Speaking to a crowd of reporters in the room and the millions of fans gathered by Takeoff and his Migos crew, Finner warned the audience about the demonization of the hip-hop community after the loss of one of the genre’s most famous names in the last decade. “Sometimes the hip-hop community gets a bad name, and I know … a lot of great people in our hip-hop community and I respect them,” he said. “We all have to come together and make sure that no one is tearing this industry down.” The choice to make this point is tied to the perception of hip-hop and an ongoing issue that seems to constantly plague the genre – the untimely deaths of some of its most promising artists. But as Finner also pointed out, there was no indication that Takeoff himself was involved in criminal activity and was more than likely just an innocent bystander caught up in the violence swirling around him. At the same time, a heated debate has arisen about the cost of authenticity in the hip-hop community, where artists can feel pressure to live up to the lifestyle they describe in their music. Others say the species he’s unfairly scapegoated and that violent lyrics don’t translate to real-world violence.
Successful rap artists are not insulated from violence
Following news of Takeoff’s death on Tuesday, the music community mourned the 28-year-old artist who, as a member of the rap trio Migos, pioneered a new sound in rap and hip-hop. But while fans mourned Takeoff’s death, the level of surprise is unique in the hip-hop world. While the death of celebrities at the top of other genres, such as Drake or Taylor Swift, would be extremely unexpected, this year seven rappers have been killed – giving fans a rubric for how to react when one of hip-hop’s biggest stars is killed. Migos’ impact on hip hop and culture at large is impossible to ignore and has far exceeded expectations since their inception. From left, Quavo, Takeoff and Offset of the rap group Migos perform on stage at the 2021 BET Awards at the Microsoft Theater on June 27, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. Toronto rapper Pressa described them as “the Beatles of rap [world].’ (Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for BET) “He’s like the Beatles for rap [world],” Toronto rapper Pressa told CBC News, citing how they’ve influenced both the music industry and pop culture. Although Versace didn’t chart high when it was released in 2013 — peaking at No. 99 on Billboard’s Hot 100 — it proliferated in Atlanta clubs and eventually rose to international fame when Drake added an extra verse. All the while, frontman Quavo and Offset — one half of a power couple with fellow musician Cardi B — grabbed most of the public’s attention. the quieter and younger member, Takeoff, meanwhile seemed to take a back seat in interviews and performances. But in fact, it was he who largely drove their creative process—and whose mastery of the triple-flow first caught the attention of Kevin (Coach K) Lee and Pierre (P) Thomas, co-founders of the management company and the company. Migos Quality Control. “Migos is their own thing,” Pressa said. “You know, they had their own culture. They had their own sound. And I feel like a lot of people are taking their sound and kind of incorporating it.” WATCHES | Takeoff’s death raises concerns about gun violence:
The death of rapper Migos raises concerns about gun violence in hip hop
The shooting death of popular rapper Takeoff is just the latest in a series of violent incidents that are raising serious concerns about rising gun violence in the hip-hop community. [Correction: The graphic referring to when rapper Pop Smoke died contains an incorrect date. Pop Smoke was shot during a home invasion in 2020] That the more reserved Takeoff was killed seemed to highlight the danger some hip-hop artists face, even if their lifestyle is free of violence. But the group’s perception had previously parted ways with its nature – from the start of their career, the men behind Migos were often plagued by criticism for a perceived dishonesty in their music. As music journalist and poet Hanif Abduraqib wrote in a 2017 piece for the National Post, some fans took issue with the fact that the three members, who grew up in a suburban area outside Atlanta, would rap about drugs and crime. That feeling, Abduraqib argued, prompted them to act more in line with their music, such as when Offset was arrested in 2015 — then assaulting a fellow inmate who was in custody. “Like Johnny Cash in the mid-’60s, they spent time getting too close to the fire,” he wrote. “It’s hard to build such a big myth without eventually becoming a part of it.” And in hip hop — a genre that prioritizes authenticity and self-documentation in a way few other art forms do — it’s not the only group touched by violence. Since 2018, more than a dozen high-profile rap artists have been shot and killed. Among them is Los Angeles rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was shot outside his clothing store in 2019 — though he was best known for his community-building, general kindness and poetic, heartfelt lyrics. A year later, Toronto rapper Houdini was killed while shopping. Memphis-based Young Dolph was killed while buying cookies in 2021. and PnB Rock (real name Rakim Hasheem Allen) was murdered this year while eating lunch with his girlfriend at a small restaurant in Los Angeles in an unprovoked robbery after a stranger apparently saw his location in a post the rapper made. After praising Allen as a pleasure to work with, rapper Nicki Minaj pleaded with other artists in the genre to stop being so available to their community. “You are not loved as you think you are,” she wrote. “You are prey! In a world full of predators! What doesn’t click?” The ppl around these rappers earn so much. Time to start reminding them again & over!!! At least try to put your foot down if you CARE! Tell them!!! You are not loved as you think!!! you are booty!!!! In a world full of predators!!!! What doesn’t click???!!! https://t.co/wpfxtnkBU6 —@NICKIMINAJ “It’s just dangerous as an artist out there,” agreed Pressa, who said he was with Migos member Offset at a separate event the night of the shooting. “I don’t like to broadcast and say [my followers] where I’m going, and that’s exactly it.”
“It just didn’t happen overnight”
But the discussions surrounding the causes of these incidents are not simple. AR Shaw, an Atlanta-based trap music historian who wrote a book called Trap History, told CBC News that gun violence is “declining” in communities of color – because it’s a broader issue in the rest of North America. “I want to get across that it just didn’t happen overnight; that these are years of neglected communities and abuse that has happened in communities of color, particularly, and that’s the impact,” Shaw said. . “We’ve seen this pervasive violence that’s happening [among] artists and within the hip-hop community,” Shaw added. “But it’s also indicative of what’s happening in communities nationwide.” Takeoff of Migos performs on stage during Global Citizen Live on September 25, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. Gun violence is “reduced” in communities of color because it’s a wider issue in the rest of North America, said music historian AR Shaw. (Getty Images for Global Citizen) Gun violence has generally increased in Canada and the United States. Between 2018 and 2019, the criminal use of firearms increased by 21 percent in this country, according Statistics Canada. Shaw said the issue of gun violence began many years before rap and hip hop emerged as cultural forces. Where some would see the violent messages in certain sub-genres of rap and hip-hop as further fueling violent behavior, Shaw said it’s often a documentation of — and a way of dealing with — the effects of long-term trauma in those communities. Rapping about crime and violence doesn’t cause the problem, he said, but it identifies it. “Hopefully we can change the narrative, but first we have to understand what the source is.” On the other hand, some in the hip-hop world see it differently. Kiana (Rookz) Eastmond, a Toronto music executive and former rapper, said that while rap has evolved as an outlet for dealing with that trauma, as a genre it also pushes its artists to constantly focus on hardship. Other genres allow artists who talk about their lives to move forward. “We’d like to see them, you know, grow and develop in a space where they don’t have to share their trauma or [where] they are not defined by it. We don’t ask that of rappers,” he said, adding: “We don’t ask them to ever find peace. We never ask them to move on.” Likening it to the NFL, which for years ignored the damage caused by concussions before finally bowing to public pressure and changing the game to protect athletes, he said the same should happen for hip hop. Instead of demanding that rappers spend their careers mining the most traumatic moments in their lives — and then rewarding them for it — both the industry and fans should set higher standards and demand music that shows growth in kind. “Artists are people. And I think the same way we expect our stories to be humanized in black culture everywhere else, we should expect that from hip hop now,” he said. “We have to expect that from rap.” Takeoff performs on stage with Migos at the 2017 HeartRadio Music Festival on September 23, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Bryan Steffy/Getty…
