S. Samuel
Southern rapper Waka Flocka Flame recently discussed his stance on lyrical dexterity, and said he still does not feel motivated to kick complex rhymes.
Flocka believes his love for music outweighs an urge to perfect his rhymes on records.
“I don’t feel like I’m no lyricist. I’m not in the booth trying to godd*mn rap big words,” Flocka explained in an interview. “I’m not tryin’ to show off my intelligence. Anybody could memorize big words, put ’em together. I could do that. But if I don’t use the words on an everyday basis, why use the words in my rap? I just like music. I’m a lover of making music. It could be a big record, small record–as long as I’m making songs. One day it’ll pop; that’s how I look at it. Yeah. What I did in one year–one year–a lot of people accomplish in 10 years. A lot of people don’t like that. They feel I don’t deserve what I got. I’m a hard-a** worker. And I’m here for a reason. This sh*t ain’t luck. I don’t believe in luck.” (RESPECT)
Earlier this year, Flocka said he did not place a large emphasis on rap lyrics.
Waka Flocka phoned into Whoo Kid‘s show on Shade 45 yesterday (February 13) to talk about his music projects, visiting Gucci and being lyrically deficient. In fact, he says the most lyrical rappers are the ones that aren’t making the most money. And for those who are wondering who penned Diddy‘s verse, Waka says it was Diddy himself. (Rap Radar)
A few months ago, SOHH talked to Twista about co-signing Flocka, and why he chose to feature him on his new album, The Perfect Storm.
“The connection with a Twista and Waka, people think lyrics,” Twista told SOHH. “So they’re thinking, ‘How did he…?,’ but the connection with me and Waka is the street vibe. Waka Flocka’s vibe and the stuff he talks about reminds me of my hood, the city of Chicago. So my vibe with him is more so on a street level and I kind of vibe with him on a street level. I also understand we’re in different times. I know if an artist picks up a pen and tries to write something, he’s definitely trying to make something. So when I hear music, I feel like I can sometimes hear the artistry in music faster than other people. Some people have to wait for a song to blow up to realize an artist has potential, but when I hear him, I hear a hood n*gga having fun. [laughs] That’s my whole vibe with it. That’s my connection with him, I felt like I connected with him on that street level rather than his rhymes or whether he could rap. I pride myself in being able to make a song with anybody, so we got it in and did what we did.” (SOHH)
Rapper Soulja Boy Tell Em recently explained why he also chose not to be to be “super lyrical”.
“[XXL Magazine] didn’t [publish] my whole statement. And basically, the interviewer dude, he was asking me why do I make lyrical songs like ‘Only God Knows,’ ‘Born’… ‘The World So Cold,’ and why do I make non-lyrical songs like ‘Crank That’ and ‘Pretty Boy Swag?’ And he was like, why don’t I just be lyrical all the time? And I was telling him on [a] specific song, like ‘Pretty Boy Swag,’ I ain’t wanna be all lyrical. I just wanted to be straight-up, and just be simple, [so] people can get what I’m saying ’cause it’s a club song. But I wasn’t saying as far as my whole music [output, with] all of my songs, that I don’t wanna be rappin’ like Lupe Fiasco. And they took it the wrong way, or whatever, and they blew it up. But I don’t even care, ’cause controversy sells. And when that hit, Lupe hit me up and he was like, ‘Yo man, what’s up?’ I was like, ‘Nah man, they just blew it outta proportion. I actually was giving you compliments.’ And after that we chopped it up. We ’bout to do a song [together].” (Hip Hop DX)
Check out some recent Waka Flocka Flame footage below:
