In the hip-hop community, selling out means changing your ways or turning your back on
your roots, all in the name of success.
While this was once a major faux pas for rappers, it's become a reality of today's musical climate.
And so we ask: Did these rappers sell their souls for a paycheck?
Black protest and the NFL have long been wrapped up together, ever since the days of all-white
teams, segregated stadiums, and fan and player boycotts.
In 2016, quarterback Colin Kaepernick added a new notch on the protest belt by choosing
not to stand for the National Anthem ahead of a game.
He later addressed his decision, stating:
"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black
people and people of color."
As The Undefeated detailed, Kaepernick started a movement.
Though he was essentially blackballed from the league, he inspired protests and helped
people elevate a dialogue about systemic racism and police violence and brutality against
black people.
That's why it was such a shock when Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, rapper and icon in the black
community, teamed up with the NFL.
"My speaking out brought about a conversation, which brought about a conversation that led
to a partnership."
In 2019, the NFL announced a partnership with Carter.
The rapper would help with the league's social justice efforts, but not everyone was thrilled
with the move, according to Vox.
Though Jay-Z supported Kaepernick's efforts in the past, many criticized the rapper for
jumping on Kaepernick's movement without properly acknowledging it.
However, Jay-Z later defended the deal by telling NBC News:
"I think we've moved past kneeling...I think it's time to go into actionable items."
Despite being one of the most successful groups in music, the Black Eyed Peas faced more than
their share of criticism.
In 2011, NPR called the group "Pop's Punching Bag" and stated that the band was:
"...the pop entity that most aggressively embodies the spirit of late capitalism, a
post-human quartet whose music is indistinguishable from advertising jingles and whose image has
been ingeniously designed to appeal to all markets: part marionette, part video game,
part sex toy."
For some, the notion of selling out should be reserved for groups like the Black Eyed
Peas, which became known for product placement and branding without actually needing to raise
its profile, promote a new project, or simply because it was ironic.
As Slate suggested:
"These insatiable revenue-bots are just raking in more coin."
In hindsight, it's interesting to note that this is the same group who once rapped in
the song "Bringing it Back" that they were "the only crew that came original" and others
are, "only designed for pop charts."
What was that line from The Dark Knight?
"You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
It didn't take long for Macklemore to change his stripes.
For most of the world, the rapper rose to fame with "Thrift Shop," a song which promoted
saving money and shopping wisely.
Soon after, the single "Wing$" promoted a similar anti-consumerist message by criticizing
Nike.
In the song, Macklemore states:
"My movement told me 'be a consumer, and I consumed it."
Yet, while the song's lyrics may be critical of consumerism and the messages promoted by
shoe companies and supporters, it appears that Macklemore became more concerned about
consistent money than a consistent message.
When the NBA approached him to be part of an All-Star Game ad in 2013, the rapper agreed.
Macklemore performed "Wing$" in the commercial but the end result was an entirely different
song with much of its anti-consumerist elements criticizing shoe culture erased.
In fact, the last line of the track was changed altogether.
The original lyrics told a story about shoes that cost more than $100, and how consumption
comes all too naturally.
Then a realization:
"Now I see it's just another pair of shoes."
But in the pro-shoe and NBA ad, Macklemore edited his own lyrics to say that those hundred
dollar shoes were, "gonna make [him] fly."
For years, Chance the Rapper carved out his own niche by releasing music outside of the
traditional labels.
He's been celebrated for the fact that his music was released for free.
He told Vanity Fair in 2017:
"After I made my second mixtape and gave it away online, my plan was to sign with a label
and figure out my music from there.
But after meeting with the three major labels, I realized my strength was being able to offer
my best work to people without any limit on it."
After releasing his first two albums on SoundCloud, Chance posted his third album, Coloring Book,
on Apple Music two weeks prior to it hitting the usual platform.
Though it was available for free through Apple Music, many questioned how independent the
move really was, which inspired the rapper to come clean about his financial arrangements.
Chance tweeted in March 2017:
"Now that more people have tried to discredit my independence.
I want to clear things up.
@apple gave me half a mil and a commercial to post Coloring Book exclusively on applemusic
for 2 weeks."
Unfortunately for Chance, it wasn't just his DIY format that was called into question.
Even his musical content was later thrown into sellout territory, as some critics felt
about his fourth album and first studio release, 2019's The Big Day.
According to Merry-Go-Round Magazine, Chance went:
"...from agreeable bad boy to vapid pop festival staple."
He's also quite the philanthropist, so maybe being a pop festival staple has its perks.
"If you don't remember, last time I was here, I gave one million dollars to Chicago Public
Schools."
MC Hammer is often considered to be one of hip-hop's first sellouts.
He was one of the first to have major endorsements, commercials, and even had a cartoon.
It wasn't so much the extracurricular activities that drew criticism for Hammer, but rather
his success in the pop world that led to the term, quote, "sellout" being lobbied about.
Rolling Stone once stated,
"Over the past year, many hip-hop stars have openly shown disrespect for, or 'dissed',
Hammer's musical style, his lyrics and his new-found pop success."
Yet, Hammer wasn't too bothered by the criticism back then.
He commented:
"There's jealousy and envy because my records have not only sold to the black market but
also to the pop market.
My competitors are dumbfounded and my success has confused them, especially those who thought
their style and images were superior.
It's not the fact that anybody hates Hammer or hates his music, they hate the change."
However, it appears that Hammer's ill-fated transition from rap to pop became par for
the course for many of the industry's most successful rappers today.
For much of Ice Cube's multi-decade career, he was known as a hard core west coast rapper.
The N.W.A.-turned-solo rapper was an original, and was involved in some of rap's most vicious
beefs.
The Orlando Sentinel stated Ice Cube had:
"...a chip on his shoulder and...a sneer that could curdle blood."
But the rough exterior of Ice Cube's well-worn persona softened.
His acting choices, which started with Boyz N the Hood, also changed.
Ice Cube said in a 1991 interview with The New York Times:
"You won't see me in no action-adventure pictures because acting is a side thing for me."
Obviously he couldn't have predicted he would become more actor than rapper one day, appearing
in movies like 2005 action-thriller XXX: State of the Union.
But Ice Cube's most unlikely on-screen choice probably came when he landed the lead role
in Are We There Yet?
Though he jokingly called his cuddly persona in the family film, quote, "good acting,"
the actor-rapper told the Orlando Sentinel that he didn't see this shift as selling out,
but rather a sign that he was simply showing more of his true self:
"It registers with a lot of people that I'm trying to have a new image."
It was always going to be a challenge for K'Naan to build on his massive hit, "Wavin'
Flag," from his 2009 album Troubadour.
The song was one of the anthems of that year and was taken on by Coca-Cola during the FIFA
World Cup in 2010.
Known for lyrics that highlighted the struggles of his life as a youth in war-torn Somalia,
the rapper planned to continue speaking honestly about his life in his music.
But in a 2012 opinion piece written for The New York Times, K'Naan detailed how he was
convinced to change the thrust of his music to cater to an American audience.
He stated:
"When I write from the deepest part of my heart, my advisers say, I remind people too
much of Somalia, which I escaped as a boy.
My audience is in America, so my songs should reflect the land where I have chosen to live
and work."
In a quest for success, the rapper listened.
He changed many of the topics of his songs and even the names of some characters.
It unfortunately left K'Naan with music he didn't recognize after leaving his Somalian
roots behind.
He wrote:
"I had made an album in which a few genuine songs are all but drowned out by the loud
siren of ambition.
Fatima had become Mary, and Mohammed, Adam."
When Travis Scott was named as one of the headliners of the 2019 Super Bowl halftime
show, it caused quite the stir in the hip-hop and black community.
According to The Daily Beast, Scott's agreement to perform alongside Adam Levine stood in
direct contrast with those who stood in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick and had refused the
Big Game gig.
The criticisms came flooding in and according to Variety, Jay-Z reportedly pressured Scott
to reconsider.
Shortly after the controversy hit, Variety suggested that Scott consulted with Kaepernick
about the performance.
However, Nessa Diab, Kaepernick's longtime girlfriend, posted a series of tweets disputing
those claims.
This included one post that pictured the dictionary definition of, quote, "sellout," stating:
"If you are with them, then you are definitely not with us."
When Nicki Minaj announced that she would be performing in Angola in 2015, she drew
some criticism because the show was funded by the communications company Unitel, an organization
owned in part by the ruling controversial dos Santos family.
Thor Halvorssen, the president of the Human Rights Foundation, released a statement questioning
her decision.
He stated to The New York Times:
"Nicki Minaj is a global artist.
There is no good reason for her to do business with the corrupt Angolan dictatorship and
endorse the ruler's family company."
According to The National Post, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, the president of Angola at the
time, had been accused of numerous instances of corruption and human rights abuse.
Halvorssen criticized Minaj's complacency, stating:
"Minaj's payday is all the more jarring given that she joined the chorus of the Black Lives
Matter movement.
It appears that when those black lives happen to be in Angola they matter less than a pay
cheque from a dictator."
Minaj wouldn't be persuaded.
She did, however, send out a tweet in response to the criticism, writing:
"Every tongue that rises up against me in judgement shall be condemned."
It's quite possible that Kanye West was unfamiliar with the works of Kazakhstan's President Nursultan
Nazarbayev when he was offered $3 million to perform at the leader's grandson's wedding
in 2013.
So, he went and performed at the ceremony and made little noise about it.
When a video of the performance was posted to social media, however, the rapper's decision
generated some controversy.
Thor Halvorssen, the president of the Human Rights Foundation, was particularly vocal
about it.
In a statement to NPR, Halvorssen said:
"Kazakhstan is a human rights wasteland.
The regime crushes freedom of speech and association; someone like Kanye, who makes a living expressing
his views, would find himself in a prison under Nazarbayev's rule."
While the rapper didn't let human rights get in the way of his show, not all performers
were as forgiving.
In 2011, Sting cancelled a scheduled performance in Kazakhstan, after it was revealed to him
that striking oil workers in the country were detained unfairly.
In a statement to the BBC, Sting said:
"Hunger strikes, imprisoned workers and tens of thousands on strike represents a virtual
picket line which I have no intention of crossing."
While Kanye's 2013 performance wasn't the first in his many, many controversial career
moments, it's not one that's been completely forgotten.
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