Who's a Sellout? Going Mainstream

We've all had that one artist that we love make a song that was a complete disappointment. You sit back and question whether the artists even wrote the song because it is so unlike him or her. Its one of the most depressing feelings and might even make you feel like the rest of the songs were just as fake.In todays world of Hip Hop selling out is a huge problem that artists face. Selling out has now become part of the game. Once an artist gets their name out there, they have to decide how far away they will stray from their original style and how many offers they will take with the new found fame.

With selling out becoming such a big part of Hip Hop, we now have to decide where to draw the line. Which artists should be named a sell out? and how do we know when their music has gone mainstream? In the end it all comes down to each fans opinion, and whether they believe the artists has sold out or not. It all depends on the original picture of the artists and whether the fans think they have forgotten where they came from.

There are many different ways that artists can sell out and many different things that artists have done that dont really support the image they have made for themselves. When looking at all the different ways you always need to consider whether the artist did it to remain relevant or if they did it just for the money. Because in the Hip Hop game today artists have to stay on  a fine line between fading away and becoming old news or selling out.

One way artists tend to stray close to mainstream music is when they begin to talk about all the clothes money and cars they have. No one likes to hear the same old song about fucking bitches in your Ferrari while drinking expensive Champagne....It gets old quick. But is this a strong enough point to accuse someone of becoming a sellout? For example, I could name thousands of Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, or Birdman songs about all their money and you would agree with me that these songs are sellout songs. But what about artists like Kendrick? Personally I dont think he has gone mainstream at all but even Kendrick has spit lines such as "Girl I'm Kendrick Lamar AKA Benz is to me just a car" so does this make him a sellout?

How about other means of selling out? Is Ice Cube a sell out? If we look at the image that he puts out as a rapper we see a hardcore gangster screaming "Fuck The Police" But then who is the man that appears in "Are We There Yet" that Ice Cube doesnt seem like he is "Straight Outa Compton" at all. So did he sell out by making that movie? Thats up to you.

 

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Oh but it gets worse. What happens when a classic artist that has made a huge impact on the world of Hip Hop makes his own Reality show?? Public Enemy was a group that left a gigantic mark on the world of Hip Hop with songs such as "Fight The Power" that inspired millions of people to rise up and stand together supporting eachother. But its hard to take any message Flava Flav says seriously after seeing the multiple seasons of "Flavor of Love"

So at the end of the day it all really depends on how accepting of a fan you are. Deciding whether your favorite artist has sold out or not depends on how many things that dont follow the original image of the artists that you are willing to deal with. There will always be artists that you cant accept selling out and artists that make one bad song and never get listened to again.