What does it mean to be "real" in hip-hop?

[Nightfall]

music wise, not being in it for the money

That doesn't have a thing to do with being Real.  You can be in it for the money, and still be Real.  All musicians are in it for the money, who wouldn't be?

i guess in saying that, every rapper is real coz they are all going for what they want.... the $$$

lol, in theory yes, but that doesnt work like that at all

some people just recognize it and some dont

[N-Sane Brain]

...Anyways, to be a 'real' rapper, you have to have "I don't give a fuck itis" [...] it has a lot to do with doing things because you want to do them, not because other people want you to do them...

Agree

...i guess in saying that, every rapper is real coz they are all going for what they want.... the $$$

Hmm... you made your point

[Primo]

IMO Eminem is one of the realer cats.He came from trailer park.He does NOT claim to be a gangsta.Hes gotton arrested for pistol whippin,pullin a gun on people. Most of the cats people listen to claim they killed someone but they didnt. Its entertainment.

Look at Ja Rule. I could whoop his ass and he thinks hes the most hardcore gangsta in town.

[Que (signing off)]

heres tha real,

if you from the hood and bang or grew up round bangers and you do gangsta shit, you real. if u from the burbs rapping  shit u never seen or been around, u fake.

simple as that, no need for the essays

[pappy]

Basically. If you are true to yourself and your message. If you stay true to the culture that was laid down by the forefathers like Soul Sonic Force, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5, Run-DMC, D.J. Kool Herc, and even the true schoolers like Eric. B. & Rakim, and Boogie Down Production, Slick Rick, and N.W.A. and Ice T. As long as you are true, then you are real. If you lie to get sales, then you are fake, or if you are rhyming to downgrade a group of people, like pimpin' hoes down grades women. That's fake, especially if you lie on yourself. Come on, if what all rappers would say are true, then a lot of rappers would have a grip of life sentances for murder. Being true is real hip-hop.

Also, you're wrong about the part about killing in music.  Everybody knows they're all lying,

the sad thing is not everyone knows there lying.  some people actually believe this when they hear it like infinite believes the chronic is the proper representation of a black man in america

[T.J.]

heres tha real,

if you from the hood and bang or grew up round bangers and you do gangsta shit, you real. if u from the burbs rapping  shit u never seen or been around, u fake.

simple as that, no need for the essays

that has absolutely nothing to do with it. why is being "Gangsta" so real?

[Trauma-san]

Yeah, being gangsta has nothing to do with it.  By that mentality, you think X-Raided is real because he murdered some woman?  Fuck that, he's a fuck up, I give him no props for anything like that.  Like my first example, Canibus is 100 times the man X-Raided is, and to me 100 times as real, and he wouldn't hurt a fly.

[T.J.]

agreed ^^

[DJ_Jay_Deee]

Being real is just being yourself. Not trying to fake something ya not.

[Jome]

These are the criterias for "being real" in hiphop:


* You rep a color. Even better if you shoot/bang people reppin' other colors.
(This doesn't count if you started repping after the age of 14, you will be considered fake instead)

* You also rep your city.
(Doesn't count if you're not born and bred in this city, even if you have lived 25 years in this city)

* You "put in work for the set". Best done by ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

* You don't know how to spell

* You got expelled from school and started selling drugs

* You got shot once or better yet multiple times. Even better: you're dead.

Now you're a real motherfucker.

[N-Sane Brain]

...Canibus is [...] to me 100 times as real, and he wouldn't hurt a fly.

He's in the US army

[M Dogg™]

These are the criterias for "being real" in hiphop:


* You rep a color. Even better if you shoot/bang people reppin' other colors.
(This doesn't count if you started repping after the age of 14, you will be considered fake instead)

* You also rep your city.
(Doesn't count if you're not born and bred in this city, even if you have lived 25 years in this city)

* You "put in work for the set". Best done by ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

* You don't know how to spell

* You got expelled from school and started selling drugs

* You got shot once or better yet multiple times. Even better: you're dead.

Now you're a real motherfucker.

funny, this sounds like being real to gang culture, not hip-hop. Hip-Hop is not gangsta. The eastcoast is not all about colors, and many artist like Rakim are real, and have proven to be quiet literate. Check the difference between gang and hip-hop.

Also, Trauma, if you are white, and rap about growing up the way you did, that real. Hip-Hop is not for a color, not discriminate. Hip-Hop is for everyone, and if that's you, then that's real.k No matter what. Oh and if I remember correctly, Ice Cube pulled a Nas back in the day. Both Nas and Ice Cube told tales of the hood that they saw, but put themselves in it, as if they were the killers. This is story telling, which is affective in getting a message across. The main point was not to say what a killer I am, but this is how people live. This was especially important before the L.A. Riots, when people did not believe things like police brutality or the crack problem were as bad as people thought. Nas then pulled it on the streets of New York. So in a way it's not real, but in fact, its more real than can be, 'cause it get a real message across.

[Lil Jay]

Ice Cube is real as shit, why?  Because he WANTS to make music about killing people, so he does.  Everybody knows he's lying.... everybody knows he went to college, and hasn't even been arrested... but he doesn't GIVE A FUCK.  That's why he's real, he's doing what he wants to do.  Peace~

thats fake to me cause you KNOW it aint true but you go tell people something else just cause its gonna sell or people gonna like it. you're not real just cause you dont give a fuck about anything. to me thats ignorant. but you can be real when you dont give a fuck about anything when you REALLY believe in what you do, cause You do it cause you want it not cause other people gonna like it.


to me youre real when you do it for the love and with heart. when you stand up for what you believe in and stay true to yourself. When you're tryin to be something that’s out of your element or anything other than yourself it aint real to me.

[Trauma-san]

These are the criterias for "being real" in hiphop:


* You rep a color. Even better if you shoot/bang people reppin' other colors.
(This doesn't count if you started repping after the age of 14, you will be considered fake instead)

* You also rep your city.
(Doesn't count if you're not born and bred in this city, even if you have lived 25 years in this city)

* You "put in work for the set". Best done by ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

* You don't know how to spell

* You got expelled from school and started selling drugs

* You got shot once or better yet multiple times. Even better: you're dead.

Now you're a real motherfucker.

LOL

[Trauma-san]

SOP In a way I agree with you, and maybe Cube is just the exception to the rule.  I would never, ever exclude Cube from a Real list, though, he's real as fuck.  He's about as Real as they get (in my opinion).

I think the difference with me is, I don't think Cube was doing it just to sale records, I think he was doing it because it was just something he was interested in (not going and killing people, but writing about it).