Five Things I Would Tell Local Rappers

"I'm from a town that they fly through but never fly to/Just a plain little town, trying to be fly, too." - Swoope '

In the 1980s, hip-hop legends Mc Shan and KRS-One got in a heated rap battle over whether hip-hop originated in Queensbridge or the South Bronx. 

One thing we know for sure. Hip-hop didn't originate in Staunton, Va. Still, many of my friends in the 24401 have dreams about having a hip-hop career. As someone who grew up loving hip-hop and a person who uses words a lot, I have so much I want to talk to the young apsiring artists about in terms of pursuing a hip-hop career. 

I couldn't fit them all in a blog, so I chose these five: 

1. Pursue Your Dream!  Let's just be honest. Failure is both scary and painful. Rejection hurts.  To keep from experiencing those emotions, we tend to never really go all in on any of our dreams. If you really want to be a hip-hop artist, you have to realize that the road to that dream has many painful detours. If it's really your dream, go all in on your dream. When you experience setbacks or rejections, know that every artist who made it had those same setbacks along the way. 

2. Grind while you're dreaming.  It takes a while for music to become profitable, but a lot of the time bills can't wait. Imagine a job is like a boat and your dream career of being a hip-hop artist is like a raft. You have to be on the boat, but all your free time should be spent building your raft. You need a legit revenue stream until music pops off for you, but that doesn't mean you have to give up on your dream. So ... in the meantime,  get a job! 

3. Create your own media outlets. Despite being a small town, there are lots of hip-hop artists and lots of hip-hop fans. If all the area rappers came together once a month for a 16-bar challenge and charged audience members $3 to come, you have created your own revenue stream with your own talent. Plus, you would get the practice you need competing and performing.  Making something out of relatively nothing has always been the hip-hop way. You (area rappers collectively) could be combining your talents and resources and making revenue now.  If there's no radio that will play local rap music, someone could easily create a local hip-hop blog and podcast that interviews the local artists and features their music. Put together a one-day hip-hop conference that teaches how to write lyrics, make beats, etc. It is true that it's not the easiest place to be a hip-hop artist, but you should still exhaust all the resources you have available to you. Bottom line. Take your talent and create your own revenue streams. 

4. Keep it 100. You can't say you're a serious rapper if you write songs once in a blue moon and you never work at getting better. If it is really your dream, you need to learn the business side of the industry. And if you're in school, you need to be in the choral classes, drama department and the band. All things that relate to your career. How could you want to make rap videos and not take the classes that will help you be a better actor? You have to always get better. Have you learned how to change your voice to reflect the mood of a song? Have you learned to get your cadence to match the drum patterns? Raw talent isn't enough. Keep improving as an artist! 

5. Make responsible art. Music has staying power. If I were to say, "In West Philadelphia born and raised," you would know exactly how to respond. Those words are likely lodged in your head for the rest of your life. In a sense, the rapper is like the pied piper to a community. I don't mind rappers rapping about real life and real circumstances, but if you are glorifying the demeaning of women, the selling of drugs and the hypermasculine, gun-toting, super-rich thug guy, you are making art that is potentially destroying its listeners. Take your responsibility as an artist seriously. Make music that inspires and uplifts broken communities. 

The video below is by a dude named Spec. I love it, because it just lays out the ups and downs in his journey into the music industry. Hopefully, it will be inspirational for some of y'all. 



I write these blogs as conversation-starters.  I would love to hear your thoughts on this blog post or other insight you may have for aspiring artists. 
Chris Lassiter is a Christ-follower, a husband to Emily (read her blog here), a father to five crazy kids, a freelance writer, and a Young Life leader in his hometown of Staunton, VA. Moody Publications published his first book, You're Grounded, in 2013. You can read about it here.