This is what happens when I wait too long between posts

Harman The Hater told me to be more positive in my blog posts, and I promise you I will eventually, but not today. Today is venting time. But before I vent, I have to rant, and tell a story about another rapper, and keep you in suspense (or bore you to death) as to what my actual point is.

Jin the MC is Miami based rapper of East Asian decent; Chinese to be specific. He was one of few rappers to win 7 consecutive freestyle battles on BET’s 106/park. After that he got a record deal with Ruff Ryders (the same record label that brought DMX and EVE into the world). He made claims that he didn’t want to be labeled as a Chinese rapper, and that he could hold his own with any MC irrespective of their ethnicity.

He drops and album, and it flops. At this point it should be noted that being a talented lyricist (which he was) doesn’t automatically equate to making great songs, and if you are a talented lyricist, and people appreciate your lyrics, don’t dumb it down to appeal to the pop crowd, cause their support is fickle, and you’ll lose your original fan base, who feels you sold out.

Then Jin goes back to Hip Hop purist, and makes music that appeals to the original fan base, but it’s too late. Fast forward to the present, Jin goes to Asia, and sells millions of records around China and the surrounding countries, rapping in both English and Cantonese.

Moral of the story, as stupid as the label ‘Chinese Rapper’ is, don’t make efforts to avoid the fan base that actually supports you. Jin connected a people with an art form they normally did not feel connected to; that should be embraced. Eminem did the same thing with white folks and Hip Hop, and he got very wealthy in that process.

People call me a Punjabi rapper, a Sikh rapper, a conscious rapper, a righteous rapper, revolutionary rapper etc. As inaccurate as some of those labels are, I’m not going to go out of my way to dispel them, nor will I go out of my way to maintain them. I appreciate all the support I get, even if folks have put me in a box. The box is just their way to better understand me. I’m hoping the people like the content I put out, but if they’re just giving me a chance because of my skin colour, hopefully I’ll win them over with the music. We don’t’ care where the chef comes from, as long as the food is good. I’m jus trying to serve good food.

Rappers rhyme, Emcee’s articulate ideas, Poets write poems on napkins, and sell them for millions on eBay.

So if your curious, the labels I prefer, and try to live up to are: Toronto based Emcee, Adorable Emcee, Talented Emcee and Creative Emcee.

I’m ok with the other labels, it’s whatever folks feel comfortable with.

Now it’s time to vent.

The one label I am NOT cool with is: Aspiring Rapper/Emcee

I’m not aspiring to Emcee and put out music, I’m ALREADY putting out music, and I got over 50 tracks released in 2009 alone. An aspiring doctor is still in the process of becoming a doctor, an aspiring Olympian is trying to make the Olympics. I’m not trying to get anywhere; I’m doing what I set out to do. Aspiring is a polite notch up from the word “wanna-be”

Now if you think I’m aspiring to get signed to a record deal, I’m not. I’m aspiring to start my own record label. I don’t aspire to be some one else’s employee. Remember Folks HUMBLE can be an adjective or verb.

Call me an up and coming artist, if you want to reference to the fact that I’m new, or an Independent artist, if you want to refer to the fact that I’m not mainstream.

I feel better now.

Shoutouts to JIN, keep doing your thing.