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ROCKSTAR
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“Rap is the new Rock n’ Roll. We the rockstars,” proclaimed famed Chicago rapper and producer Kanye West during his discussion with Zane Lowe about the cultural impact of rap music in a 2013 interview with BBC Radio 1. Kanye’s answers in the interview nearly reached meme status in the music community due to West’s intense delivery, but this quote proved to be quite controversial and also seemingly inspired other rappers to embrace the sentiment. The Playboi Carti track “iwokeuplikethis*” features a Lil Uzi Vert intro where he repeatedly declares “I’m a rockstar.” “Meh,” from Carti’s newest album Whole Lotta Red , finds Carti claiming “And I feel like I’m the only rockstar, the only one.” Just within the past few years, both Post Malone and DaBaby have released huge hits named “Rockstar” that seem to glorify rappers as the rock and rollers of the new era. The growing number of references to rock combined with the crowning of rap as one of the most popular genres in the world beg the question: was Kanye right?
The increasing influence that rock and roll has on rap appears to be the likely cause for the self-crowning of rappers as the new rock stars. In the earlier days of rap, the involvement of rock and roll was seen mostly through collaborations between rappers and their rock star counterparts. Aerosmith and Run D.M.C.’s collaboration “Walk This Way” or Jay-Z and LINKIN Park’s Collision Course EP are two of the more memorable collaborations from the past. In recent years, rappers have been incorporating different rock styles into their own music in creative and innovative ways. For example, Kid Cudi’s critically unacclaimed album Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven pulls heavily from various rock styles; much of Denzel Curry’s music utilizes ideas from heavy metal and hard rock, with Curry even covering Rage Against the Machine’s “Bulls on Parade” for his Like A Version performance. The Playboi Carti album Whole Lotta Red takes much inspiration from punk rock with its aggressive instrumentals and often yelled vocal delivery. The album art even references an iconic cover from Slash magazine, a punk rock publication, featuring David Vanian of The Damned. Rock and Roll’s influence has even become prevalent in rap concerts, where attending a live rap show can feel more like a punk show than the rap concerts of old. Mosh pits erupt at Travis Scott’s shows when “Sicko Mode” plays and
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Lil Uzi Vert stage dives into the crowd at Rolling Loud, like Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam at Pinkpop. In rap’s fashion scene a lot of rappers are embracing more feminine clothing like Young Thug’s dress-wearing and Lil Uzi Vert’s iconic low-cut sweater and spiked-collar outfit. Rock stars like David Bowie and Kurt Cobain have been known for the blurring of lines between men’s and women’s fashion that rappers are now embracing. With Rock and Roll influence pouring into all parts of rap culture, it’s no surprise that rappers would compare themselves to the rock stars they are emulating.
To know if Kanye was right, it’s important to understand what a rock star is. Many would argue that a rock star is not a performer of rock music, but rather a cultural figure. Despite the many successful female rock stars, for many, the term “Rock Star” conjures images of male musicians at large parties, full of women and drugs. Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler estimated he has spent 6 million dollars on drugs during his lifetime. While classic rock stars are beloved today, during the 1960s and 1970s, many were the “bad boys” of music and were strongly disliked by many traditionalists. Jim Morrison of The Doors rejected modern religion, sang about getting high on drugs (decades before this was common in music), and was arrested for indecent exposure at a 1969 concert in Miami while encouraging the crowd to start a “revolution.” Another key aspect to becoming a rock star is gaining large amounts of wealth through their music and touring. Paul McCartney has a net worth of over a billion dollars from his work with The Beatles as well as his solo endeavors, while Bono has a net worth of over $700 million dollars. As cultural figures associated with affluence, partying and a rebellious attitude, rock stars are clearly much more than performers of rock music.
Do rappers meet these criteria to be considered the new rock stars? Rap music has had strong ties to partying, as well as to drugs and drug culture. While drug-dealing and even warnings against drug use were often the subject matter of early rap, modern rap has glorified the use of drugs like lean, Xanax, and other hard drugs. Many modern rappers have also established reputations as womanizers, often bragging publicly about the number of women they have been with; Blueface once claimed to have slept with more than 1,000 women in a six-month period. While to many rock music’s rebellious roar has died down to a whimper in the mainstream, rap music is as rebellious as it’s ever been and has proven a strong voice in addressing systemic racism in the United States. One of the most iconic rap songs ever, NWA’s “Fuck Tha Police,” is a direct and rebellious attack on police brutality; the aforementioned “Rockstar” by DaBaby echoes similar sentiments with lyrics like “Cops wanna pull me over, embarrass me /Abusin’ power, you never knew me, thought I was arrogant.” Rappers have also amassed similar levels of clout that classic rock stars tout; Jay-Z has a net worth of over a billion dollars and Dr. Dre has an estimated net worth of $865 million dollars. By those cultural standards of affluence, rebellion, and partying, rappers seem to absolutely qualify as rock stars.
An argument that many, including Taran Moriates of The Daily Californian, present against rappers being the new rockstars is that rock stars didn’t care about being cool or popular while rappers only care about being flashy and famous. Plenty of rockstars, like the members of KISS, clearly wanted to be flashy and cool with their face paint, big hair, and metallic outfits. Describing the majority of rappers as being attention-grabbing and only caring about money and fame is a very cynical take, as many rappers have shied away from their fame, like J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar. When Lil Uzi Vert wore a dress, he was laughed at by most of the rap community, but he helped continue defining trends that the classic rock stars began. Clearly, those like Moriates are stereotyping rappers and being very careful with their selection of classic rock stars. Many would also argue that rock music and rap music are so different that rappers and rock stars should not be compared, but the cultural and symbolic impact of rappers being compared to classic rock stars should not be disregarded. The significance of Prince performing at the Super Bowl in 2007 is echoed in Travis Scott’s 2019 Super Bowl appearance, for example. An interesting implication of this logic is that rappers can also be viewed as the new pop stars; rappers like Lil Nas X and Nicki Minaj fully embody the glamour and grandeur that a pop star is expected to embody. With rap and rappers extending into other genres, this rap diaspora makes it clear that rap music is fulfilling the cultural importance that genres like rock and roll used to hold in society.
• Harrison Jumper (Computer Science)
