You might be an exception but there is no denying that the majority of the audience for “Swag rap” are kids with a lack of education or morals who simply don’t know any better than to digest ignorant lyrics and catchy hooks. Those kids will grow up with an established mind that everything they hear in those songs is right and remain ignorant of the world around them . That is why I don’t particually like “Swag rap” even though some of the artists you listed such as Jay-z and Drake are exceptionally talented.
You’ve written a great article but I will also have to disagree with you especially in your contradictory remark in saying that conscious rap died. It’s not dead it’s not marketable. Now don’t get me wrong these swag rappers could be involved in the criminal lifestyle had they had not became artists although one must draw the line between influences. The reason why I say that is because Hip Hop is very influential. As you can imagine I am a old school head and I love Conscious Hip Hop. What I sincerely liked back when I was growing up, that there was a balance in the various types of Hip Hop music. There was something for the club heads, Conscious heads, etc. However today there is NO balance on the radio, tv, etc. And it’s not that people do not want to listen to them anymore, it’s because they have been CONDITIONED to like (love) swag rap because they hear it all the time. Has it occurred to you that majority on the songs on the radio almost sound alike and not only that it’s played on the radio NUMEROUS times a day. Are you familiar with the process known as Payola? Look it up when you have a chance. The main reason why I dislike radio (and etc) is because they provide NO BALANCE, it’s only one sided. Thank God for Pandora, podcasts, and other outlets that has preserved conscious rap. Can you please look at this link I have and reflect on the state of hip hop?
Peace!
why do i get the feeling that this is a satirical article? If it is i like if not.. Shame on you
im with JAYL. dude are you for real? this sounds like complete bs. MUSIC is susposed to be about uplifting your state of being be it spiritual ,mental, physical , or emotional. With that being said, negativity breeds negativity. Swag rap or whatever you wanna call it is primarily geared towards pandering and influencing inner city youth to never reach their fullest potential. Its obvious to anyone with half a brain that mainstream rap music today targets young impressionable listeners with lyrical content that not only leaves the listener feeling the want/need to do something negative but also ‘stuck’ in a negative destructive way of ignorant thinking! Shame on you for biggin up BULLSHIT!!!
CONSCIOUS
Mac Miller
SWAG
Odd future
I’m not that familiar with Miller’s Music but I am extremely familiar with Odd futures. While it may not the best, all of their songs DEFINITELY have a conscious message. Therefore it is conscious rap.
A graduate student teaching writing to other students absolutely should not have the kinds of grammatical mistakes and spelling errors you have in your writing. More evidence of the grade inflation and lack of true education taking place in our institutions of higher learning today…
Please tell me where there are spelling errors in this post that were not purposely misspelled? Also, I’d love to see any grammatical mistakes as well.
These are blog post that are intended for a specific audience. As for your belief in inflation, it exists. Sorry I am a grad student and a teacher. I guess the lack of true education comes from those such as yourself, who’d rather criticize and miss the point then actually get it. Thanks for your comment, sir!
fuck swag rap
I sincerely hope this article is a joke, if not it speaks volumes about society in general and what the masses value. Swag rap is the absolute bottom of the barrel for Hip Hop. I realize that with ANY music genre, there will aways be a mainstream side of things whose aim is the almighty dollar. In the case of Hip Hop, Conscious Rap is the underground, and the underground is where you find the true art. So in the end it is up to the individual to seek or be spoon fed. If you prefer Swag Rap. then by all means have fun drowning in stupidity…
swag rap is all personality and NO substance. so were a bunch of people i knew in high school, and NOTHING became of them 15 years later. swag rappers are like those dumb jocks where they get their time of glory in those 4 years then fade away. people like that dont have a future because for them it was all about popularity (cars, clothes, sex).
but i dont go out of my way to say that i hate swag. im glad that Gucci is a rich man. this is America. but every sub-genre has it’s place, and swag rap has it’s place….. as a fad. some other style of rap, that will come with a different name or label we slap on it, will take it’s place. that’s the nature of commercialism.
some swag rappers will adapt to that change. most will fade away. but all of them will run around like fools trying to fit the mold that, we may agree, Jay-Z set (i would also argue that Redman is the 1st BROKE swag rapper, but i digress).
point is, you can rap whatever STYLE you like, but if you rap about what STUFF you have instead of what or who you are, then you matter much less in the big picture. you won’t last.
Nas is STILL big. Common is STILL big. the Roots are STILL big. Black Star, they are STILL big.
on a side note: Jay-Z got rich by rapping about being rich, but he didnt STAY rich by doing the same. he stayed rich by becoming an ENTREPRENEUR and by holding airplay rotation with an IRON GRIP, and he’s had it ever since.