Image by Rehab Regime
THE COMMERCIALIZATION
OF BATTLE RAP
In my last article, I brought up a point and said I'd address it at another time in another article, well here we are. Battle Rap superfans have been clamoring for the mainstream for quite some time now. Hoping that somehow Battle Rap "goes mainstream." This is the most illogical shit ever you ask me. Battle Rap isn't built for the "mainstream." There are several reasons why, but first I want to take people down memory lane and remind them of the couple of times battle rap DID go "mainstream."
First, there was the Blaze Battles on HBO. After that shit, battle rap went back to obscurity. Then we had Fight Klub on MTV2, which was short lived. After that shit, battle rap went back to obscurity. Now if you're the type of person who believes that "History repeats itself" and "patterns exist for a reaso,n" then you could say that this is a pattern and history is bound to repeat itself. I personally am of that mentality.
There are many reasons why battle rap will not ever go mainstream. The first reason I can think of was told to me by my friend, Jay Smooth (whom is one of the smartest people I know.) The biggest problem battle rap has is that it alienates two groups of people: Women & the LGBT community. Battle rap is filled with bars that some pretty big demographics wouldn't find appealing. Am I saying that battle rappers SHOULD change and stop doing/saying certain things?! NO. I'm a strong believer in, “Say whatever the fuck you want to.” I'm also not going to turn a blind eye to the fact that we cut ourselves off from ALL demographics.
It doesn't end there - logically WHAT channel would host this commercialized and mainstream theoretical battle league? MTV? BET? HBO? Fucking FUSE bruh!? [Laughs] Sincerely, (in my opinion) there is going to be a sign of demise in battle rap. Personally, I view any attempt to commercialize battle rap as a black eye on our culture. The current era might be coming to an end as History Repeats Itself.
Sincerely,
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