25 Things Everyone Thinks About Hip-Hop (But Nobody Will Say)

It's time to speak up and clear the air.

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Image via Complex Original
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This isn't the column that you think it is. This isn't a chance to hear your biases confirmed. Oh, you think 2Pac is overrated? You think Lil Wayne never touched Jay-Z's legacy? You think that Ghostface's best LP was actually Fishscale?
 
Good for you, but this is about the harsher truths—the underlying conflicts that define every argument in hip-hop in 2012. Because however much people believe that rappers are explicitly honest, the game is undeniably political, and never more than it is right now. The rap industry is a business, and as such, people don't always say what's on their minds, they say what will help to put food on the table.
 
We're here to clear the air, to explain what's really going on, and to try to shed some light on some of the things that everyone thinks, but no one really expresses. What's actually going on in hip-hop right now? Does anybody really like "conscious rap"? Does hip-hop actually glorify violence? Which rapper really dominated in 2011? Sometimes, the human brain takes shortcuts. 

25. Personality matters more than "skills."

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24. New York rap has sucked since Dipset broke up.

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23. When white people enjoy "ignorant rap," it feels racist.

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22. Explicitly political rap music will never change the world.

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21. Rap treats women horribly.

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20. If you don't make a music video for your song, it doesn't exist.

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19. Getting music covered on blogs is almost entirely politics and networking, and quality rarely matters.

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18. Drake was the best rapper out in 2011.

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17. Most criticism of contemporary rap is rooted in biased nostalgia.

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16. Ghost producers are rampant.

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15. Tumblr rap is less appealing than snap rap, ringtone rap, swag rap, and any other "lowest common denominator" movement.

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14. Rap's popularity has declined significantly in mainstream America.

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13. One of your favorite rappers is probably secretly gay.

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12. The Internet A&R decimated the quality of popular rap.

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11. Rap makes violence seem very cool.

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10. Hipster critics are either pushing nu-female rappers as a projection of their desires or as a paternalistic, misguided corrective to years of sexism in hip-hop.

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9. Rap is the single biggest promoter of drug abuse in popular culture.

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8. Most "indie" rappers aren't signed to major labels for good reason.

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7. Most conscious rap is condescending, simplistic, and corny.

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6. A lot of classic, old-school hip-hop sucks.

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5. The excessive use of "nigga" is incredibly awkward for white people.

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4. A lot of famous rappers don't write their own rhymes.

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3. Rap is a really bad influence on children.

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2. You wish that you invented WorldStarHipHop and MediaTakeOut.

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1. Biggie and 2Pac would have fallen off, eventually.

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