Does Rapper's Street Cred Get Them Signed Over Quality Of Music?

I feel like ever since Jeezy hit the scene a lot of rappers that claim to be real Street nigs been accepted more in the mainstream then ever before regardless if their music is hot or not.

Before Jeezy was 50 Cent but 50 cent was showcased more for the quality of his music over being in videos with a bunch of dudes flashing guns talking about his stories in the streets, and wearing a bunch of jewelry talking about being in the trap and all that.

I don't think people cared if 50 cent was really selling drugs or not because he was constantly making hit records.

On the other hand, when Young Jeezy and Lil Boosie first came out they seemed to be respected a lot more for their street cred over the quality of their music.

And then follows all the other rappers that comes out talking about being in the trap with all the nicknames for drugs, calling out names of nigs in prison, and doing videos flashing guns.

What do you think? Is it easier today to get a record deal and reach the mainstream due to how you present yourself as being a certified (Real) street nig?

the answer is yes,,,,and 50 is apart of that too

Hmmm. i never thought about it before, but now that i do, i think we are starting to move past this point a lil bit. not completely by any means, but the newer generation is based on upon street cred like that, not like it was with 50 or during the early to mid 90''s----i do'nt think anyways.....

In a sense yes.

The industry heads have created a formula for what or who sells records. I think people like to hear about a life they would never live. A lot of people listen to music to be entertained. Talking about the same shit normal people do isn't exactly entertaining. Plus being a gangster or real nigga is "cool".

50 started this street cred shit...when he came up with his marketing ploy of "being the rapper that got shot 9 times, now here's his story"

Since after that, labels were lookin for the next 50...a rapper that talked about alotta street shit in his rhymes, but now everyone wants to be like Kayne

HST wrote:the answer is yes,,,,and 50 is apart of that too

50 started it from what I've saw.

But I don't think 50 reached the mainstream on Street Cred. He got on from making good music.

In The Club was a hit and it had nothing to do with Selling drugs and shooting guns.

Street cred can get you noticed but if you don't have any music that appeals to fans, street cred can't save you. There are plenty of niggas with street cred that couldn't make it.
But if you have stred cred and a fanbase then you will definitely be approached by some labels
But if you aren't portraying yourself as a gangster then you don't need street cred.

9th Ave. (Til_Infinity) wrote:50 started this street cred shit...when he came up with his marketing ploy of "being the rapper that got shot 9 times, now here's his story"

Since after that, labels were lookin for the next 50...a rapper that talked about alotta street shit in his rhymes, but now everyone wants to be like Kayne

I agree strongly with the whole I got shot 9 times marketing ploy.

But that was different.....just like DMX was rapping about a lot of street shit in his rhymes....DMX was all the way street with a few commercial singles.

50 came with the I got shot thing, and everybody wanted to release songs about being shot.

Now this era comes and its different from 50 and DMX because now everybody is talking about how much weight they moving, showing off jewelry, cars, drugs, and guns......and doing what they can to earn their Street Cred....

And for the first time is actually getting into the mainstream.....I feel like before Real Authentic street nigz couldn't get on MTV and Radio because of what they represented and what kind of life they was living.

For an example,

When Puffy was trying to promote the Boys N The Hood album Puffy had to strong arm radio because they didn't want Jeezy to come to the radio station for interviews.

So it went from that....to not only Jeezy being accepted but all the other Trap Rappers having a open door to the mainstream.

WhatIsReallyReal? wrote:Hmmm. i never thought about it before, but now that i do, i think we are starting to move past this point a lil bit. not completely by any means, but the newer generation is based on upon street cred like that, not like it was with 50 or during the early to mid 90''s----i do'nt think anyways.....

Exactly, the kind of stuff that's allowed today would not be accepted back in that era.

It was too much of a risk for the major record lables to even deal with rappers that was really in the streets like that.

After 50 cent got shot he got dropped from Columbia records. It was too much of a risk for them.

it doesn't really do as much today as it used to. People are still captivated by the streets and those types of characters...but cred isn't selling like it used to

MyfriendscallmeMrParker wrote:it doesn't really do as much today as it used to. People are still captivated by the streets and those types of characters...but cred isn't selling like it used to

Nothing is really selling like it use to these days. I don't think the Street Cred helped rappers to sell records but it just put them in a position to reach mainstream and get attention based on what they was doing in the streets.

I think Plies got on due to the Street Cred deal but once he got in the door then he started blasting out Commercial hits and it helped him get that radio and video play.

I just think if it wasn't for the way he was portraying himself he wouldn't of made it as far as he did.