ARTISTS LIKE LIL PUMP ARE PUTTING LOTS OF EFFORT INTO THEIR PERSONAL IMAGE. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR A NEW GENERATION OF HIP HOP.
Hip Hop is an ever evolving culture since its birth in the mid 70’s. These days the internet controls Hip Hop. What’s trending, what’s in and out. These days making professional sounding music has gotten easier and putting your music out for people to listen to even easier. Because of these two factors in modern day Hip Hop there are thousands of artists competing for attention and for their music to be heard. I have found that recently artist have been putting less effort into there music and more into the persona. Artists are in competition to be more over the top then the next.
I found a recent article written by The Sun a prominent UK news source. In the article they talk about how Arnold Gutierrez a Hip Hop producer who got a massive tattoo portrait of Anne Frank on his face. Now the big question everyone has been asking is why! There is a few answers for this but i will start with some of the stuff Arnold said himself. “There are people in history that didn’t have power to control, to actually do things they wanted to do with their lives. To be stuck in a house, end up dying… dude i’m dying to make music. That’s the way I look at it. It’s very black and white.” Don’t blame me for that explanation, that’s what he said! Now the other explanation for this Tattoo is what everyone else has been talking about and even arnold self heartedly admitted too. Currently there are so many music artists competing for attention that it has been less about the music and more about the look, gimmicks and lifestyle. Face Tattoos have been a part of Hip Hop for a while now. I remember when Gucci Mane got a giant animated Ice Cream cone across his cheek and everyone thought it was crazy. At the same time he got a lot of media attention for it. Each rapper sets the bar higher and higher. That’s why I feel like Arnold felt he needed to get an Anne Frank face tattoo. I’m willing to bet Anne Frank didn’t mean that much to Arnold but new he could get Clout from it. Clout is a new term meaning recognition, respect and fame. I noticed that right when Arnold got this tattoo the rapper Lil Xan, who is getting a lot of attention right now officially added Arnold to his Hip Hop group Xanarchy. Lil Xan made a large social media post about adding Arnold to the group with a picture of him showing off his new tattoo. The picture went viral and gave Arnold a quick 20,000 followers on his new Instagram account. It went more viral beyond Lil Xans instagram post though with many articles being written about the brazen tattoo (including the one i’m referencing). This tattoo along with many other things rappers are doing these days is a stunt. A stunt that’s working.
So why rappers do crazy things is because they get attention and media from it. That makes sense but why does the over the top insanity sell? Why is rap with dumbed down lyrics, fast and hard hitting beats way more popular then raps with complex and meaningful lyrics? Im stumbling into an even bigger idea of what we are attracted too as humans so let’s narrow back into why artists are putting more time and energy into their persona then their music. Noisey, a music subset of Vice came out with a stupid article and an alright interview with the billboard topping artist Lil Pump and Smokepurpp. I said the article was bad because of the title Reading “this interview with lil pump and Smokepurpp will make you stupider”. Not sure if it was a big joke but, Stupider, really? I’m going to prove why reading this interview will actually make you a whole lot smarter, while it also gives good insights on how the dynamic duo brand themselves.The reporter mentions how their wave of music and genre doesn’t have an official title yet it has been called Soundcloud rap and grunge rap. When the reporter asked them what they would call their genre of Hip hop they simply responded with “Ignorant”. “What are some tips to being ignorant? Lil Pump: Stop giving a fuck. Smokepurpp: Not saying “ignorant” saying “ih-norant!” you feel me?” Ignorant: Lacking knowledge or awareness in general; uneducated or unsophisticated. Ignorant is usually is seen as an insult used as a synonym for dumb and uneducated but recently people have embraced it. I remember in 2013–2014 when i lived in Seattle and I first started hearing people embrace ignorance. Lil pump and Smokepurpp have taken ignorance to another level with crazy public stunts and not giving a fuck in general. I think that a lot of people have connected with that, when people listen to Lil pumps music they don’t just like the hard beats and the savage lyrics but also the ideas Pump puts forth. Pump and Purpp sell the ideas that education is unimportant and that being “ignorant” is something to be proud of. The youth of today connects with that, tired of the system that screws everyone over and a brutal economy that only rewards the brightest and most privileged of people. The people who don’t understand this new “ignorant” wave of music are usually employed and members of society. I believe the youth of today compared to the youth of the 90’s or the 80’s have become dissatisfied with the educations system and the economy than ever before. I’m not sure if purp and pump even realize this but their image and music isn’t just something to get lit too, but possibly something to start a revolution too. Artists are putting more effort into their personal image than their music because they are connecting to an angry and wild youth generation that america and the world has yet to understand.
Artists like Arnold, Lil pump and smokepurpp are putting a lot of effort into their personal image and less effort into their music. There are many reasons for this but one of the main reasons is media coverage and exposure. When artists do crazy things like face tattoos and public stunts everyone becomes interested and they are brought into the limelight. Another big reason is connecting with their fans. Pushing the “no fucks” attitude has connected with today’s youth like never before. The youth of America is angry, volatile and feels like the system is just there to screw them over. Today’s artists are here to tell the youth Ignorance is something to be proud of.
Sources
- Harrison, George. Rapper gets a tattoo of Anne Frank on his face… because he’s ‘dying’ to make music. The Sun. October 10th 2017. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4650778/anne-frank-tattoo/
2. Benz, Tyler. Reading this interview with lil pump and Smokepurpp will make you stupider. Noisey. Vice. August 8th 2017. https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/kzze73/reading-this-interview-with-lil-pump-and-smokepurpp-will-make-you-stupider