S. Samuel
With lyrics coming back to the forefront courtesy of rappers like Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole, SOHH recently chopped it up with Mobb Deep's Prodigy about what goes into his bars.
According to Capital P, he has developed a knack for letting the music reflect his life.
“I mean all of my song lyrics are from my real life. We coined the phrase “reality rap”. That’s our phrase that we called it many years ago. So when I write my songs, I talk about my real life, what’s going on in my life, the ups, the downs, when I’m in love, when I’m angry, when I feel good, when I’m just chilling,” P told SOHH. “I put it all into the music because everybody don’t want to be angry all day.” (SOHH)
Prodigy also stressed the importance of connecting to Mobb Deep’s fans.
“Music matches with your emotions, sometimes you want to hear a cool out song, sometimes you want to hear a love-hate song, a relationship song or sometimes you want to hear some drama, some hood drama,” P added. “It all kinds of depends on the kind of mood that you are in and the fan is. So I try to make my albums like that, touch on all the emotions that they go through and regular day to day life.” (SOHH)
Last year, Bad Boy Records’ French Montana said he would rather trade lyrical bars for catchy records.
“Obviously, I don’t be trying to get lyrical,” Montana said in an interview. “It’s not a secret. I just make music. I love the feeling. I wake up feeling f*cked up, I’ll make a f*cked up song. I will go through one thing that somebody else will go through and just be like, yo, my fans will grow to love me, ‘He’s going through what I’m going through.’ I feel like that’s how you get the core audience. That’s why I feel like my sh*t is the best because it’s my life. I’m not perpetrating, I’m not saying sh*t to sound good, I found a way to make my life and my music and people love it.” (Xclusives Zone)
Back in 2010, Atlanta’s Soulja Boy Tell Em said he had no interest in being a lyrical emcee.
In XXL’s November 2010 issue, on stands now, SB tells us he has grown as an MC. “I can’t keep playin’ around, because if you keep playin’ around, people are gonna think you’re a joke,” he said in the piece, written by contributor Matt Barone. “At some point, you have to get serious.” But don’t get it twisted, Soulja doesn’t wanna be the next Lupe Fiasco. “I don’t want to be super-Lupe-Fiasco-lyrical and n*ggas don’t know what the f*ck I’m talking about,” he added. “I want to be the best,” he continued. “I want to be recognized in that category where I’m nominated for Best Rapper with Jay-Z and Kanye and Wayne. I wanna get a Grammy. I want Best Rap Album of the Year… I’ve made millions of dollars off of doing my style, but, hey, I can rap, too.” (XXL Magazine)
