Originally Posted by arnas (Post 1684916)

Hello everyone! I've see a lot of new rappers comming up nowadays (like J. Cole, Mac Miller, Tyler the Creator, Kendrick Lamar etc.) and becoming really popular, but here's one thing: they're all american. Most of them say that you can achieve anything no matter what, but my question is... I wonder how any of them would achieve the same level of fame they have now if they weren't from USA? Let's say they were born somewhere in Europe. In a country, that's native language isn't english. How would they build up their fan base by rapping in english? How does anyone, who isn't from USA, UK or whatever builds a fan base if he raps in english? I am from a small country and I'm pretty sure english rap show wouldn't be popular here. I'm not trying to become popular or anything, I was just wondering... Any thoughts? Thanks!

Originally Posted by RoxyRollah (Post 1684919)

Same way you asked your question....the internet.

Originally Posted by Janszoon (Post 1684923)

Why rap in English? I'd much rather listen to someone rapping in their native language.

Originally Posted by arnas (Post 1684927)

Because:
1. I enjoy english more;
2. The market is a lot bigger;
3. It's probably a lot easier to get more popular;

Btw, I myself don't like listening to rap that's not in english, because what's the point? You can't understand any word.

Originally Posted by Janszoon (Post 1684930)

I was under the impression that English wasn't your first language, am I mistaken? I was referring to you rapping in your native language so obviously you would be able to understand yourself.

As far as what the point is of listening to rap when you can't understand the words goes, the point is the same as listening to any music: it's about how it sounds. Most rap lyrics aren't anything special anyway and they tend to be even worse when they're by someone who is not using their native language. I personally would rather hear someone rap in the language that comes most natural to them, because its probably going to sound a lot better.

Originally Posted by Qwertyy (Post 1684936)

J. Cole was born in Germany.

Also if you're looking to be famous porn is the easiest and quickest route, providing you're willing to do anything and everything.

Originally Posted by arnas (Post 1684939)

J. Cole being born in Germany basically doesn't change anything, because at the very young age he relocated to USA, where he was raised.

Originally Posted by Qwertyy (Post 1684943)

I think it does. I'm not saying it isn't hard for a non-American hip-hop artist to achieve the same level of success that an English emcee from the US can, but that doesn't mean you can't break into the market (yes J.Cole's situation is different than this, I know.) Jansz and Grindy are quite frequently sharing hip-hop from non-english artists here on MB, so I think there is a market for it, and while it may not be the same as what a mainstream rap artist would find, it still exists.

Originally Posted by arnas (Post 1684945)

Are you saying that people who are not from USA (even if they rap in english pretty good) can't get into the market that USA MCs are in?

Originally Posted by Qwertyy (Post 1684952)

Nope.

Originally Posted by arnas (Post 1684954)

Nope as in "that's not what you meant" or nope as in "nope, they can't"?

Originally Posted by Frownland (Post 1684964)

Make a goofy music video that's memeable and has a silly dance and people will buy your ****ty record in droves.

Originally Posted by Paul Smeenus (Post 1685007)

I'm from the US and I'm spectacularly unpopular

Originally Posted by arnas (Post 1684934)

Well, yes, my native language isn't english, but I was talking from my point of view i.e. I wouldn't listen to something I can't understand. And if we talk about rappers like Tyga, Gucci Mane etc. then yes, their lyrics probably don't have any deep meaning. But if we take someone like Tyler the Creator, Eminem, R.A. The Rugged Man - most of their lyrics have a really deep meaning.

Anyways, if one knows english really well, why do you think his lyrics will be bad? It's just a matter of how well your dictionary and overall english skills are.

Originally Posted by Janszoon (Post 1685131)

Because good lyrics are hard to write and they're even harder to write when you aren't using the language you're most comfortable with. Even if you speak a language well, you still will often miss out on the nuances if you're not a native speaker. This is an even bigger issue in hip hop than in other types of music because there's such an emphasis on using slang, something that's very tricky to pull off if it isn't your slang.

Originally Posted by arnas (Post 1685161)

Slangs, just like words, can be learned. Or am I wrong? I mean come on, it's 2016 right now, it's not that hard to find american slangs on the net and learn them.

Originally Posted by arnas (Post 1685161)

Look at the Dope D.O.D. for example. I had totally forgotten that they were from Netherlands. They are known world wide and probably just a few know that they are not from USA, because when you listen to them, you can't tell that.

Originally Posted by Janszoon (Post 1685173)

The fact that you just said "slangs" twice is an illustration of the kind of thing I'm talking about. Technically the word "slang" can be pluralized, but no native English speaker would have used it like that. It's a good example of the difference between simply speaking a language well and instinctively understanding the nuances the way a native speaker would.

I don't mean any of this in a negative way, I'm just saying be who you are. The world of hip hop is full of people rapping in English. You have the ability to bring something different to the table and I personally would way rather listen to that than listen to someone trying to sound like yet another American rapper.


I've never heard of Dope D.O.D. but I just looked them up and they don't even have an English language Wikipedia page. That should tell you something about their level of popularity in the English speaking world.

Originally Posted by RoxyRollah (Post 1685184)

The who?

Originally Posted by arnas (Post 1685183)

Quote from their website:



So I suppose they're pretty big.

Originally Posted by arnas (Post 1685183)

And talking about which language I should rap in... I don't enjoy my native language as much as I enjoy english. And I never tried to "learn" english. It just came to me naturally. I never studied it in school or anywhere else. Watching movies in english, reading forums, news in english, playing games in english was the way of learning this language. I'd enjoy rapping in english much more than I'd enjoy doing it in my native language.

Besides that, there're only 3 million people in my country, so the market is really small here. And I'm pretty sure only a few people would listen to a rap song that they don't understand.

Originally Posted by grindy (Post 1685019)

Basically you're David Hasselhoff.

Originally Posted by Paul Smeenus (Post 1685231)

<-- Made this my user title

Originally Posted by Janszoon (Post 1685195)

I have no idea whether they're big in general or not, I'm just saying they aren't big in the English speaking world. Playing SXSW doesn't mean much. A lot of not very well known artists play SXSW in addition to the well known artists.



Hey, if you want to rap in English then rap in English. I'm just saying that the odds of striking it rich as an ESL rapper affecting American slang are very low so you'd be better off focusing on doing what you love rather than worrying about targeting the right market. Personally, I like to have some linguistic variety in my rap (and music general) so it's always a bit of a bummer when I see someone who feels obligated to use English lyrics just because popular artists in their genre use English lyrics.

Originally Posted by Paul Smeenus (Post 1685231)

<-- Made this my user title

Originally Posted by Qwertyy (Post 1685235)

But how will people know it's a spoonerism?

Originally Posted by arnas (Post 1685259)

Well, that all comes down to my question: how do you become popular if you're not from USA? They are so good in english that I couldn't tell they are from Netherlands. So I suppose it doesn't really change much if you know english well?

Originally Posted by Janszoon (Post 1685285)

What I'm saying is, when it comes to English language hip-hop, you probably don't unless you're from another English speaking country.

Originally Posted by arnas (Post 1685434)

Okay, then why does it matter if I'm from England or anywhere else. Why my odds are bigger of becoming popular in USA if I'm from UK?

Originally Posted by arnas (Post 1685434)

Okay, then why does it matter if I'm from England or anywhere else. Why my odds are bigger of becoming popular in USA if I'm from UK?