December 8, 2011 Catfish
‘To me, Blu is the rap version of Len Bias.’
I was watching a UFC fight today with one of my roommates. I watched Jon Jones absolutely destroy this cat named Rampage Jackson. Both are extremely skilled fighters, but Jones simply overpowered Jackson. We started comparing UFC to boxing, and the recurring theme we had was that the heavyweight division in boxing will never be what it once was. This is the case for two main reasons: 1) few boxing matches end in a KO or TKO so the decision is always an iffy result, and 2) boxing is extremely corrupt. There’s probably some boxer out there right now who could run amuck in the heavyweight division but he will never get a chance to show his exploits on this type of platform. Even though his talent is equal or superior he doesn’t have a certain image that the promoters feel is marketable, therefore they don’t want to risk him becoming an unmarketable champion. In the end, champions, of all sports, are commodities and it’s easier to profit off of ones that are marketable.
I like to view musicians just like sports champions. All professional athletes are talented, just as most musicians are talented. It takes a certain kind of talent to arrange melodies or lyrics in a manner that makes them appealing to listeners. However, the difference between a regular, run of the mill artist and a full-fledged superstar has little to do with the music usually and more with the package deal. The perfect storm of elements that help to catapult an artist from the middle of the pack to that champion status, where they are revered as one of the best in their profession. Sometimes you are just in the right place at the right time to reap the benefits of a great situation. Just ask The Game or Adam Morrison.
I feel that an artist cannot become successful in the music industry unless they have the right combination of talent and buzz. A lack of talent must be compensated by more than average buzz, and vice versa. And once it is discovered that a particular artist has talent and buzz they must capitalize on that buzz. It’s one thing to be viewed as talented; it’s another once your talent is acknowledged while you are at the height of your popularity so that you expand the time frame of your 15 minutes of fame. For example, let’s look at Drake. Drake is extremely talented and generated a ton of buzz by aligning himself with Lil Wayne and his Young Money label, and capitalized on this buzz by releasing his #1 album “Thank Me Later”. Kendrick Lamar is another artist that comes to mind that used his talent to generate a buzz and is capitalizing on the buzz that he is generating. Capitalizing on the buzz you generate is what separates talented artists. That is the main difference between an artist such as Lupe Fiasco and a very similar, lesser known artist such as Blu.
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