The real reason underground rappers are underground

[xxTrigger1989xx]

Last time I checked Nas is still Mainstream.

This

[classthe_king]

Last time I checked I didn't have on friend at my school who knew who Nas was and when I showed them his music they responded "This beat sucks"

Nas may be mainstream to us but he is not mainstream.

[dead prez]

Stop using personal anecdotal evidence as proof to prove your point who cares that people who you know don't know who Nas is, tons of kids in my school know who he is. He may not be Drake mainstream or Kid Cudi mainstream but he still is. You must be a brain dead idiot on rilatine who knows dick about hip hop to not know who he is, I mean seriously.

[classthe_king]

Which is exactly what kids these days are...

[dead prez]

I can agree with you on that. Too many kids on my school fronting though acting like they know hip hop just cause they have Devil's son and C.r.e.a.m. on their ipod, which is just as annoying as those that listen to Drake and Lil Wayne etc.

[classthe_king]

I'm just saying just becaust a lot of people on the internet have heard of nas and every hip-hop head puts them in there top ten doesn't mean he isn't still underground. The general population doesn't know who Nas is let alone listen to him. Last time I remember him being popular was with I Can but all that has completely died.

[dead prez]

He's about Lupe Fiasco, Common level in terms of mainstream success right now, his last album really flew under the radar though.

[classthe_king]

I would say Common is underground. Lupe Fiasco is SLIGHTLY mainstream because people still remember Superstar but it's not like anyone will listen to his next album.

[EminemBase]

I'm just saying just becaust a lot of people on the internet have heard of nas and every hip-hop head puts them in there top ten doesn't mean he isn't still underground. The general population doesn't know who Nas is let alone listen to him. Last time I remember him being popular was with I Can but all that has completely died.

I would hardly call Nas underground.

Granted that the average music fan doesn't know much about him or much of his music, or may not of heard of him. But anybody into hip-hop, even on a mainstream level - well not anybody but most people know who he is and he's far above underground.

Hip-Hop is Dead sold over 300k in its 1st week. And that was in 2006, 12 years into his career and at one of the lowest points in record sales. You can't call those kind of numbers underground. He still carries himself like an underground rapper, and doesn't have universal hits but, he's mainstream.

[dead prez]

He did built a lot of hype of that album with the controversial name title though, same with Untitled. Probably one of the main reasons it did so well.

[EminemBase]

He did built a lot of hype of that album with the controversial name title though, same with Untitled. Probably one of the main reasons it did so well.

Yeah but even so. An underground artist can call their album whatever they like, it don't matter because they're not on a public radar.

No doubt the titles alone boosted sales but, he's on a public radar else it wouldn't of mattered regardless. Anybody who debuts in the top stratosphere of the Billboard 200, has videos on MTV and gets reviewed by Rolling Stone, is mainstream.

He's just not a big mainstream artist, or one that transcends genres. There's different levels of fame and notoriety, but nonetheless, he's mainstream.

And as a matter of fact, Nas is a big artist, his name is legendary and he is international. But, his success is fleeting and in bursts, his themes remain limited and raw, so it's never undeniable radio domination. But, he's still big.

[dead prez]

Not disagreeing with you, in fact you just reinforced my points so thanks.

[Master Chief]

Common is not underground. If you appear on MTV you're not mainstream. If you're album (Be) goes gold you're not mainstream. His last album sold 81k on the 1st week. Not really Drake, Eminem or Kanye mainstream but still mainstream nonetheless.

On another note, Tech N9ne has stopped being underground as of lately.

[dead prez]

^Would slaughterhouse be considered underground?

[classthe_king]

I think it all comes down to what you think mainstream and underground is

If I don't hear something being played all over the radio then to me it's underground.