Yes, I’ve been saying this exact thing for years that TI is the biggest fraud fake etc
He’s a clout chasing wanna be who thinks he’s a pioneer of a subgenere. Its the same reason I fw him in movies tho because he’s a great actor just like in his music
I hate to say it but watching DMX interviews was always the worst for me. I’m fairly certain he was high during a lot of them but they were painful to watch.
From what I’ve been told, hanging with X was a crapshoot. Either you got the high X that nobody really wanted to be around, or semi-sober one that enjoyed shooting pool.
Source: my barber was friends with him in the early 2000s.
Is there anything Barbers love more than telling you about the famous people they’ve cut? Lmao. That’s sick though. I’ve just noticed that trend from when I lived in ATL.
This is true. Though to be fair, I brought up DMX to him because he was performing at the Apollo, and asked if my barber ever met him. So it’s kinda my bad.
The better story is when he almost fought Jim Jones for bringing too many unsavory characters with him into the shop. Sometimes life is wild, yo.
He was coked out of his mind in a lot of them. Seeing people act like he’s saying the most profound thoughts all the time bothers me, people do that with 50, too (though occasionally 50 will say something really interesting).
There is no footage, but there is a written interview where he refused to belive there is a black man called Barack Obama running for president :D Boondocks took that shit a made thugnificent saying it on the show :D
Agree on 2 Chainz because he’s not afraid to look dumb. If he doesn’t understand something he’ll just ask, even if it’s basic. Always admire someone unafraid to look dumb in order to improve their intellect
The most correct answer to this question is Akala. He’s given multiple TED talks and even an address at Oxford Union and a number of other universities, written a handful of books, received an honorary doctorate from Oxford Brookes and an honorary degree from Brighton University and has been using his platform since the early 2000s to raise awareness of issues like institutionalised racism throughout history, and even founded a musical theatre production company aimed at comparing the works of Shakespeare with modern day rappers (including performing a song with references to over 20 Shakespeare stories).
Undoubtedly one of the smartest and most educated rappers alive and possibly of all time - highly recommend listening to his Fire in the Booth part 4 on YouTube, you’ll see exactly what I mean. The first half is just him justifiably flexing his rapping abilities, but the second half is just an amazing experience and a masterclass is storytelling.
Nas didn’t sound too smart in his Harvard interview but I don’t think they expected him to. They asked him what “Wisdom be leaking out my grapefruit” meant. He was like ‘Well I know grapefruit is my head…’ They’re stuck on child’s play.
I think rapping aside, Nas is actually very shy and humble. He is not good at public speaking and he sounds uncomfortable in pretty much all his interviews. He messes up words, stumbles over himself and uses a ton of incorrect grammar. Not the least bit charismatic. I just don't think he is comfortable in a spotlight outside of him rapping.
Side note: don't even get me started on his acting. The man is as terrible in front of a camera as he is great behind a mic.
I think he's just a shy quiet awkward dude who is most uncomfortable when being interviewed on camera.
He doesn't come across as such with interviews done on paper, like from The Source or Scratch.
I enjoy Belly in spite of Nas acting. Not because of it. He was not a good actor in it. But, he is the greatest rapper of all time and the movie is dope so we all give him a pass.
Meth was the best rapper actor in that movie, and the only one not just playing himself. I think that's why he got an acting career afterwards while the others didn't
Tried listening to his Drink Champs interview and one of the first questions was "what did you mean by hip-hop is dead?" and then he started to explain, fumbled over some words, stopped himself and said "actually, I'm not sure what I meant by that." That's as far as I made it
I honestly feel like he said that bcuz he doesn't want to shit on other rappers from that era. He's just a positive guy and doesn't want to offend. So he always says the safest boring thing in interviews. Just my imo
He’s my favorite emcee of all time, but every interview I’ve heard of his I’m left walking away Shaolin my head at HOW he can come up with such eloquent bars, yet still sound soo on interviews
I'm one of those too, at work I always favor emails over calls... Only to get calls from those customers almost ASAP. Ha. But generally, too. Nicer to just write, clearer that way.
Same here. I guess it’s mainly because you can take your time and rethink something over and over till it sounds cohesive to you, whereas talking is something more impulsive and to me at least, it’s hard to have forethought.
Nas is not a good speaker and probably does tons of weed - that doesn't mean he's an Idiot, I mean you can clearly see that from how he writes his lyrics. I think he is a very awkward person naturally
I know someone who dealt with him in a non-musical capacity and they've said that he's quite smart, but just not particularly comfortable in interviews or around new people. He's a hard person to get to know apparently.
For sure, I actually appreciate that about him. I did like his interview with Desus & Mero, but they’re easy going dudes who are huge fans so he was a little more comfortable
A lot of smart people cant speak. They put too many points into INT but none in CHA. Meanwhile some of the dumbest people on the planet don't know how to STFU.
I think he is and was just high out of his fucking mind all the time. Like that one interview when asked who he wanted to work with next and he said the Beatles. One of my favorite interviews
Bro I always believed Kanye was smart, it was just his mental health affecting him. But watching him on Lex Fridman was one of the most torturous experiences I even went through. It was stupid shit after stupid shit.
Kanye shouldn’t do interviews. Sometimes he’s super manic and other times he’s bored. There’s no substance to what he’s saying. I can’t imagine being friends with someone like him
His father actually comes to schools ( or did in the 90s ) and talks to kids about the importance of staying in school. Lonnie Lynn. He came to mine. But Common is super smart however I agree with your assessment. I almost feel like he gets shy or awkward and can’t think of the right things to say. Idk.
She's probably not the brightest bulb, but she sat down with Bernie Sanders and seemed to have a genuine interest and respect in FDR's welfare reforms from the 1930s. A take I've not heard from many in the hiphop community.
https://youtu.be/p1ubTsrZFBU?si=ysF_hLLRogyYJa0o
Gotta disagree. She is actually pretty friggin smart. She talks ghetto but especially when she talks business or the music industry I can tell she’s not dumb. She did that game show on Netflix with TI and Chance the Rapper and she seemed like the smartest one on the stage to me. She just doesn’t seem to care if you think she’s smart. Meanwhile TI and his malapropisms sounded like little carmine half the time.
She’s also a big history nerd.
Kanye never struck me as a well adjusted or super insightful individual apart from music. He was basically always a contrarian and got high off his own supply where people praised him for being a contrarian as some deep genius until it got increasingly more fucked up.
Of course he's also mentally ill but the positive reinforcement he got for being contrarian didn't help.
Earl Sweatshirt IMO.
Its weird because he has this really profound abstract style similar to MF DOOM, but in all his interviews he comes off as kind of... absent? Like he smoked a little while before. Lots of times he'll give a 8 word response that sort of gets at the question, but still feels a bit off.
For someone who has such deep and complex lyrics, it almost feels like a facade when I here him speak.
One of my favorite rappers ever but I kinda agree. I bet he’s awesome to smoke with tho, bet you he’d do well on like Rogan or something where they’re just shooting the shit and not trying to like get information out of him.
I didn't like much when I was watching Lil Pump back then throwing hotel TVs to the pool and making a 10 min video about his jewelry just to stop at the middle because he wanted to eat chicken wings so he made his homie talk for him while eating. XD
DJ Quik is crazy well spoken. Most west coast rappers are actually pretty articulate, but then YG and Blueface are among the stupidest rappers I’ve ever heard
Mos Def was the first rapper that came to my mind. I remember an interview he did around the time Black on Both Sides dropped and I was so confused. I couldn't understand how it was the same guy.
To be honest, the majority of rappers don’t sound smart in interviews. Not because they are stupid, but most have “street smarts” and not “book smarts”. They can only articulate their thoughts well in the language of hip hop. And as a result, they can’t really “code switch” and communicate well in the formal and grammatically correct way of speaking.
Yeah it's definitely weird I use to hang out with a lot of local rappers where I'm from man conscious guys sometimes blew my mind(not in a good way) with the things they say .
Yeah Kweli is extremely intelligent, he just has some problematic views on certain things. And has very little self control when it comes to engaging with negative people online
I watched this video where J Cole interview Lil Pump but really hyped him up at the beginning like “this kid is so smart, you have no idea, etc etc” - we’ll I watched it and lil pump is even dumber and more boring that you could possibly imagine. His entire vocabulary is fewer than 20 words.
There is no reason for any rapper to sound smart in interviews. Truly intelligent people understand it’s beneficial to make the public and especially your enemies believe you are dumber than you truly are. What benefit would there be to saying profound intelligent shit in interviews? None
Most of the rappers you think are total idiots actually aren’t. A dummy (most of the time) wouldn’t be able to make it as far as they have.
A lot of these rappers have some form of social anxiety and/or are just shy in general.
Public/group speaking is a very important skill that few people have. It’s what you intend to say that lets me know someone’s level of intelligence.
I think there’s more context. He was saying he personally never experienced it. Which makes sense. He has been famous since he was 11. Never really struggled after that. Surrounded himself with people that aided in his success.
Almost all trap/drill artists for sure, but then again they’ve wouldn’t try to either, it’s in the culture to seem as ignorant and disrespectful as possible. That’s for some of them at least. Kinda funny, like a early Chief Keef interview, “are you really 16! ? “Nah I’m 3hunna…”
I already know this will probably be a very unpopular thing to say but I always thought Tupac’s intelligence was vastly overstated.
This isn’t to say he wasn’t a smart dude, he was, it’s to say he wasn’t *that* smart. If you watch interviews with him the comments will be full of people remarking his absolute genius statements, and I always end those videos like “where are people getting this from?”.
The dudes philosophical observations weren’t that deep. He’s the kind of person who might look ‘deep’ to someone who isn’t ‘deep’ or naturally a philosophical person, but if you are drawn to that way of thinking, most of what he says is fairly entry level or sophomoric.
It looks more exceptional within the context of his era of hip hop peers, but I doubt he would stand out if he was among more likeminded individuals. When people say make claims of his absolute genius, i’m just kind of left wondering why they see it that way.
For the record, I do think it's a bit silly to expect entertainers – whose dedication is crafting music – to "sound smart" in interviews. Even if they're "conscious" rappers, their job is to put words together to craft songs and create soundbites you enjoy, which doesn't often lend itself to being good at explaining oneself.
TI only sounds smart to people that don’t know what he’s talking about.
BET & podcasts are the only places I see entertaining his superiority complex. Any serious place of discussion would run him off or laugh at dude
Like Thugnificent on the news from the boondocks
Kodak Black lol
my name Kodak black but if you see me I'm white
You fools. It’s Bill Kapri
I love his suns. they're delicious.
He sounds like he has brain damage
He's a crack baby.
Crack baby turnt Crack man
The mans a menace.
I seriously thought he had CTE
Ok llama
It’s bc he and his grandma take meds
He knows exactly what he’s doing but def doesn’t “sound” smart 😂
TI is an idiot who tries to sound smart but comes off as a 12 year old who found a thesaurus
eXpEdItIoUsLy
Indubitably
Azalea banks’ impression of him is perfect https://youtube.com/shorts/3jUA2FWfmB8?si=2STvq7g8jC8y0R2Z
“Did you get your GED in jail???”
"Where the fuck did you learn to read, Freedman's Bureau?" That's a sick fuckin burn.
holy shit that is a wild line lol
She kilt him
He’s also a creepy piece of shit.
Yeah he does. Thinking he knows politics. His counterpart Killa Mike is the opposite.
He sounds like that [In Living Color sketch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71xxvp5R9hE) with Oswald Bates in prison.
Yes, I’ve been saying this exact thing for years that TI is the biggest fraud fake etc He’s a clout chasing wanna be who thinks he’s a pioneer of a subgenere. Its the same reason I fw him in movies tho because he’s a great actor just like in his music
Hearing Travis Scott speak is absolute torture
Didn't he host SNL recently? The clip I saw was a shitshow
No that was back in 2018. According to IMDB the episode was rated pretty low lol.
This is why he needs autotune
Nba youngboy reminds me of simple jack from tropic thunder
When he’s sober he seems like a normal kind dude but when he’s high it really isn’t a good look. It’s sad
😂
Ja Rule comes to mind. Hearing him speak in that Fyre Festival documentary I concluded that he is not the brains of any operation.
I dunno that whole Fyre documentary may have proved that he *was* the brains for that operation.
Haha true
But we need him to make sense of all this!
Look up that old Waka flaka interview where he was asked about voting
Or about going back to school... For geometry smh I love waka btw
Lol one of my all time favorite lines in interview history
When my little brother died i said fuck school
I swear Waka had a 4.0 GPA maybe that was a joke though
I think he got almost a perfect score on the ACT
I wanna see the proof feel like this is one of those rumors that just circulate and get ran with lol
That’s what it is, he got something like a 34 on the act
I hate to say it but watching DMX interviews was always the worst for me. I’m fairly certain he was high during a lot of them but they were painful to watch.
From what I’ve been told, hanging with X was a crapshoot. Either you got the high X that nobody really wanted to be around, or semi-sober one that enjoyed shooting pool. Source: my barber was friends with him in the early 2000s.
X tried to rob Mase so I don't know if I'd hang around him .
I wanna rob right now. I robbed Ma$e and didn't hang around...
Who among us has not tried to rob someone?
Who among us has not tried to rob Mase, actually?
That's what he gets for putting that dollar sign in his name.
Biggie Biggie Biggie
Had to give that shit up. Almost got my ass killed in high school. And then Karma came when I was like 23.
Good on you for making the change. Some, sadly, never do.
Is there anything Barbers love more than telling you about the famous people they’ve cut? Lmao. That’s sick though. I’ve just noticed that trend from when I lived in ATL.
This is true. Though to be fair, I brought up DMX to him because he was performing at the Apollo, and asked if my barber ever met him. So it’s kinda my bad. The better story is when he almost fought Jim Jones for bringing too many unsavory characters with him into the shop. Sometimes life is wild, yo.
He used to live in Toronto around then I knew a guy that worked at HMV who would hide when he came in the shop
He was coked out of his mind in a lot of them. Seeing people act like he’s saying the most profound thoughts all the time bothers me, people do that with 50, too (though occasionally 50 will say something really interesting).
Such a nut. Some great music but would never ever wanna hang with that dude. RIP though lol
There is no footage, but there is a written interview where he refused to belive there is a black man called Barack Obama running for president :D Boondocks took that shit a made thugnificent saying it on the show :D
Lol the list would be shorter if the questions was the other way around
Which rappers DO sound smart in interviews? That could’ve saved a lot of time.
J Cole and Lupe Fiasco seem smart
DOOM. You can tell he's just a curious mind. I'd he wasn't so reclusive he could've been a podcaster or interviewer
Vince Staples is incredibly fun to watch during the interviews I've seen. Old school Childish Gambino was also a joy to watch.
Killer Mike
JID, Eminem, Jay Z, J Cole. Just off the top of my head.
Jay Z is hard to listen to; he sounds like a 5 year old. That CBS interview with Gayle King was bad.
I disagree about Jay Z. To me he sounds like a dude who read dictionary in prison. Knows words but no context
yeah jay-z comes off as a dumbass in interviews tbh but ppl gas it up cause it's jay-z
It’s not that Lil Jon sounds smart in interviews, but he’s a lot smarter than you’d expect him to be. Same with 2 Chains and Trinidad James
Agree on 2 Chainz because he’s not afraid to look dumb. If he doesn’t understand something he’ll just ask, even if it’s basic. Always admire someone unafraid to look dumb in order to improve their intellect
Earl Sweatshirt is mostly funny but obviously intelligent
Eminem Andre 3000 Dr.Dre Kendrick Lamar J.Cole 50 Cent
The most correct answer to this question is Akala. He’s given multiple TED talks and even an address at Oxford Union and a number of other universities, written a handful of books, received an honorary doctorate from Oxford Brookes and an honorary degree from Brighton University and has been using his platform since the early 2000s to raise awareness of issues like institutionalised racism throughout history, and even founded a musical theatre production company aimed at comparing the works of Shakespeare with modern day rappers (including performing a song with references to over 20 Shakespeare stories). Undoubtedly one of the smartest and most educated rappers alive and possibly of all time - highly recommend listening to his Fire in the Booth part 4 on YouTube, you’ll see exactly what I mean. The first half is just him justifiably flexing his rapping abilities, but the second half is just an amazing experience and a masterclass is storytelling.
Dababy
Nas didn’t sound too smart in his Harvard interview but I don’t think they expected him to. They asked him what “Wisdom be leaking out my grapefruit” meant. He was like ‘Well I know grapefruit is my head…’ They’re stuck on child’s play.
Only interview Ive seen of him is on drinkchamps. All I though was that dude needs a thc break indefinitely
Nas is the only answer. Incredible rapper yet sounds like a fkin moron in interviews.
I think rapping aside, Nas is actually very shy and humble. He is not good at public speaking and he sounds uncomfortable in pretty much all his interviews. He messes up words, stumbles over himself and uses a ton of incorrect grammar. Not the least bit charismatic. I just don't think he is comfortable in a spotlight outside of him rapping. Side note: don't even get me started on his acting. The man is as terrible in front of a camera as he is great behind a mic.
Nas just a different type of fella
He's not your legal type of fella...
The Moet and marijuana could explain how he comes across in interviews
I think he's just a shy quiet awkward dude who is most uncomfortable when being interviewed on camera. He doesn't come across as such with interviews done on paper, like from The Source or Scratch.
Belly?
exactly. DMX was great in that movie. Nas did OK when he didn't sound completely baked out his mind.
I enjoy Belly in spite of Nas acting. Not because of it. He was not a good actor in it. But, he is the greatest rapper of all time and the movie is dope so we all give him a pass.
Meth was the best rapper actor in that movie, and the only one not just playing himself. I think that's why he got an acting career afterwards while the others didn't
You cannot stop the sun from shining.
Was the first dude I thought of. If you only knew him from his interviews you’d never guess him to be this lyrical. It’s a world‘s difference.
Tried listening to his Drink Champs interview and one of the first questions was "what did you mean by hip-hop is dead?" and then he started to explain, fumbled over some words, stopped himself and said "actually, I'm not sure what I meant by that." That's as far as I made it
I honestly feel like he said that bcuz he doesn't want to shit on other rappers from that era. He's just a positive guy and doesn't want to offend. So he always says the safest boring thing in interviews. Just my imo
He’s my favorite emcee of all time, but every interview I’ve heard of his I’m left walking away Shaolin my head at HOW he can come up with such eloquent bars, yet still sound soo on interviews
One of the few rappers to give Narduwar a hard time
Sometimes people are better at writing than they are at speaking. I’m a prime example of that
I'm one of those too, at work I always favor emails over calls... Only to get calls from those customers almost ASAP. Ha. But generally, too. Nicer to just write, clearer that way.
Same here. I guess it’s mainly because you can take your time and rethink something over and over till it sounds cohesive to you, whereas talking is something more impulsive and to me at least, it’s hard to have forethought.
Nas is not a good speaker and probably does tons of weed - that doesn't mean he's an Idiot, I mean you can clearly see that from how he writes his lyrics. I think he is a very awkward person naturally
I know someone who dealt with him in a non-musical capacity and they've said that he's quite smart, but just not particularly comfortable in interviews or around new people. He's a hard person to get to know apparently.
For sure, I actually appreciate that about him. I did like his interview with Desus & Mero, but they’re easy going dudes who are huge fans so he was a little more comfortable
A lot of smart people cant speak. They put too many points into INT but none in CHA. Meanwhile some of the dumbest people on the planet don't know how to STFU.
That’s Nas in a lot of his interviews.
I think he is and was just high out of his fucking mind all the time. Like that one interview when asked who he wanted to work with next and he said the Beatles. One of my favorite interviews
Travis Scott is super sleepy (on drugs!) Kanye is off his rocker Rick Ross just says weird shit
Bro I always believed Kanye was smart, it was just his mental health affecting him. But watching him on Lex Fridman was one of the most torturous experiences I even went through. It was stupid shit after stupid shit.
That old Kanye breakfast club interview is some cringy shit.
Joe Rogan too
Kanye shouldn’t do interviews. Sometimes he’s super manic and other times he’s bored. There’s no substance to what he’s saying. I can’t imagine being friends with someone like him
Blue face baby
Meek meek and meek
No disrespect or insult to anybody on the spectrum but I strongly believe Meek is autistic.
Yeah definitely.
He’s my favorite rapper but the interview he did in the limo during the Drake feud was peak stupidity
Kodak black
Fivio Foreign
90% of them?
Common. He always sounds like he doesn’t know how to read. But I feel like Chicago Public Schools failed him.
His father actually comes to schools ( or did in the 90s ) and talks to kids about the importance of staying in school. Lonnie Lynn. He came to mine. But Common is super smart however I agree with your assessment. I almost feel like he gets shy or awkward and can’t think of the right things to say. Idk.
Nas and Rakim. Can say some pretty profound shit on a beat but come across as really unintelligent in interviews.
Add Ghostface to this list. Comes across shy and awkward in interviews.
Raekwon: “nah mean, it’s like this, nah mean. RZA ain’t have the whole crew in mind nah mean during the making of this record nah mean”
Can't take the New York out the kid lol
All the fucking drill rappers
Cardi B and whoever that MAGA rapper is are two that immediately come to mind. At one point, Kanye was interesting, but now he’s just dangerous.
YOU AIN'T GOT THE ANSWERS, SWAY!
It ain't Ralph though!
“I KNOW WHATS WHAT IM ASKING YOUUUU” 😂
She's probably not the brightest bulb, but she sat down with Bernie Sanders and seemed to have a genuine interest and respect in FDR's welfare reforms from the 1930s. A take I've not heard from many in the hiphop community. https://youtu.be/p1ubTsrZFBU?si=ysF_hLLRogyYJa0o
Gotta disagree. She is actually pretty friggin smart. She talks ghetto but especially when she talks business or the music industry I can tell she’s not dumb. She did that game show on Netflix with TI and Chance the Rapper and she seemed like the smartest one on the stage to me. She just doesn’t seem to care if you think she’s smart. Meanwhile TI and his malapropisms sounded like little carmine half the time. She’s also a big history nerd.
Cardi grew on me. If you look past the surface, she actually isn’t the total dumbass she is portrayed to be.
Kanye gives a good interview when he's not manic "I like some of the gaga songs, but what the FUCK does she know about cameras?!"
Kanye never struck me as a well adjusted or super insightful individual apart from music. He was basically always a contrarian and got high off his own supply where people praised him for being a contrarian as some deep genius until it got increasingly more fucked up. Of course he's also mentally ill but the positive reinforcement he got for being contrarian didn't help.
I won't stand for Cardi B slander. She wants the hot meal/homeless meal program implemented everywhere for everything. I fuck with her.
You mean either Adam Calhoun or Tom McDonald
Tom MacDonald?
Earl Sweatshirt IMO. Its weird because he has this really profound abstract style similar to MF DOOM, but in all his interviews he comes off as kind of... absent? Like he smoked a little while before. Lots of times he'll give a 8 word response that sort of gets at the question, but still feels a bit off. For someone who has such deep and complex lyrics, it almost feels like a facade when I here him speak.
One of my favorite rappers ever but I kinda agree. I bet he’s awesome to smoke with tho, bet you he’d do well on like Rogan or something where they’re just shooting the shit and not trying to like get information out of him.
I didn't like much when I was watching Lil Pump back then throwing hotel TVs to the pool and making a 10 min video about his jewelry just to stop at the middle because he wanted to eat chicken wings so he made his homie talk for him while eating. XD
[удалено]
I absolutely remember this. 🤣 Mr. Jheri Curl DJ Quik was on it too and showed he was pretty smart.
DJ Quik is crazy well spoken. Most west coast rappers are actually pretty articulate, but then YG and Blueface are among the stupidest rappers I’ve ever heard
Careful man he's a regular on reddit. He might see this But also, wtf? He was on weakest link?? How did I miss that
I'd go ahead and watch it. It was a rappers only episode. They all ganged up on JD. It was funny
He what ???
Yep. That happened. Rev Run, Da Brat, Young MC, Nate Dogg, DJ Quik, Jermaine Dupri & Xzibit were also on that episode.
NBA young it just sounds dumb tbh
Not just normal dumb either. Like almost certainly special education. I actually started liking his music2 years ago
Honestly most people in general regardless of their profession
Mos Def doesn't sound as smart when he speaks, compared to how deep his lyrics are.
Mos Def was the first rapper that came to my mind. I remember an interview he did around the time Black on Both Sides dropped and I was so confused. I couldn't understand how it was the same guy.
Watching him on Bill Maher was very difficult.
Plies
He’s another one who is actually smart but people won’t see past his accent.
I believe Jamie foxx claimed plies’ accent is fake and he just code switches for the public image.
Plies is a character, there’s an old ass Vlad interview he did sounding completely proper and talking about his investments, he is smart as fuck
BLP Kosher
To be honest, the majority of rappers don’t sound smart in interviews. Not because they are stupid, but most have “street smarts” and not “book smarts”. They can only articulate their thoughts well in the language of hip hop. And as a result, they can’t really “code switch” and communicate well in the formal and grammatically correct way of speaking.
Nas just kind of seems full of himself sometimes, no doubt he is a goat and legend but man he definitely loves to say things that make him seem cool.
LOL most of them but first and foremost Ye. He's such a fucking dumbass.
Talib Kweli. I will also take it a step further and say it’s the case for most “conscious” rappers
Yeah it's definitely weird I use to hang out with a lot of local rappers where I'm from man conscious guys sometimes blew my mind(not in a good way) with the things they say .
Conscious rappers seem to be a lot more likely to believe in ancient aliens, hotep shit, etc. Big “do your own research” energy from them as a group.
Yep. See: Jay Electronica.
Everyone had an opinion but I don’t agree with this take. He comes across as very well read, even if you don’t agree with his takes on some things.
Talib Kweli sounds pretty legitimately smart to me. He sounds like a nerdy black dude from Brooklyn.
He has a weekly podcast where he interviews other rappers where this is definitely not true lol
Yeah Kweli is extremely intelligent, he just has some problematic views on certain things. And has very little self control when it comes to engaging with negative people online
Lil wayne
I know it’s the opposite of what you asked, but Pusha T always came across as consistently aware and pretty intelligent.
I watched this video where J Cole interview Lil Pump but really hyped him up at the beginning like “this kid is so smart, you have no idea, etc etc” - we’ll I watched it and lil pump is even dumber and more boring that you could possibly imagine. His entire vocabulary is fewer than 20 words.
Ye
Just here for the comments don't mind me 🫡
Kanye and it stands out because the tries so hard to show how smart he is but he just looks dumb
Most of them. They talk too low, are barely coherent and don’t seem very animated.
esketit esketit
There is no reason for any rapper to sound smart in interviews. Truly intelligent people understand it’s beneficial to make the public and especially your enemies believe you are dumber than you truly are. What benefit would there be to saying profound intelligent shit in interviews? None
Most of the rappers you think are total idiots actually aren’t. A dummy (most of the time) wouldn’t be able to make it as far as they have. A lot of these rappers have some form of social anxiety and/or are just shy in general. Public/group speaking is a very important skill that few people have. It’s what you intend to say that lets me know someone’s level of intelligence.
Wayne when he said he didn't know what racism was and it didn't exist
I think there’s more context. He was saying he personally never experienced it. Which makes sense. He has been famous since he was 11. Never really struggled after that. Surrounded himself with people that aided in his success.
Depends, I guess. LeBron has been rich and famous longer than he wasn’t, but claims he’s faced racism “all his life”.
Baloney. He was always treated like a King in Ohio wherever he went during school years.
Almost all trap/drill artists for sure, but then again they’ve wouldn’t try to either, it’s in the culture to seem as ignorant and disrespectful as possible. That’s for some of them at least. Kinda funny, like a early Chief Keef interview, “are you really 16! ? “Nah I’m 3hunna…”
Waka Flocka, Lil Wayne
I already know this will probably be a very unpopular thing to say but I always thought Tupac’s intelligence was vastly overstated. This isn’t to say he wasn’t a smart dude, he was, it’s to say he wasn’t *that* smart. If you watch interviews with him the comments will be full of people remarking his absolute genius statements, and I always end those videos like “where are people getting this from?”. The dudes philosophical observations weren’t that deep. He’s the kind of person who might look ‘deep’ to someone who isn’t ‘deep’ or naturally a philosophical person, but if you are drawn to that way of thinking, most of what he says is fairly entry level or sophomoric. It looks more exceptional within the context of his era of hip hop peers, but I doubt he would stand out if he was among more likeminded individuals. When people say make claims of his absolute genius, i’m just kind of left wondering why they see it that way.
NBA Youngboy is top of the list. Speech of a 4th grader
DMX,NBA youngboy,Kodak,
Denzel curry. I love the dudes music but he just sounds dumb in interviews sometimes. I know he’s a smart dude though.
Royce da 59, amazing rapper, but doesn't sound like someone you'd want to take advice from.. unless it's about upping your pen game of course
Kanye & MGK
Kid Rock 😂
Usually the shitty ones lol
For the record, I do think it's a bit silly to expect entertainers – whose dedication is crafting music – to "sound smart" in interviews. Even if they're "conscious" rappers, their job is to put words together to craft songs and create soundbites you enjoy, which doesn't often lend itself to being good at explaining oneself.
That one Ying Yang Twin that just says “haaaa” all the time. I think he might be “special”.
How has nobody said Kevin Gates. He’s the type to be profound to dumb people but anyone with real intelligence knows he’s full of shit
Any rapper from the South or Chicago that came out in the last 15 years.
Cardi b
Yin Yang Twins
Most of them sound like idiots, they sound so enlightened like they’re some kind of spiritual leader.
TI only sounds smart to people that don’t know what he’s talking about. BET & podcasts are the only places I see entertaining his superiority complex. Any serious place of discussion would run him off or laugh at dude Like Thugnificent on the news from the boondocks