As I have nearly completely retreated into the academic world, I have not been writing on anything more than what I see to be more long term projects. One of those is "A History of Hip Hop" --which is an upcoming book I am planning on releasing. I have currently been working on chapters on Kool G Rap and KRS One, along with the relation they have to the music as cultural icons. In relation to this I listened to some tracks and interviews which mentioned Eminem and have since been drawn into listening to the "diss tracks" between MGK and Eminem.
The interesting part is how I got here and not so much the tracks themselves. This has been one of the most impressive marketing campaigns I have seen in the business, or at least the one most dramatically successful within the last decade or more which I have also followed actively. While there is always a tinge of marketing in "Gangster Rap Battles", whether that be on part of the MC selling himself or on part of the record label drumming up business within the community, a "street following" --there is most often a sense of some conversations happening behind the third wall. And though this was certainly the case from the beginning and I am even more sure of Eminem getting Diddy's approval and financing in the most recent incarnation of this urbanized drama, I am just as sure of its overall success.
The community and the content producers, particularly on You Tube, have seen fit to make this the drama of the week, replacing numerous attempts in other areas which have recently been falling flat. Just as Hip Hop has been struggling to reassert prior values, primarily surrounding lyricism, Eminem is drawn into this battle with another --one who he's never seemed to be anything but "friends" with, or associates at the least. MGK is many things but a serious contender in the top ten MC's of all time he is not. Which, at least among most, is not even a question. Though he has certainly needed some publicity, as has Eminem. So the timing of these events along with the interviews and the initial Kamikaze album are not wholly surprising. As I mention previously, the marketing strategy here is what is truly remarkable, if the targets have been intentionally dumbed down and corralled into accepting what they are being fed.
The ability for the MC's to turn the drama in to more substantial profit, akin to a movie opening, gaining front page attention globally for the same, is almost as monumentally telling of popular cultures direction as if politicians started doing WWF style interviews. Oh...wait.
The interesting part is how I got here and not so much the tracks themselves. This has been one of the most impressive marketing campaigns I have seen in the business, or at least the one most dramatically successful within the last decade or more which I have also followed actively. While there is always a tinge of marketing in "Gangster Rap Battles", whether that be on part of the MC selling himself or on part of the record label drumming up business within the community, a "street following" --there is most often a sense of some conversations happening behind the third wall. And though this was certainly the case from the beginning and I am even more sure of Eminem getting Diddy's approval and financing in the most recent incarnation of this urbanized drama, I am just as sure of its overall success.
The community and the content producers, particularly on You Tube, have seen fit to make this the drama of the week, replacing numerous attempts in other areas which have recently been falling flat. Just as Hip Hop has been struggling to reassert prior values, primarily surrounding lyricism, Eminem is drawn into this battle with another --one who he's never seemed to be anything but "friends" with, or associates at the least. MGK is many things but a serious contender in the top ten MC's of all time he is not. Which, at least among most, is not even a question. Though he has certainly needed some publicity, as has Eminem. So the timing of these events along with the interviews and the initial Kamikaze album are not wholly surprising. As I mention previously, the marketing strategy here is what is truly remarkable, if the targets have been intentionally dumbed down and corralled into accepting what they are being fed.
The ability for the MC's to turn the drama in to more substantial profit, akin to a movie opening, gaining front page attention globally for the same, is almost as monumentally telling of popular cultures direction as if politicians started doing WWF style interviews. Oh...wait.
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