How does LL's use of different forms and styles make him a sellout as opposed to someone like Bowie or Madonna that gets a lot of credit for their genius at "reinventing" themselves?

millwall said:

L L was a pioneer. I own a few of his records. I don't find him any less a sell out than ice t. Who hated him

He most definitly is. I think he deserves more credit than what he gets.

bobzilla77 said:

How does LL's use of different forms and styles make him a sellout as opposed to someone like Bowie or Madonna that gets a lot of credit for their genius at "reinventing" themselves?

Exactly. LL is versatile and masterful.

Relatively few rap artists are able to stay popular & relevant for more than a few years. LL is the only one from the 80s who still packs big halls.

All those other guys may have stayed "true" to their thing and didn't sell out and good for them. But I've heard iot said that there is no audience less interested in the music of the past than a young black audience. So it stands to reason, anyone who captures generation after generation of young black audience is changing up their game pretty often.

KRS-1 never rode trends, and gets mad respect for those early BDP records. He's as true, or real, or whatever as you can get. And he can't more than a few hundred people to see him perform in 2014. The Bridge Is Over, budda-bye bye.

bobzilla77 said:

KRS-1 never rode trends, and gets mad respect for those early BDP records. He's as true, or real, or whatever as you can get. And he can't more than a few hundred people to see him perform in 2014. The Bridge Is Over, budda-bye bye.

LMAO!!!

bobzilla77 said:

Relatively few rap artists are able to stay popular & relevant for more than a few years. LL is the only one from the 80s who still packs big halls.

All those other guys may have stayed "true" to their thing and didn't sell out and good for them. But I've heard iot said that there is no audience less interested in the music of the past than a young black audience. So it stands to reason, anyone who captures generation after generation of young black audience is changing up their game pretty often.

KRS-1 never rode trends, and gets mad respect for those early BDP records. He's as true, or real, or whatever as you can get. And he can't more than a few hundred people to see him perform in 2014. The Bridge Is Over, budda-bye bye.

So true. If black youth were only interested in the past, I don't think we would have had the blues, jazz, rock & roll, soul, rnb, funk, and hip hop. It's that "been there, done that" attitude that helped create modern music.

[Edited 2/19/14 2:05am]

bobzilla77 said:

How does LL's use of different forms and styles make him a sellout as opposed to someone like Bowie or Madonna that gets a lot of credit for their genius at "reinventing" themselves?

When Bowie did more commercial pop music in the 1980s he sure was called a sell-out. It took him a long time to re-establish his credibility in the eyes of the critics.

novabrkr said:

bobzilla77 said:

How does LL's use of different forms and styles make him a sellout as opposed to someone like Bowie or Madonna that gets a lot of credit for their genius at "reinventing" themselves?

When Bowie did more commercial pop music in the 1980s he sure was called a sell-out. It took him a long time to re-establish his credibility in the eyes of the critics.

Oh well, yeah I guess that's true. That really was a sellout, LOL.

But 70s Bowie wasn't given a lot of crap for selling out when he went blue-eyed-soul in '74.

mjscarousal said:

millwall said:

L L was a pioneer. I own a few of his records. I don't find him any less a sell out than ice t. Who hated him

He most definitly is. I think he deserves more credit than what he gets.

He was the first true superstar MC. The other big hip-hop acts from the mid-to-late 80s were in groups -- Beasties, Run-DMC, NWA.

From the early-to-mid 90s, he wasn't a pure crossover act like Hammer. Nor was he the hardcore underground MC a la Ice Cube. He had enough cred as an MC to sell to pop audiences and hip-hop "heads" alike.

There are "greater" MCs, but LL is in the Big Room of the hip-hop Hall of Fame, as far as I'm concerned.

Gunsnhalen said:

laurarichardson said:

Yes, no deep lyrics about killing people and selling drugs. What a shame LL did not get all deep on us.

You a fool

Good rappers have talked about social climates, heartbreak, home issues, surviving in life (That doesn't require guns or killings) Political bullshit, problems in the street, problems in the rap game, stories about their life, stories about school, their kids, their wives, mother and fathers and daughters lost.

Your putting some imaginary words in my mouth about the ''gangsta rap shit'' You seem to think the only other thing rappers talk about is drugs and killing people. I think you need to open up your mind chica.

You are the one who said he was a sell-out not me. What deep lyrics are you hearing in rap today? I will take a silly party or boosting song over the B.S. we have now.