Nick Grant believes that lyricism is still alive and well in Hip Hop, but has said that it’s not necessarily getting the push that it needs.
The talented wordsmith recently sat down with HipHopDX to promote his latest album, SUNDAY DINNER, where he was asked about Fabolous’ recent sentiments that top-tier lyricism is hard to find in Hip Hop today.
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While he agreed, Nick named a few newer artists he has his eyes on, and noted that they need to be ushered in by bigger artists to get the shine they deserve.
“We gotta just stop hiring people that love the trolling, that love all the negative stuff that just comes with it and people that just love the microwave shit,” he told DX. “We gotta get back to actually living and breathing the culture The artists as well too.”
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He then highlighted some of the rising talent he thinks people should be paying attention to: “It’s a lot of different young artists: the Marqus Claes…the Reuben Vincents of the world. We gotta push that. I been here for a minute now but these guys are younger.”
For Nick Grant, he believes that in order for the majority of new talent to succeed they need to be ushered in by bigger stars, much like Lil Wayne did Drake, JAY-Z did J. Cole, Rick Ross did Wale, and Kanye West did with multiple stars such as Kid Cudi, Big Sean and CyHi The Prynce.
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“It’s tough when I say this and I always get push back, but lyricism is a[n old] boys’ club,” he explained. “I feel like you gotta be ushered in. I feel like the J. Coles, the Drakes … these guys were ushered in by [JAY-Z and Lil Wayne]. That’s how I feel about it. If these guys that we know and love say you got it, we believe them. We trust them. Even Kanye [came in via] JAY-Z.
“I get a lot of push back from that, like, ‘No it doesn’t matter!’ But I feel like it matters.”
You can watch the full conversation below:
Fab‘s aforementioned comments arrived on an episode of Rap City Beyond the Basement in the fall when the conversation turned to lyricism in today’s rap music.
“I think it’s still here, in a sense. It’s just not always pushed to the forefront,” he said about lyricism in rap. “I think people need to hear lyrics that push them, that inspire them, create memories too. They need those. Every song can’t just be party, turn up. You need something that gives you…”
“Balance,” Big Tigger responded, before Fab added: “We’re getting [lyricism] in little spurts.”
He referenced an earlier part of the conversation where the panel members (Tigger, Fab, Bow Wow, Kenny Burns, and DJ Jelly) spoke about “what’s getting pushed and who’s pushing it,” and that those decisions account for why lyrical rappers don’t always get the biggest commercial looks.
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“But I believe [lyricism is] here and I believe even now, the audience has the power to research it,” Fab concluded. “They could search online, they could find those guys.”
