Recently The Source magazine had a candid interview with hip-hop newcomer Wacka Flacka Flame. Video of the interview surfaced the net and many of us listened through all the southern drawl and slurred vocabulary as Flacka Flame talked about his position in today’s rap game.
The interview starts off with clips of his embarrassingly catchy video ‘Oh Lets do it’, Flacka starts off with a quote that sets the stage for this…shall i say surprising yet disturbing interview, he states: ‘I’m like Kid ‘n’ Play. I come to get your party started. i don’t come to make you laugh. That’s what the rappers are for. I’m a party starter. That’s it, if the party is dead, I’m going to come and hype it up and then leave’
Throughout the interview Flacka seems fully aware that he is in fact no where close to being a good rapper…not even a decent one, in fact not even one at all. The interview left me in somewhat of a torn state… I applauded this man for his honesty and for pimping the music game but yet was appalled by it as well. Flacka managed to let the world know that he has no skills, at least not enough to be competitive in the rap game. There is no need for him to be lyrical, spit a good freestyle or ‘drop some knowledge’. Why? Because he is already telling you it’s not going to happen. And that’s the way it is.
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This uncomfortably honest commentary and nonchalant attitude has allowed Flacka to seem smarter than alot of us who bump his music (and we are all guilty of it). So many head scratching questions run through my mind alongside images of Diddy and Ross draped in full length cinchillas dancing to the foolery songs Flacka makes. Why are we supporting someone who obviously isn’t skillful?… better yet someone whose telling us he isn’t? and what does this mean for hip- hop?
It seems like we have allowed alot of things to slip onto our airwaves and ipod shuffles. And despite all of our ‘hip hop is dead’ discussions we still have managed to ignore or convince ourselves that its not dead but in fact that taken a different form. Do I think hip-hop is dead?, No. But its sure casket ready, and Flacka proves it.
And yes, once in a while we may have influential/talented artist that emerge on the scene. But when these artist are being played on the same airwaves, top ten countdowns and show bills with the other ‘Flacka’s’ out there, there is no motivation or need to even care about lyrics that actually make sense.
How could us hip-hop connoisseurs be this bamboozled, hoodwinked and okie doke’d into promoting music this subpar?
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For some of us, its a night out in the town or simply cruising in our car. As the beat for ‘Oh Lets Do It’ drops, it hits us and results in slight toe tapping movements, then before you know you’re rocking out to the song and singing along. In other words, its just too damn catchy to resist.
Ultimately Flacka has followed the formula, that many upcoming rappers seem to follow and previous rappers created. The more catchy, the more lucrative. While Flacka is going straight to the bank were still listening to his music and he isn’t. Hopefully Flocka starts a trend, where more artist comes out the closet and admit their medicore capabilities. Hopefully this stirs as much discomfort as Flacka’s interview and we can resurrect hip-hop to its pure state.
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