Steve Stoute: "The older generation didn't care about lyrics. That's why Illmatic took 5 years to go Gold. G Rap never got rewarded for lyrics"
- Thread starter FreshAIG
- Start date
shut the fukk up stout
Nah, he’s just defining “lyrics” into a specific style. The older generation absolutely cared what they wrote down on paper.
Awesome Wells
The Ghost of Jack Tripper
He's an idiot and a snake.
And he's wrong. Illmatic didn't go gold quickly because people were bootlegging like crazy in the 90's and it didn't have radio records. Everyone I knew as a kid back then, was buying bootlegs but loved the classics of the time. There was no person that fronted on Illmatic back then. People always loved lyrics, but people didn’t have money! Young MC and Nas don’t have the same fans. WTF? Young MC was a pop artist. Not an MC from Queens.
But Stoute is a snake who only sees things in dollars, so he's looking at sales as a barometer for what people like. Which is dumb as sh*t. Because in the 90's, classics were dubbed and bootlegged all day, everyday. So if you didn't make radio records or commercial sh*t you sold less than the rappers who did. But that didn't mean people didn't like lyrics. What it meant was that the reach for your album wasn't getting to those other markets, like what we call "middle America". It's also a sign that your label isn't putting more bread behind your album and they're not pushing your project because you don’t have certain types of records. It has nothing to do with people not caring about lyrics.
And he's wrong. Illmatic didn't go gold quickly because people were bootlegging like crazy in the 90's and it didn't have radio records. Everyone I knew as a kid back then, was buying bootlegs but loved the classics of the time. There was no person that fronted on Illmatic back then. People always loved lyrics, but people didn’t have money! Young MC and Nas don’t have the same fans. WTF? Young MC was a pop artist. Not an MC from Queens.
But Stoute is a snake who only sees things in dollars, so he's looking at sales as a barometer for what people like. Which is dumb as sh*t. Because in the 90's, classics were dubbed and bootlegged all day, everyday. So if you didn't make radio records or commercial sh*t you sold less than the rappers who did. But that didn't mean people didn't like lyrics. What it meant was that the reach for your album wasn't getting to those other markets, like what we call "middle America". It's also a sign that your label isn't putting more bread behind your album and they're not pushing your project because you don’t have certain types of records. It has nothing to do with people not caring about lyrics.
Diondon
Thanks to the lawyers uh, I marbled the foyer
Hmmm this aint true
Ethnic Vagina Finder
The Great Paper Chaser
That's bullshyt...
Nobody was going gold in the early/mid 90's because everyone simply dubbed tapes.
Illmatic wasn't even finished, but they released it early because most of it was dubbed so much and everyone had most of the songs, so they had to drop it as is. For the first year I thought the Memory Lane was the opening song, because I had tape that dubbed the B side first.
nikkas didn't start going platinum until CD's became more popular and people starting buying them.
Nobody was going gold in the early/mid 90's because everyone simply dubbed tapes.
Illmatic wasn't even finished, but they released it early because most of it was dubbed so much and everyone had most of the songs, so they had to drop it as is. For the first year I thought the Memory Lane was the opening song, because I had tape that dubbed the B side first.
nikkas didn't start going platinum until CD's became more popular and people starting buying them.
DontEemTry
Superstar
Ok but why didn't this bootlegging phenomenon affect any west coast artists in that timeframe
Cats didn't buy Big L.
They didn't buy Lord Finesse.
They didn't buy Lord Tariq
They didn't buy Jay until he went pop.
They didn't buy Nas until he went pop.
They didn't buy anything with Black Thought.
They didn't buy Hiero, Alkaholiks, Ras Kass, Freestyle Fellowship, Chino XL.
They didn't buy Kurupt.
They didn't buy K-Rino.
They didn't buy Common Sense.
They didn't buy Joe Buddens, lol.
They stopped buying Kane.
They stopped buying Rakim.
They stopped buying KRS.
Chuck D? Kool Keith? LOL
If Pun didn't do the remix of I'm not a Player with Joe - they would not have bought him either.
They didn't buy KMD and sure as hell as not buying MF Doom.
TBH, that's okay.
Hip Hop is a party music, made for partying.
Sitting back and listening to an album, trying to understand what the artist is saying on a deeper level, the artist even trying to make some "art" - is how folks deal with rock music, and anything else that's album oriented.
Steve is in the business of selling the culture - and he's telling you what sells now and what sold then.
Yet cats don't want to a listen to a guy that got rich on selling hip hop, about selling hip hop....
They didn't buy Lord Finesse.
They didn't buy Lord Tariq
They didn't buy Jay until he went pop.
They didn't buy Nas until he went pop.
They didn't buy anything with Black Thought.
They didn't buy Hiero, Alkaholiks, Ras Kass, Freestyle Fellowship, Chino XL.
They didn't buy Kurupt.
They didn't buy K-Rino.
They didn't buy Common Sense.
They didn't buy Joe Buddens, lol.
They stopped buying Kane.
They stopped buying Rakim.
They stopped buying KRS.
Chuck D? Kool Keith? LOL
If Pun didn't do the remix of I'm not a Player with Joe - they would not have bought him either.
They didn't buy KMD and sure as hell as not buying MF Doom.
TBH, that's okay.
Hip Hop is a party music, made for partying.
Sitting back and listening to an album, trying to understand what the artist is saying on a deeper level, the artist even trying to make some "art" - is how folks deal with rock music, and anything else that's album oriented.
Steve is in the business of selling the culture - and he's telling you what sells now and what sold then.
Yet cats don't want to a listen to a guy that got rich on selling hip hop, about selling hip hop....
Ethnic Vagina Finder
The Great Paper Chaser
No Mixtape DJ’s dominating the region. I grew up on mixtapes. Dubbing shyt off the radio.Ok but why didn't this bootlegging phenomenon affect any west coast artists in that timeframe
A lot of New York artists had to deal with their music being leaked and ending up on mixtapes. That’s what happened to Illmatic.
NON TRUE.
nikkaS CARED ABOUT LYRICS
BUT THE MUSIC HAD TO HIT TOO.
THAT BOOM BAP SOUND
DIDNT APPEAL TO THE MASSES.
HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BARS.
YOU GOTTA GIVE THE PPL SOMETHING THEY
CAN VIBE WITH FIRST AND FOREMOST.
FunkDoc1112
Heavily Armed
NYC was the bootlegging capitalOk but why didn't this bootlegging phenomenon affect any west coast artists in that timeframe