If there’s one thing I’ve been doing for a long time, and that I enjoy and know how to do, it’s listening to music. I’ve been a longtime listener of music of all genres by all kinds of artists. Sometimes I listen to random albums, but mostly I listen to artists’ full discographies from beginning to end, their studio albums that is. If their albums catch my attention then I look into mixtapes, soundtrack albums they’ve been involved in, or any other releases. I love finding new music I can get into, whether it is indeed new or even really old. To me, music is not only art, but it’s almost a form of magic, and it is simply timeless, and priceless. A beautiful song can bring on the strongest of emotions in only a few short minutes, and emotional, powerfully delivered lyrics, can influence us for a lifetime. Over the years, I’ve gone through phases of listening to certain kinds or genres of music more than others, but in general, I’ve always kept it pretty balanced and listened to all kinds of music, often with a huge playlist on shuffle. Although there are quite a lot of great musicians, and there are so many radio hits and club hits and hits of all kinds, and there are countless new artists emerging each year, there are only certain artists of the ones I’ve heard so far that I’d truly consider legends. In the world of hip-hop, which was the first music genre I got heavily into as a kid, I would say that the artists who truly deserve the title are 2Pac, Eminem, and Nas. Each of these rappers has a very unique style, and a specific reason why I consider them a legend in their own right. First of all, 2Pac, even as my favorite rapper of all time, was not perfect by any means. By the time he died he seemed like he was caught up in the same image so many rappers try to keep up even today, that of a gangster or thug. I’m aware that he had a different meaning for the word thug, but I mean it in the usual sense. People are complicated though, and when one enters the world of fame, it can be hard to stay true to oneself, and to avoid getting caught up in gimmicks, especially in the hip-hop world, of which so much is based around an image and a certain lifestyle. However, from 2Pac’s earlier lyrics it is obvious that the reason why he started making music in the first place was because he viewed himself as an artist with a message for the people in general, but more specifically for his own people, for his community which he saw so many issues with. Songs like “Better Dayz” and “Unconditional Love” are perfect examples of what I mean, and they are such a breath of fresh air in a genre like hip-hop. Music like that is the reason why, in my opinion, 2Pac remains unmatched as the most influential rapper. Well, I was planning to write a bit more about why some artists are legends to me, but I guess I didn’t quite calculate my time properly, since I didn’t even have time to finish writing about the rappers I think are legends. Anyway, I might continue this tomorrow… or maybe not. Who knows.
As always, I appreciate you reading!
rebel eye 