Trends take off fast, and are great money makers, but how do these trends start? Some say artist just have talent and that's why their discovered, but has any asked themselves, did someone plant this guy just to make money? As we all know the music industry is fully functioning machine, but like anything it all comes back to money.
Gangster rap exploded on the scene in the late 80's thanks to a group named NWA, heard of them? Nigga's With Attitude, is what the name stood for. An extremely controversial name for the time. Plus their impressive delivery, constant profanity, and black power type movement captivated the world. Before you knew it everyone was listening. Parents prohibited their children from listening, and even the government took interest. Shocking and offending the masses isn't uncommon in the pursuit of money, but what this did was open the music industry gangsta rap. The 90's was a great time for different music, grunge, pop, and most importantly Gangsta rap. NWA opened the door for this new type of music, which they did not participate in most of the crimes their lyrics claimed, but it showed artist that you do not have to speak in truth and that music is an art form.
So now one can ask themselves, was NWA an industry plant? Did someone devise a plan to shock the world with this look into the "Gangsta Life"? This is possible, seeing that a few of the members were already musician's, but not of the gangster type. Yes, they were from Compton, Easy E was a drug dealer who funded the group's production cost in the beginning. So they did see these hard struggles, but did not necessarily live out their lyrics of killings, and rape.
Does this happen in modern times? Of course it does....a perfect example would be Tyler the Creator. A rapper out Los Angeles. He shocked the world with his offensive lyrics most talk about rebellion, but there is also lyrics of stalking, confusion, and not knowing his father. Gaining a strong internet following via tumblr, Tyler's shocking lyrics grabbed every rebellious teenager's attention...but it wasn't just his lyrics. His unique style of beats and having an all star group backing him. OFWGKTA... Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, was his group mainly of close friends, but friends with talent. Tyler is definitely not the most talented one, but he is what got them all famous. Frank Ocean, an R&B singer/Rapper has had great success with his solo career. Earl Sweatshirt, is a rapper who gained a strong following at the rise of Odd Future, while the group campaigned to free Earl because his parents had sent him to a boarding school because of the music he was making with his friends.
Tyler the Creator and his band of friends getting famous off of scaring "white America" as he puts it. As soon as his following grew parents started restricting their children from hearing his music, similar to KISS in the 80s. But like anything mom and dad tells us to do... we will do the opposite. Long tube socks, cut off jeans, and tie dye shirts soon clothed the youth.
In my opinion he is marketing genius, because he got the attention of the masses by scaring the parents, and telling kids it is OK to be different. But was it all his idea? i'm sure Clancy had a lot to do with it. As soon as the fame hit, Tyler showed his true colors...he isn't a serial killer, he isn''t a homophobic, he isn't what his first music claimed he was. All Tyler the creator is, is a confused 21 year old kid...who just happened to know how to get in the spot light. Walking the line of Insane and Genius. Oh yeah, Tyler also made half a million dollars solely by selling socks. The outro on the Odd Future song "sandwitches" says "And we don't f***ing make horrorcore, you F***ing idiots, Listen deeper than the music before you put it in a box."
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