Image via Complex Original
With so many people trying to rap these days, you'd think that rappers would enjoy feeding off each other's songs for inspiration—you know, comparing lyrics and getting motivated by the competition. Well, think again. It's actually become kind of cool for rappers to act like they don't listen to rap at all.
Why? Well, disassociating yourself from rap is not a new trend. Remember Jay-Z quipped that he wasn't a rapper back on The Blueprint. The term "rap" and "rapper" can be both both loaded and limiting. Today's MCs not only want to break through genre barriers but also be considered as moguls and influencers (and hardened real-life gangstas). In a way, all of this is similar to the way many professional athletes feel about watching sports. Once you're in the game, you can lose the passion of being a fan.
Or maybe it's just because rappers (like rap fans) think most rap sucks these days—except, of course, whatever music said rapper is peddling. Why not big up the refined styles of jazz or even indie rock instead of the tripe you hear on the radio, right? With that in mind, check out 10 Rappers Who Claim They Don't Listen To Rap.
Written by Nathan Susman (@brownnoiseblog) & Tyler Keyes (@tylerkeyes)
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Lupe Fiasco
Date: August 2008
We guess we shouldn't be surprised that the guy behind Fiascogate doesn't like rap much.
"There's a lot of stuff in hip-hop I don't like," said the Chicago rapper. "If I don't do music and I just pick a genre to listen to, I'd listen to jazz."
Lupe's love for jazz should be obvious to anyone who knows his catalog well. For example, "Life, Death & Love From San Francisco" samples John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme, Pt. 1."
Kanye West
Date: November 2008
Hip-hop has been the music of the underclass since its inception, and Kanye West understands that. As he left that underclass behind to adopt the lifestyle of the rich and famous, however, it seems like Yeezy felt it would be disengenuous to keep listening to hip-hop in his free time.
"I don't even listen to rap," he told DJ Semtex. "My apartment is too nice to listen to rap in. I have to be in a way more grimey environment to turn any rap music on."
Kanye's no stranger to the world outside of hip-hop. Over the years he has worked with everyone from folk musician Bon Iver to pop producer Jon Brion. He also cites Portishead as a key inspiration behind the string-heavy sound of his second album, Late Registration. Ah, Kanye. Always ahead of the trend.
Tyler, The Creator
Date: November 2011
If you follow Tyler on Twitter, you know that the 22-year-old rapper is fiercely devoted to the music he likes, like Toro y Moi or Tame Impala. As far as hip-hop goes, however, Tyler would rather listen to just about anything else.
"I don't really listen to rap, I just like to rap," he told SPIN. "So people were saying OF is like the new Wu-Tang. No we're not! I don't even fucking listen to Wu-Tang. I want be compared to shit I listen to." It's true—we hear Wu-Tang Clan ain't nuthin' to fuck with.
Shyne
Date: December 2011
In an interview with Time magazine, Shyne not only talked about changing his life after getting out of jail, he took the time to say he doesn't listen to hip-hop.
"I don't even want to be a rapper. I don't listen to that music," he said. "I'm a musician. I'd rather be like Bob Marley or Leonard Cohen, one of those guys."
It makes sense that he'd hold someone as great at Bob Marley in high regard, but come on, dude: To act like rappers aren't musicians is just totally unfair. Shyne might look down on rap these days, but when we first heard "Bad Boyz" it was music to our ears.
6. Lil B
Date: January 2012
During an interview with Chicago radio station 107.5 WGCI, Lil B stated, "I've taken rap 100 percent seriously for so long, that I see it now, it's a joke to me because a lot of the rap artists that are in it, they're not truly authentic."
The implication here is that Lil B doesn't mess with rap. But perhaps the bigger head-scratcher here is that he has "taken rap 100 percent seriously for so long." Word?
A$AP Ferg
Date: January 2012
A$AP Mob have always prided themselves on being the black sheep of NY's hip-hop scene, from their pescatarian diets to their fashion-forward aesthetic. A$AP Ferg has taken it a step further by claiming that he doesn't listen to hip-hop, at all.
"I don't listen to rap music because I don't want to sound like nobody," he told Blowhiphoptv. "And I don't listen to hip-hop because it doesn't give me that love, I don't feel that soul." So what does he listen to? We're guessing dancehall, at least judging by his last joint.
2 Chainz
Date: July 2012
Not only does 2 Chainz not listen to rap, but he also relates to those that despise it. "For me, on my off time, I never listen to rap. I can see why people don't even like rap," the Atlanta rapper said in an interview. And why might that be, Tity Boi?
DMX
Date: September 2012
In 2012, The Darkman crawled up from out of the volcano he lives in, shielded his eyes against the bright sun, and told MTV that he doesn't listen to rap anymore—or really any music at all.
When asked about the younger artists who he thinks are really doing it, DMX said, "I'm going to be honest, I don't listen to the radio. So I really wouldn't know who the new artists are and what the new artists are doing." And yet, DMX still found time to call Drake "a fucking piece of shit" after he heard Drizzy was working on Aaliyah's posthumous album without Timbaland and Missy Elliot.
Angel Haze
Date: January 2013
Angel Haze has always drawn from a bevy of inspirations. She's logged studio time with Arcade Fire producer Marcus Dravs and sampled the late Gil Scott-Heron's "NY Is Killing Me." So when the BBC asked her what she listens to in her free time, her answer was hardly surprising: "I don't even really like rap music. I listen to Flyleaf, I listen to Gotye, I listen to some French composers. I don't limit myself to one kind of music because, if I did, I would just make that kind of music."
Angel Haze's swag is very much "former captain of her high school's slam poetry team," so we guess her musical taste makes sense.
Issa Dash (of The Underachievers)
Date: February 2013
Longtime music fiends who refuse to pay for music remember when Limewire was popping. Issa Dash does, and his P2P phase was responsible for introducing him to a lot of music. Earlier this year, in an interview with Complex, he claimed he never explored hip-hop much beyond the Souls of Mischief and Company Flow albums he was digging as a teenager.
"I stopped listening to rap personally around the age of 14. After that, it was just no more rap. I'm not into rap, really [anymore]." It's a bummer to hear, but at least it's safe to say those seminal acts made an impact on the Underachievers' style. Besides, there's enough rappers who want to sound like Jay Z already.