Talib Kweli admits Macklemore's audience don't know hip hop

[King Lance]

I think a lot of you don't really understand what people are saying when they say "mack isn't rap"...

People are just saying that YOUR audience define the genre of music that you make. Ridiculous ? if you want.. but it has always been like that. Sure eminem has a lot of pop fans but dude also has a crazy amount of rap fans. To me Macklemore makes pop/rap music just like Drake makes rnb/rap music but Drake probably has way more ran fans than rnb fans and the majority of hip hop listeners would put him in a top 5 with names such as Kendrick, Cole, Big Krit, Nas, Lupe, Em, Pusha, Danny Brown, Kanye,..

Yes but the hip-hop community is also made up of nothing more but rap listeners. Rap is still young, and it was born as an african american art form. Take a step back from that and realize that ALL humans have a strong urge to resist change. Routine and tradition help us feel like we have a more secure place in this world and that we have a good idea of what is going on around us.

Going back to what I said earlier. Rap is still YOUNG. It started as a black art form and since it is still young the humans who have been creating it thus far are scared to see it be pushed out of its normal boundaries. Over time, Macklemore listeners will make up more and more of "rap" and the community will grow to respect that. Once a majority of hip-hop likes macklemore, and I could see that happening as both he & the genre grow, then the people clinging to the old ways will be to hip-hop what christian fundamentalists are to religion. Violence promoting biggots who are afraid to step out of their little box they call home.

Rap isn't young my friend.

[therapist]

I think a lot of you don't really understand what people are saying when they say "mack isn't rap"...

People are just saying that YOUR audience define the genre of music that you make. Ridiculous ? if you want.. but it has always been like that. Sure eminem has a lot of pop fans but dude also has a crazy amount of rap fans. To me Macklemore makes pop/rap music just like Drake makes rnb/rap music but Drake probably has way more ran fans than rnb fans and the majority of hip hop listeners would put him in a top 5 with names such as Kendrick, Cole, Big Krit, Nas, Lupe, Em, Pusha, Danny Brown, Kanye,..

Yes but the hip-hop community is also made up of nothing more but rap listeners. Rap is still young, and it was born as an african american art form. Take a step back from that and realize that ALL humans have a strong urge to resist change. Routine and tradition help us feel like we have a more secure place in this world and that we have a good idea of what is going on around us.

Going back to what I said earlier. Rap is still YOUNG. It started as a black art form and since it is still young the humans who have been creating it thus far are scared to see it be pushed out of its normal boundaries. Over time, Macklemore listeners will make up more and more of "rap" and the community will grow to respect that. Once a majority of hip-hop likes macklemore, and I could see that happening as both he & the genre grow, then the people clinging to the old ways will be to hip-hop what christian fundamentalists are to religion. Violence promoting biggots who are afraid to step out of their little box they call home.

Rap isn't young my friend.

Just because it started off sucking and took 15 years to evolve into something pleasing doesn't mean it isn't young. I'm talking about the birth of the industry. What evolved into a tool for changing the world. Rap's ability to do that is very young, and to the rest of the world that's mostly what counts.

[Mr.DGAF]

Rap isn't young my friend.

It's still pretty young in the grand scheme of it all, imo.

I'd agree with this. As a major force recognized musically, rap is pretty young. Of course people have been doing it for a long ass time too.

[King Lance]

Everybody was saying the same shit for Drake, everybody was saying that Thank Me Later was going to bring new rap fans to the game... it didn't happen, Drake had to change his sound to be accepted by rap listeners.

[King Lance]

Mack's content is still 100 trillion times more stimulating than anything Drake has ever done, tbh.

Agree to disagree I guess

[NextEpisode]

Talib Kweli Greene ✔ @TalibKweli

RT @bryden78 I was offended when u said Macklemore audience don't know hip hop (I just toured with Macklemore. 40 dates. And they don't.)


Talib Kweli Greene ✔ @TalibKweli

@bryden78 the fact remains the vast majority of Heist buyers do not know hiphop. This is not a diss, its a fact. Don't be offended by facts

https://twitter.com/TalibKweli/statuses ... 2090356736

https://twitter.com/TalibKweli/statuses ... 8473431040

It would seem that, implicitly, what Talib Kweli really is saying is that Macklemore's audience do not know his (and possibly Big K.R.I.T.'s) music, lol.

[Rattle1]

Talib Kweli Greene ✔ @TalibKweli

RT @bryden78 I was offended when u said Macklemore audience don't know hip hop (I just toured with Macklemore. 40 dates. And they don't.)


Talib Kweli Greene ✔ @TalibKweli

@bryden78 the fact remains the vast majority of Heist buyers do not know hiphop. This is not a diss, its a fact. Don't be offended by facts

https://twitter.com/TalibKweli/statuses ... 2090356736

https://twitter.com/TalibKweli/statuses ... 8473431040

It would seem that, implicitly, what Talib Kweli really is saying is that Macklemore's audience do not know his (and possibly Big K.R.I.T.'s) music, lol.

This is not what he is saying.

[Rattle1]

1.. he never said a word about macklemore.. so people saying he dissed dude, he didn't say 1 word about him

2.. he said HIS FANS don't know hip hop.. considering most his singles are on rock stations and pop stations..

3.. I have never come across a macklemore fan who enjoys hip hop music

4.. Most macklemore fans I know think he is a pop artist

[Rattle1]

burn the bridge you just crossed to the biggest look you ever got



respect to talib kweli, hes keeping it real

[NextEpisode]

Talib Kweli Greene ✔ @TalibKweli

RT @bryden78 I was offended when u said Macklemore audience don't know hip hop (I just toured with Macklemore. 40 dates. And they don't.)


Talib Kweli Greene ✔ @TalibKweli

@bryden78 the fact remains the vast majority of Heist buyers do not know hiphop. This is not a diss, its a fact. Don't be offended by facts

https://twitter.com/TalibKweli/statuses ... 2090356736

https://twitter.com/TalibKweli/statuses ... 8473431040

It would seem that, implicitly, what Talib Kweli really is saying is that Macklemore's audience do not know his (and possibly Big K.R.I.T.'s) music, lol.

This is not what he is saying.

Well, obviously that is not the message he's trying to convey. But... the (empirical) evidence he provides to support his claim is that he toured with Macklemore: "I just toured with Macklemore. 40 dates. And they don't [know hiphop]".

Then the question is, during these shows, what would make Talib Kweli convinced that a 'vast majority' of [Macklemore] fans do not know hiphop... This was an Arena tour, right? So, assuming there was an average of 10-15k in attendance, you're unlikely to successfully and correctly survey such audiences.

Is it not reasonable to suspect that the general response he and Big K.R.I.T. was getting from Macklemore fans - to at least some extent - formed the basis for the conclusion that they do not know hiphop? If you agree, then you should also understand the rationale behind my previous [intentionally exaggerated] comment.

[JamaicanPattlez]

Lance, I think that you forgot that you are white too.

Where did I mention skin color in this thread ?

You said that you don't wanna discuss that on TR, where most people are white. I bet my ass that you meant ktt or coli where most are black. Black people automatically hate on Macklemore, don't even say that this is not true.

I'm sure you meant that when you said that about TR

Gonna stop you right here, cause that's not 100% true. There's plenty of us who fuck with him or at least show respect for him. We might not fuck with him heavy like that, but for the most part, we don't outright hate him. I respect Mack.

[therapist]

I have two black friends who both like Macklemore a lot.

[therapist]

While everyone is debating on race, Mack had this shit predicted.

And neighbourhoods where you never see a news crew
Unless they're gentrifying, white people don't even cruise through
And my subconscious telling me stop it
This is an issue that you shouldn't get involved in
Don't even tweet "R.I.P Trayvon Martin"
Don't wanna be that white dude, million-man marching
Fighting for a freedom that my people stole
Don't wanna make all my white fans uncomfortable
But you don't even have a fuckin' song for radio
While you out here talking race, I'm trying to save the fucking globe
Don't get involved if the cause isn't mine
White privilege, white guilt, at the same damn time

From "Awake" off The Heist

[yung rom]

Pretty sure this is old news.. When I went to the Macklemore concert in Buffalo like three months ago I got meet and greet tickets for Talib and when we got to his van, he was talking how most people at the concerts weren't hip hop fans, they were pop fans. Tbh, I'm sure most of the people there didn't even know who he was (meet and greet tickets were like $20, but only like 7 people got them). However, he went on to say it didn't really matter, and he had tons of respect for Macklemore and everything he does. It wasn't like an insult.