Buy or Sell: Biggie had a hand in ushering in materialism?!
Question: I aint takin nothin away from his talents or his legacy... I'm not even sayin he's wrong for it... all I'm sayin is:
"50 inch screen, money green leather sofa
Got two rides, a limousine with a chauffeur
Phone bill about two G's flat
No need to worry, my accountant handles that "
"Biggie be Richie like Lionel, ****
You seen the Jesus, dipped to H classes,
Ice project off lights, chick flashes
Blind your broke asses, even got rocks in big mustaches
Rock top fashions"
"Iced out lights out, me and Ceasar Leo
Gettin head from some chick he know
See it's all about the cheddar, nobody do it better
Going back to Cali, strictly for the weather
Women, and the weed -- sticky green"
Answers: I aint takin nothin away from his talents or his legacy... I'm not even sayin he's wrong for it... all I'm sayin is:
"50 inch screen, money green leather sofa
Got two rides, a limousine with a chauffeur
Phone bill about two G's flat
No need to worry, my accountant handles that "
"Biggie be Richie like Lionel, ****
You seen the Jesus, dipped to H classes,
Ice project off lights, chick flashes
Blind your broke asses, even got rocks in big mustaches
Rock top fashions"
"Iced out lights out, me and Ceasar Leo
Gettin head from some chick he know
See it's all about the cheddar, nobody do it better
Going back to Cali, strictly for the weather
Women, and the weed -- sticky green"
BUY BUY BUY: When he first came out he was puttin everybody on to the "nicer" things in life. Everything from Versace, Coogi, Moschino, Rolex, Bentlys. Anyone who was at their prime when he first came out will tell you that the average n*gg was not hip to a lot of luxurious items that he was spittin about. I think NYC was a major influence to his privy-ness, but he made materialism mainstream more than any other rapper out during that time.
i think america ushered materialism into young minds. biggie was just giving back what had been fed to him.
AMERICAN = MATERIALISTIC
Every rapper of every generation had a hand in placing importance on materialism.
Come on take this verse in Special Ed for example
I'm talented, yes I'm gifted
never boosted, never shoplifted
I got the cash, but money ain't nothin
make a million dollars every record that I cut and--
my name is Special Ed and I'm a super-duper star
ever other month I get a brand new car
Got twenty, that's plenty yet I still want more
kinda fond of honda scooters--got seventy-four
I got the riches--to fulfill my needs
got land in the sand of the West Indies
even got a little island of my very own--
I gotta frog--a dog with a solid gold bone
An accountant to account the amount I spent
gotta treaty with Tahiti cuz I own a percent
got gear out wear--to everyday
boutiques from France to the U.S.A.
and I make all the money from the rhymes I invent
so it really doesn't matter--how much I spent, because, yo
I make fresh rhymes--daily
you burn me--really?
Think, just blink and I made--a million rhymes
just imagine if you blinked-- a million times
damn I'd be paid--
I got it made
I am going to sell
Biggie was not the first to rap about materialistic things and obviously he wasn't the last. But with or without Biggie, or even if Biggie fell under the "conscious" category, the "Bling-Bling" era would still have ocuured, as it did, uninterrupted.
What I'm saying is, with respect to the man's legacy, Biggie was rather 'irrelevant' inushering in materialism.
Materialism has always been in hip-hop.
"...I got more clothes than Muhammed Ali and I dress so viciously.
I got body guards, I got two big cars...I got a Lincoln Continental and a sharp new Cadillac" and " I got a color T.V. so I see the Nicks play basketball."
-Rapper's Delight-
SELL! There were many rappers prior to him that would rap about the material things. You could see the evidence in their videos. Rappers would have the gold chains, necklaces, and rings with their names on it. LL Cool J, Slick Rick, Run DMC, etc. The reason you may think that is because his videos were very evident of the material things because of Puff. Rappers before the Bad Boy era didn't really have a business-oriented life. They would rap, make their money and splurge. Puff used his money wisely, and exploited it in his videos.
Personally I think Puffy had a big influence on EXPANDING materialism, and Biggie was along for the ride. However, if Biggie were alive I feel he would've continued showing the material aspects in his videos. He enjoyed the rich life.
My answer is sort of half and half;
as far as ushering materialism into hip hop...certainly not. It has always been there, a result of the bravado and braggadocio that is inherent in hip hop.
However, Biggie was definitely instrumental in ushering in materialistic rap as a sub-genre all it's own. Big and others of his ilk popularized the flash and bling element that was already there and transformed it into a (highly profitable) segment of hip hop to itself.
Before you blame it on the rappers blame it on the PIMPS!!!! Fur coats, leather pants, silk shirts, gold chains and the biggest diamond rings!!! Caddy's and Couple DeVilles!!! Come on, don't blame materialism on the rappers when Americans have been materialistic from the very beginning. It's always been keeping up with the Jonseses and then going one bigger than them!!!!
Personally, I believe Puffy pushed him in that direction. If you listen to his pre Bad Boy stuff, Bigs was strictly street, but when the lure of big money comes....... And yes he did usher in materialism but I don't fault him. Everyone else did not have to follow like they did.