How come Baltimore and DC never produced any rappers?

[Sankofa Alwayz]

Speaking of Baltimore. Why is @KodeBlue banned?


@Sankofa Alwayz any reason?

WTF...What they banned my nikka Blue for???

 

[Sankofa Alwayz]

He should be on all streaming platforms. Just look up RasNebyu.

Ohh shyt, Idek Ras is your cousin breh

 

[Pegasus Jackson]

That offbeat "DMV Flow" that Goonew, Lil Dude etc be doing is ear cancer.

 

[LunaticVillage415]

Baltimore has an inferiority complex and DC has a superiority complex. Baltimore nikkas always felt like they weren't NY or LA or ATL and therefore couldn't rap. Also, Baltimore is a wave riding city with an identity crisis. When NY and Philly ran the rap game in the early 2000's, hella Baltimore nikkas had fake NY accents and everything. When the South started to blow in the early 2000's, Baltimore nikkas started to embrace their southern roots, but didn't really know how because Maryland isn't really the South either. Nobody has accents like Baltimore nikkas, they can't deny where they're from, yet they always try to in picking up cultures from other regions. Also, Baltimore full of haters moreso than most big cities. They won't support their own. Club music is also the local style of music in Baltimore for the most part.

DC is like the Bay. Just like how the Bay doesn't ever want to be in the shadow of L.A., DC never wants to be in NYC's shadow. NYC created Hip Hop, therefore Hip Hop has been considered bama shyt in DC for decades. As for Wale, DC nikkas don't really claim him as he moved out when he was 10 and grew up in mayo slathered Montgomery County in soft ass white ass Gaithersburg, same hometown as cornball Logic, since a young age. DC never had a Nas or a Ice Cube or E-40 as a national ambasador for the DC streets and Wale does not fit that bill. Fat Trel don't even fit that bill.

 

[UserNameless]

@Sankofa Alwayz you kept it a whole buck

especially this shyt here ↓

“We definitely got some talent but a lot of these Trap nikkas out here are fukkING TRAAAAASSSHHHHHH. We have our own signature “DMV Flow” and “DMV Sound” and I’m glad we got them but tbh, the flow is meh at best and a lot of the beats these nikkas rap on just be sounding like some distorted Trap beats with some Addam’s Family-sounding ass skeleton piano key Every one of these Trap nikkas out here rap about the same shyt, doing the same “dances”, and they got the nerve to rap offbeat like that shyt is fukking normal”

If that shyt ain’t the fukkin truth ...


But when BMore didn’t even respect Lor Scoota and took him off of here , I knew the DMV wasn’t really taking blowing up seriously and Wale would prob be last shot at a household recognizable name y’all would have .

 

[DJ Paul's Arm]

didn't Tupac spend his teenage years in Baltimore?

That don't count bruh

 

[2Quik4UHoes]

Ohh shyt, Idek Ras is your cousin breh

Yup that’s my lil cousin. Proud of that nikka. He got a new project coming out soon so be on the lookout

Baltimore has an inferiority complex and DC has a superiority complex. Baltimore nikkas always felt like they weren't NY or LA or ATL and therefore couldn't rap. Also, Baltimore is a wave riding city with an identity crisis. When NY and Philly ran the rap game in the early 2000's, hella Baltimore nikkas had fake NY accents and everything. When the South started to blow in the early 2000's, Baltimore nikkas started to embrace their southern roots, but didn't really know how because Maryland isn't really the South either. Nobody has accents like Baltimore nikkas, they can't deny where they're from, yet they always try to in picking up cultures from other regions. Also, Baltimore full of haters moreso than most big cities. They won't support their own. Club music is also the local style of music in Baltimore for the most part.

DC is like the Bay. Just like how the Bay doesn't ever want to be in the shadow of L.A., DC never wants to be in NYC's shadow. NYC created Hip Hop, therefore Hip Hop has been considered bama shyt in DC for decades. As for Wale, DC nikkas don't really claim him as he moved out when he was 10 and grew up in mayo slathered Montgomery County in soft ass white ass Gaithersburg, same hometown as cornball Logic, since a young age. DC never had a Nas or a Ice Cube or E-40 as a national ambasador for the DC streets and Wale does not fit that bill. Fat Trel don't even fit that bill.

This shyt is spot on

They say if you make it in New York you can make it anywhere. Damn that, if you can make it in DC as a rapper and actually win over consensus in the area...THEN you can make t anywhere. I guarantee NYC supports its local rappers way more than DC ever has.

There's a huge problem that other states/area's don't have.... There are too many states, huddled in the middle..


In "DC" it's actually DC, Maryland and Virginia, all in a 45 min drive. You walking hitting an L and can pass right through from DC to MD in a heartbeat. Take a few wrong turns and you went from MD to VA. And another 3 will get you back in DC where you wanted to be. And that's not what happens on a side of DC or in a section of DC... The entire DC is surrounded by either VA or MD.

That leads to the most important part...... Everybody hates on each other. DC nikkas think they hardest. They think everybody soft.. Especially the VA nikkas. VA nikkas either go extra to prove that wrong, or claim DC, another thing DC nikkas hate. MD nikkas is a little cooler with DC nikkas, but they still don't really like each other. Same exact thing going on. Which is why some of DC hates Wale for claiming DC, cause he went to school 10 mins away in MD. But then ask yourself, why doesn't he just claim MD then? See what I mean. Then you got Bmore which is really 45 mins away. They also think they the hardest, but don't even spend time around DC nikkas cause the drive. So when they do meet, same bullshyt likely to happen. Same with VA....

And that's why they just started calling it the DMV. Cause you can't separate them. And that'd be fine if everyone kept it love, supported each other, reached out, and all that. Cause really, because of the closeness, everyone knows each other, or is family, or has mutual friends.... But instead, since everyone got a rapper, a crew, a studio, a producer, a clothing line, a hustle... They in constant competition. Always. There's been 10000 events over the years, famous rappers coming through, support shown... But you never see a movement though. You never see the whole area behind somebody though. You never see a bunch of crews linking up and doing music together. You don't even really see a team but they have like 5 solo rappers in it. All up in each other's videos, let alone outsiders.


I've heard Celo say the same thing years ago. He's tried so many times to unite the DMV over decades. It just won't come together. Puff went to college out there. Howard Homecoming is every year. BET was here for years. You think if the city made a huge push together, people wouldn't be noticed? And you'd have 3 states to funnel talent through? People won't stop the bullshyt and link up

Also 2000% spot on. You really nailed the question fr. Just about every major reason is in this post. Especially the hatin that goes on between the different sections. Some people still don’t say DMV because to them it dilutes their DCness. Meanwhile, the Logics and Wales and Cordaes of the area gtfoh and make a name for themselves and we left wondering why the area don’t got its own organic movement. As if we don’t chase off our artists to other cities because of our own self importance and harshness.

Like I said, if ANY rapper can manage to unite everyone under a consensus they doing the impossible.

 

[TripleAgent]

The only Baltimore rapper I’ve ever heard of...

And probably a big reason you never heard another

 

[Mtt]

...GoGo became the dominant music form and never looked back for one...DC area prides themselves on being unique and different from the rest, so that’s part of it..

hip hop was embraced though and brehs where always freestylin on the block and school hallways...but there was/is no real industry to build up a relevant independent scene to encourage talent to go all out and take rappin or producing(most important) seriously..can’t forget the crab in a barrel this area has been infamous for, nikkas feel there too good to support from the ground level....bytch ass radio stations didn’t help but at the end of the day everything starts from the ground level...

I’m sure this the same with Bmore for the most part...

Both have produced great R&B artist though

Good point

 

[Deoji]

The biggest rappers outta DC are/were Wale (he’s also from MD but grew up partially in DC), Shy Glizzy, Fat Trel, Swipey (R.I.P.), Tabi Bonney, and maybe Lightshow. When you branch out into the nearby MD suburbs (PG County and Montgomery County), the biggest artists are somewhat bigger than most of their DC counterparts...You got Wale (as explained, he grew up in both MD and DC), Rico Nasty, Cordae, Oddisee, IDK, Logic, Q Da Fool, GoldLink, etc.

Other than maybe Black Cobain for a short spell, Northern VA don’t really got a real big rap star out there that ain’t super local like most rap nikkas here in the DMV.

I don’t often follow Baltimore rap music but from what I’ve picked up from my time at UMES, their biggest artists are/were King Los, Lor Scoota (RIP), Young Moose, Shordie Shordie, Bandhunta Izzy, YBS Skola, and Tate Kobang. S/O to the homie Ky$hia and the whole Furla Gang tho, they from Bmore and started out at UMES. I know her personally, she loves her craft and she got a nice story to tell.

Now I can’t speak for Baltimore but I can speak for the DMV when I say that this whole Hip Hop thing is a somewhat recent phenomenon with us. We used to have a very hostile attitude towards Hip Hop that mainly stemmed from the time when DC and NYC were beefin heavy back in the early 90’s due to the drug game and you know how provincial East Coast Black culture is by nature compared to other regions. I honestly think our hostility towards Hip Hop had less to do with the music itself than its association with all things New York. As much as we fukked with Biggie heavy, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of us were supportive of Death Row’s crusade against NYC On top of that, for the longest, GoGo music was king out here and even to this day, if you a famous rapper trynna do a show or concert in DC, it’s a high chance that you gotta headline with a GoGo band on set before your performance since we get hyped to it (honestly, we get more hyped to GoGo than the actual rap performance).

Fast forward to know tho, everybody and their mama out here in the DMV is a rapper As someone born & bred here, Imma be honest....We definitely got some talent but a lot of these Trap nikkas out here are fukkING TRAAAAASSSHHHHHH. We have our own signature “DMV Flow” and “DMV Sound” and I’m glad we got them but tbh, the flow is meh at best and a lot of the beats these nikkas rap on just be sounding like some distorted Trap beats with some Addam’s Family-sounding ass skeleton piano keys Every one of these Trap nikkas out here rap about the same shyt, doing the same “dances”, and they got the nerve to rap offbeat like that shyt is fukking normal They all just sound the same and do the same shyt in their videos moe smh

S/O to the nikkas who at least dare to be different and/or are serious about their craft or at least sound interesting such as Fat Sean, Cordae, IDK, ChellyTheMC, Sir E.U., Yin Yang, Beatsbyquiik, CalcKnowledge, YungManny, Rico Nasty, Mike of Doom, LiveLifeElii, Shabazz, Premo Rice, Tr3demark, Phil Ade, Crank Lucas, Shy Glizzy, Gleesh, Tabi Bonney, Oddisee, etc. Hell S/O to Logic’s tragic mulatto ass too lol, nikka got heavy bars especially whenever he gives his music some type of personality. And another thing I can admit about Logic, the nikka got one helluva ear for beats....That YSIV album of his is a perfect example of such, shyt was fukking crazy.

Another problem I have with the rap culture here in the DMV is the fact that a lot of these so called supporters are some fukking crabs, most especially in DC. On the homie DMVHoodzNNewz page on IG, some of these kneegrows the other day had the absolute nerve to say my homeboy Cordae ain’t from out here because he was born in North Carolina and never gave back or somehow never shouted out the DMV and also because he’s mainstream now so he automatically ain’t from here A lot of the rap supporters out here are fukking idiots dawg, be wanting to smack the shyt outta them sometimes. Hell some of our biggest artists done bounced and got bigger since they moved out and I don’t blame them. A good number of them was hatin on Chelly hardbody when she moved to ATL. I mean shyt, it’s only so much you can do out here for your rap career, if you wanna REALLY blow up beyond the local/regional market and want that national and even international money with better networking, better producers, better songwriters, big features, etc., you gotta leave the area and of course the crabs will show face. Chelly in ATL now...Shy Glizzy, Cordae, and IDK are chillin out in LA and putting in work....Oddisee out in Chicago now last I checked....Substantial (he’s from PG and is well respected in the underground, breh was a beast in the 2000’s) is living his best life in Japan....Wale be wherever the fukk he be at...shyt I love the DMV and would give back if I could if I were in any of their shoes but I too would commit that move as well, fukk it. It’s basically “damn if you do, damn if you don’t” with a lot of the rap fans out here.

I know it may sound like I just joaned the fukk outta the DMV rap scene but can’t get better without legit criticism I just wanna see my hometown win. We have such a proud yet underrated musical history with not just GoGo or Hip Hop but also with R&B, Jazz, Punk, EDM, and Soul music, can’t help but to ensure that our growing rap scene make enjoy similar greatness.

Oddisee is in NY and Substantial still lives in the area. He has a major following in Japan due to his work with Nujabes (rip)

 

[AMcV'88]

put some respect on Shy Glizzy's name.

great rapper, great projects, one of the best dressed, jewelry game crazy.

 

[010101]

they seem very content to just be local/neighborhood stars*

 

[UberEatsDriver]

Baltimore has an inferiority complex and DC has a superiority complex. Baltimore nikkas always felt like they weren't NY or LA or ATL and therefore couldn't rap. Also, Baltimore is a wave riding city with an identity crisis. When NY and Philly ran the rap game in the early 2000's, hella Baltimore nikkas had fake NY accents and everything. When the South started to blow in the early 2000's, Baltimore nikkas started to embrace their southern roots, but didn't really know how because Maryland isn't really the South either. Nobody has accents like Baltimore nikkas, they can't deny where they're from, yet they always try to in picking up cultures from other regions. Also, Baltimore full of haters moreso than most big cities. They won't support their own. Club music is also the local style of music in Baltimore for the most part.

DC is like the Bay. Just like how the Bay doesn't ever want to be in the shadow of L.A., DC never wants to be in NYC's shadow. NYC created Hip Hop, therefore Hip Hop has been considered bama shyt in DC for decades. As for Wale, DC nikkas don't really claim him as he moved out when he was 10 and grew up in mayo slathered Montgomery County in soft ass white ass Gaithersburg, same hometown as cornball Logic, since a young age. DC never had a Nas or a Ice Cube or E-40 as a national ambasador for the DC streets and Wale does not fit that bill. Fat Trel don't even fit that bill.

so now hip hop is considered Bama shyt in DC now?

 

[UberEatsDriver]

Yup that’s my lil cousin. Proud of that nikka. He got a new project coming out soon so be on the lookout



This shyt is spot on

They say if you make it in New York you can make it anywhere. Damn that, if you can make it in DC as a rapper and actually win over consensus in the area...THEN you can make t anywhere. I guarantee NYC supports its local rappers way more than DC ever has.




Also 2000% spot on. You really nailed the question fr. Just about every major reason is in this post. Especially the hatin that goes on between the different sections. Some people still don’t say DMV because to them it dilutes their DCness. Meanwhile, the Logics and Wales and Cordaes of the area gtfoh and make a name for themselves and we left wondering why the area don’t got its own organic movement. As if we don’t chase off our artists to other cities because of our own self importance and harshness.

Like I said, if ANY rapper can manage to unite everyone under a consensus they doing the impossible.

New York’s biggest issue was the DJs not supporting local artist. I don’t listen to the radio no more so idk if that has improved over the years or not. I do See Funk Flex and certain 105.1 shows doing it tho.

 

[IllmaticDelta]

I didn't miss it. I am telling you you can't lecture me about an area I was born and raised in by googling. It's really that simple.

You live in it now; I have extended roots there going back to the 1700s and I know what/how my ancestors that I met who were born in the later 1800s-1920s described/saw those regions. Again, they always saw those regions as the South.

This is true as well. To be fair tho, even in New Jersey and Long Island, NY you’ll find large plantations or land that used to be plantations. And of course, the true history of Wall Street goes without saying....So I wouldn’t necessarily use slavery as a sole indicator for an area’s Southernness since even some pockets in the North engaged in and profited from this wicked practice as well.

The North had slavery but it was never on the levels of the Upper South

The Upper South had so many slaves they started supplying the Deep (lower) South