S. Samuel
With celebrities latching themselves onto social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, SOHH recently reached out to West Coast rap veteran WC to find out how he has adapted to the changing times.
WC said he does not find himself addicted to social networking but admits all artists need some type of viral presence to strive these days.
“It’s crazy because we don’t have time to sit up all day and be on a f*cking computer, Twitter and sh*t like that. But you have to surround yourself with a team and find some time or some kind of way to check in and see what’s going on,” WC told SOHH about social media. “It’s unfortunate but it’s what it is right now. It went from being hands-on out here talking with people at concerts and on the radio outlets to being on the computer. It’s crazy because that’s where people are at with it. The first thing people do when they wake up in the morning is go in and see the latest news. It’s crazy because it used to be a point and time when you would get that from the video stations and listen out to it on the radio.” (SOHH)
In May 2011, rap veteran Kool G Rap said he sways away from investing too much time into social networking.
“I can’t really get with it, you know…to me what people [are] doing is basically putting a camera in their house and giving to the public,’ Kool G explained in an interview. “I mean, I can’t do that, you know what I mean. It’s like, I got G. Rap, that’s for my fans, that’s for the public. Who I am behind closed doors and my family or myself is something that I keep for myself. That’s part of the old school of me I can’t let go…I got people that are constantly promoting on Twitter and Facebook…Once in a while I do my personal thing here and there, especially when it’s like people I’m shouting [out] that I have a relationship with, or there’s somewhat of an acquaintance.” (All Hip Hop)
In December 2010, Young Money’s Drake credited the power of such media outlets for helping jump-start his career.
“Initially, I think I just didn’t know what would happen,” Drake recalls. “I was this rapper with a little bit of buzz, the internet was taking over, and I didn’t know the power of the internet at that point. The true power of social networking and the things we are so emmersed in now. There wasn’t an artist that had been 100% birthed from that outlet and I think to be discovered on MySpace, how I was found, and for it to somehow reach Wayne’s ears and for him to feel so confident about it and call me and to release a mixtape on the internet again and have a record somehow go #1 off a mixtape using the internet as a tool. It was all amazing because it was all a first, I can’t remember that happening in my day. Even if you think of 50 [Cent], [Kanye West], and [Young] Jeezy, I remember having hard copies of all of those tapes. I remember it being more about the radio.” (Global Grind)
Grammy-award winning rapper, Lupe Fiasco, previously stated that he is not a fan of the Internet.
“Sometimes I wish I never found the internet. Sometimes I regret getting a laptop and Wi-Fi for logging into the internet because it is such a distraction. If you have any addictive personality, the internet will magnify it. You have to be careful on the internet. You’ll look up and be like, ‘D*mn, it’s been six hours.’ I’m still trying to figure out a way to take [web browser] Safari off my laptop. With the blogs, it’s like high school. I wasn’t the most popular person in high school, it was like 50/50. Some people liked me, some people didn’t, some people really didn’t f*ck with me.” (XXL Mag)
Check out some recent WC footage below:
