-First and foremost, Puff is involved in the BUSINESS of Hip-Hop, NOT the artform. I say the “Business of Hip-Hop” because the bottom line is that Puff is running a business (Bad Boy Entertainment). Now for those of you that don’t know, in business the ultimate goal is to make as much profit at the lowest cost possible. Puff Daddy is a marketing genius and one of the wisest businessmen Hip-Hop has ever seen. The man has assembled one of Hip-Hop’s most powerful and influential labels from scratch in a few short years, and has become one of the all time most famous people in Hip-Hop.
-Puffy and his copy cats (people that follow his lead) add diversity to Hip-Hop, opening it up to audiences that would never even have considered listening to any form of Hip-Hop. Point? EVERYONE in the Hip-Hop benefits from this ( in sales and exposure ). It seems to me that, according to the rules of Hip-Hop, the poorer you are, the more you are ‘Representin’. That is straight up bullshit. I think that is also “Black thing”, but I ain’t even gonna get into that at this time. (Check out my upcoming editorial: the slave mentality)
-Do you think that everyone in Hip-Hop should sound like Redman or be as dope as Canibus? Hip-Hop would be boring as watching M*A*S*H* on a Friday night. Puffy’s weak lyrics allow you to appreciate real Mcing when you hear it. Puffy and his associates have created a new type of Hip-Hop called Hip-Hop/R&B and whether you like or not, it’s what has kept the club scene alive for the past year and a half. Think about this: What would you be dancing to in the clubs if it wasn’t for Puff? Whether this is a good thing, is for you to decide.
-Now it is obvious that all of Puff’s references to money and material items are overdone, but when you break it down, rappers have been bragging about that type of stuff for years. Run DMC was rapping about “champagne, caviar, and bubble baths” (Sucker Mc’s) back in the 80’s; Special Ed said he had 74 honda scooters (I Got it Made). It is pretty much the concept of : “New day, same shit”.
-To diss Puffy for using samples that are from the 80’s is the same as dissing Hip-Hop in general, because almost every Hip-Hop song you hear, or have ever heard, is taken (sampled) from another form of music. The Fugees are praised for their originality, but in reality all they do is recreate songs that people may have forgotten about. (i.e. No Woman, No Cry, Killing Me Softly).
Let’s list some of the influences that Puff Daddy and Bad Boy have had on the R&B/Hip-Hop music scene as a whole. (Good or Bad)
1. Bad Boy made it okay to put a rap at the beginning of a R&B song and in the middle.
2. Total had every girl out there wearing sunglasses on their head whether it was sunny, raining or pitch black outside.
3. Biggie made it OK for HARDCORE rappers to do commercial tracks while trying to maintain their street credibility, ie: Nas
4. Puff Daddy stole Pete Rock’s niche (talking in the background of tracks), and caused every producer out there start doing that shit.
5. Because of Puffy, from here on out, almost every rapper will have at least one commercial song as a single or at least on their album (R&B singer and the whole nine), ie: Mic Geronimo
6. Puffy created the Remix were you have a whole bunch of guest rappers rhyme over the same beat, ie: Flava in Ya Ear (Remix)
Now after reading this article, one must think that I
am Puffy-lover, well to put it simple: I don’t respect Puff Daddy or Mase
as artists because they are NOT artists, they are Businessmen. And
business and life mix
like oil and water……
To use the immortal words of Flavor Flav: “Stay of his
Dick!”
Quintessence,
