Questlove recalled his late manager Richard Nichols predicting, after 50 Cent’s rise, that there would eventually be a shift away from gangsta rap, a theory he felt was proven when Kanye West’s Graduation went head-to-head with 50’s Curtis in 2007.
Vince Staples offered a much sharper interpretation of that moment:
“I just thought all the white people picked Kanye up, and they put 50 down. It’s like a toy. It’s like, they wanna play with Kanye now. They don’t wanna play with 50 no more.”
Vince said it felt like the industry was essentially saying: “This is our version of a Negro that we like. We don’t like the gangster Negro anymore… Let’s get the nigga in the backpack.”
His larger point: Black audiences didn’t necessarily decide they had to choose between 50 and Kanye. In Vince’s view, the industry decided which version of Blackness it wanted to market next.
DELINEATION is a must.
Melanated immigrants from the Carribean & Africa, relocating to the United States (1965-90s) with foreign mentality consisting of 🚫"Undermining ways, Tribalism, Ungratefulness, Entitlement by way of piggyback Flatblackness/Tethering, Kissin White Azzes.