Rap Authenticity Quotes

I would not consider myself to be a quote unquote real New York rapper. I don't even like New York rappers.

Rap is from the streets and I'm from the streets. That's why a lot of people accept me.

I don't feel that rap has been respected as an art form. Because people have seen rappers rap off the top of their heads, they don't think it is difficult.

What I really love about the Bay area sound is that it's very unique and that's something I want to strive for, as an artist. It's easy to get caught up in what's trending, but Bay area rap stays true to the local sound.

The music becomes more pure and soulful when it's true, and it has to be true these days with the way the internet works, and the way the game works, everyone wants authentic raps.

I like smart rappers who aren't necessarily trying to be deeper than you, like Danny Brown.

I wanted to explain that just because I'm rapping in this funny way doesn't mean that I'm not worthy of actually being evaluated as a rapper.

Hip-hop is so saturated with the same old same old that people always expect the guy to actually be the guy. They want you to be real and straight from the streets and all that.

So I think hip-hop is moving and is going to continue to move in the direction of rappers just being honest with themselves, whether you're talking about Common and Mos Def or Nas and 50 cent.

If I wasn't rapping about politics, then I might have been just another person trying to sell albums, and I might have sounded like everyone else out there.

I feel like a lot of people in the hip hop world don't take me seriously as a rapper, and I feel that first-and-foremost I came up as a rapper before I started singing. All a lot of people know from me is 'Cupid's Chokehold,' and they don't scratch the surface and see beyond that dude who sings the song about his girlfriend.

We have groups that do that, but I can't rap with the mentality of an 18 year old when I'm in my 30's.

You see somebody rapping and you're like, "Nah, my cousin can do that." You're spoiled by the experience. Overseas, it's still something that people can appreciate.

It's funny because as a rapper, there is - and this is something that Clipping challenges all the time - there is this idea about authenticity as a rapper, in the fact that you rap things that are yours. That's not what doing a play is. You're interpreting somebody else's words.

Everybody knows with rap artists, if you can't go to the hood, it's almost like you're not authentic, even if you're a dope artist that's respected.

I was never just a 'fill in 16 bars on a beat' rapper. I was making real songs from the jump.

I'm a small-time white kid trying to represent hip-hop. If a hip-hop artist comes up and beats me in a battle, who did they beat? A small-town white kid who ain't never been an MC, who ain't never done nothing. Now if an MC comes to battle and they get beat by a small-town white boy, that's MC suicide.

I think it's important for people to understand that as a woman, I can only rap about the parts I have.

The roots of rap are originally ghetto-ised or extremely working class. So when you're an artist who's making something which isn't how its mainstream appearance should be, there's always these strange questions of authenticity and what you have to do to be 'real' as a rapper.

The cats that are doing they thing, you have to search to really find them, to find rappers that can actually rap and speak messages in the music. That's not a good thing at all.

I say if you don't write your lyrics, then you can't be the best rapper alive. Not at all. You can be one of the best artists, especially in rap, you gotta write everything yourself.

It's certain rappers that can really rap, that really spit all bars, so I understand why someone would say, 'You not a real rapper.' But the main thing is, if you can make good songs, who cares? So I don't know why guys be tripping on Drake. He makes great music. He's dope.

I think it's such open game to make fun of myself. First of all, as a white rapper you have to have an angle and not try to be ghetto or anything. You can count on one hand the white rappers that have made it.