Lil' Wayne = Ganja smoking gangster from New Orleans.
Eminem = White guy in a black man's world with a troubled youth...angry at the world and everyone in it (but he does seem to be turning a new leaf recently).
Jay-Z = Rags to riches story from 'one of our own' - a regular kid from Brooklyn with a passion.
Kanye = Chi-Town underdog.
Rick Ross = Drug dealing mobster from FL.
50 Cent = A ripped gang leader.
Lady Gaga = :/
These are just some of the images that come to my mind whenever I hear any of these artists. This is by no means accidental. I'm sure artists spend a large chunk of their efforts making sure everything they do centers around the character and persona they have presented to the world.
We all have had that moment at a party when a song you haven't heard comes on, but there's an artist like Lil' Wayne rapping on it - and we immediately approve. We might have no idea what the hell he's saying - or even go home and listen to the song again and realize what he was saying made absolutely no sense...but it's the image he has presented that keeps us at least listening over and over again (he made this clear on Ransom, where he goes through the whole alphabet).
Nicki Minaj has talked about her alter egos on several interviews. Here's one from Lopez Tonight (from 1:30). Even though it took us all a little brainwashing to get used to her voice and style, Nicki's characters and their stories are a large part of what makes her music marketable. This extends to all of our favorite artists and their characters we admire every time they put out a new CD or are featured on a track.
Yeah you might say that these artists and their images are the same person. When I see Cassidy on an underground rap DVD with people with guns all around him in what looks to be a neighborhood I wouldn't stop to get directions in, I do believe that some of these artists went through what they shared on their CD.
Maybe that's what makes them great? Or maybe you just have to be really good at painting a picture.
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