Old Heads: why Kool G Rap couldn't at least go gold?

[Harry B]

Contrary to the belief if you didn’t cross over you were not doing big numbers back then until Cali came through.

Even Pac and Big were bragging about being platinum in 94-95. Imagine being that in the late 80s. Most people were slow sellers too, meaning that they didn’t chart high.

The fact that people like Kool G Rap are famous among people who know hiphop is dope though, it shows that being one of the illest trumps being quite successful and trash in the long run.

 

[FunkDoc1112]

Kool G Rap is the reason some people didn't want to sign Nas when he first came out. They thought he sounded too much like G Rap, and wasn't going to sell records

Yeah, '94-96 Nas basically sounds like a fusion of Rakim and G-Rap with a lil' Intelligent Hoodlum/Tragedy in there too.

 

[FunkDoc1112]

what??
how??

they weren't big sellers either, and most of their fans are also fans of kool g rap and acknowledge his influence over them.

only difference is the wutang tour money & branding.

​

yes the LOX do have one.

WE ARE THE STREETS.





kane debut is definitely better than the bolded.

Cuban Linx and Ironman went Gold, debuted in the top 5 and had Billboard Hot 100 singles - hell Ice Cream was in the top 40.

 

[DANJ!]

Contrary to the belief if you didn’t cross over you were not doing big numbers back then until Cali came through.

Even Pac and Big were bragging about being platinum in 94-95. Imagine being that in the late 80s. Most people were slow sellers too, meaning that they didn’t chart high.

The fact that people like Kool G Rap are famous among people who know hiphop is dope though, it shows that being one of the illest trumps being quite successful and trash in the long run.

Yeah... stuff like first-week sales weren't a big thing back then either. I don't even recall them promoting albums the way they did later on down the line, like advertising the release date and all that. It was like you'd see the advertisement that it was coming soon, but you wouldn't know exactly when unless you went to the stores and they'd have the dates on their wall, or you would go to the store and it'd already be on the shelves. So a lot of albums sold slower than they would have if everyone knew exactly when they could get them. Some albums would pick up steam with the second or third singles depending on how popular they were.

 

[FunkDoc1112]

Yeah... stuff like first-week sales weren't a big thing back then either. I don't even recall them promoting albums the way they did later on down the line, like advertising the release date and all that. It was like you'd see the advertisement that it was coming soon, but you wouldn't know exactly when unless you went to the stores and they'd have the dates on their wall, or you would go to the store and it'd already be on the shelves. So a lot of albums sold slower than they would have if everyone knew exactly when they could get them. Some albums would pick up steam with the second or third singles depending on how popular they were.

Yeah, since the late 90s album sales have been more front loaded but back then albums that weren't made by established artists were slow growers. Ready To Die sold the same amount its first week as Illmatic did but was double platinum by late '95 off the strength of Big Poppa and One More Chance.

Plus singles would hit the radio way before they were officially released. Like I remember I was going through wikipedia and it said, for example, Criminology dropped in June '95...yet there's audio of Big Noyd spitting a freestyle over it at The Infamous release party in April '95.

 

[DANJ!]

Yeah, since the late 90s album sales have been more front loaded but back then albums that weren't made by established artists were slow growers. Ready To Die sold the same amount its first week as Illmatic did but was double platinum by late '95 off the strength of Big Poppa and One More Chance.

Plus singles would hit the radio way before they were officially released. Like I remember I was going through wikipedia and it said, for example, Criminology dropped in June '95...yet there's audio of Big Noyd spitting a freestyle over it at The Infamous release party in April '95.

DJs had the Criminology/Glaciers of Ice single as early as April, I do remember that... radio and mixtape DJs used to get everything in advance. That was also around the time the mixtape game started changing- it stopped being about just having the good shyt that was already out, but having shyt that you weren't hearing anywhere else, not even radio.

 

[Homeboy Runny-Ray]

We don't talk about GFK or Kool G. Rap enough in the booth.

ghostface is talked about too much in the booth actually.

 

[Homeboy Runny-Ray]

Cuban Linx and Ironman went Gold, debuted in the top 5 and had Billboard Hot 100 singles - hell Ice Cream was in the top 40.

that aint top-selling.

 

[gluvnast]

Kool G Rap wasn't marketable at the time. He was bred into an era that he was ahead of. And truth be told, the only people from the juice crew that ever went gold and platinum was Kane and Biz.

 

[FunkDoc1112]

that aint top-selling.

Only the absolute top tier rappers were going platinun before 1997.

 

[gluvnast]

Rakim had great production, beats that are iconic

Kool G Rap as dope as he is, never had a mainstream classic song

Rakim was more marketable because he wasn't on that hardcore shyt at the time, yet had the voice, the unique flow and sex appeal to be more attractive mainstream. What really helped Rakim him was his collaboration with Jody Watley off the song, "Friends" and the Paid in Full Club remix.

Kool G Rap was too street during an era that was more into conscious music.

 

[gluvnast]

Only the absolute top tier rappers were going platinun before 1997.

Bullshyt. It was harder for elite MC's to move units prior to '97. You call Coolio a top tier rapper?

 

[FunkDoc1112]

Bullshyt. It was harder for elite MC's to move units prior to '97. You call Coolio a top tier rapper?

OBVIOUSLY I mean popularity and not skill breh

 

[Piff Perkins]

You know who the best comparison is for G Rap in terms of understanding why he didn't sale? KRS One. Both were super lyrical. Both weren't "ladies men"...they were kinda ugly brehs no offense lol. Yet KRS made extremely smart music decisions that were also smart business decisions: for instance, doing an album with DJ Premier, or having a noteworthy street single on his first three solo albums. He went gold with a 1997...which is pretty crazy when you think about it. And also his first album almost went gold...tbh it probably has by now, but the label didn't pay for the cert.

I think we'd look at G Rap's career differently if he had made similar moves. 456 was moderately successful although it didn't go gold. He had a moderate hit record on there. What if he did an album with Premo next? Instead his next album didn't come out until 1998 and while I like it as a G Rap fan/stan, it doesn't have any noteworthy producers or features. By the time he did a track with Premo a few years later it was too late.

 

[Magnum P.I.M.P.]

Rakim and KRS didn’t curse much. Especially Rakim. You can count on one hand how many times he cursed on wax.

G Rap was the opposite. Have any of you even heard ‘Talk Like Sex’ tho? Jesus.