Ghostwriting
- Thread starter Goldie
- Start date
konceptjones
The one between three and three.
Yes, 'cause it was unnecessary.
I look at it like this:
from '91-'93 me and my boy were trying to get on. We would sit off writing rhymes and shit but I was good for writing whole songs, with his parts and everything in addition to making beats. Thing was, it was unnecessary 'cause dude was a competent lyricist in his own right so those verses didn't sound like him, they sounded like me trying to think like he did and it didn't come off as genuine.
A true lyricist stands on his own, those are his words, his heart being recorded. Anything less and the shit ain't you; it ain't real.
LUCIEN
I hate getting punched in the head
This is true. I already put Big Boi over 3k. No solo albums and he didn't even write his own verses? Anybody saying he's goat tier is getting roasted
Its different if two members are in a group.
I remember reading a Run DMC interview back in the 80s where one of the members said that usually one person would write the whole song and they'd record the song taking turns where Run would say one line and DMC would say the next line, but only one of them wrote it.
It makes sense if you're in an official group. Take The Lox for example; Like if Jadakiss wrote a whole song for the group and told Styles P to say this part and Sheek Louch to say another part. I don't see anything wrong with that.
Even if you got an unsigned rapper in your crew that comes up with a hot 16. It wouldn't make sense for the unsigned rapper to spit the 16 because he doesn't have a record deal. But it would make sense for the signed rapper to say that verse. It wouldn't make sense for a hot verse to go to waste so the rapper with the record deal says it. Makes sense to me.
But when you compare a group like Run DMC to Salt N Pepa, in theory Run DMC wrote their own material while Salt N Pepa had ghostwriters (Hurbie Luvbug is said to have produced and written all of Salt N Pepa's albums). I'd have to rate Run DMC above Salt N Pepa because they used ghostwriters.
I remember reading a Run DMC interview back in the 80s where one of the members said that usually one person would write the whole song and they'd record the song taking turns where Run would say one line and DMC would say the next line, but only one of them wrote it.
It makes sense if you're in an official group. Take The Lox for example; Like if Jadakiss wrote a whole song for the group and told Styles P to say this part and Sheek Louch to say another part. I don't see anything wrong with that.
Even if you got an unsigned rapper in your crew that comes up with a hot 16. It wouldn't make sense for the unsigned rapper to spit the 16 because he doesn't have a record deal. But it would make sense for the signed rapper to say that verse. It wouldn't make sense for a hot verse to go to waste so the rapper with the record deal says it. Makes sense to me.
But when you compare a group like Run DMC to Salt N Pepa, in theory Run DMC wrote their own material while Salt N Pepa had ghostwriters (Hurbie Luvbug is said to have produced and written all of Salt N Pepa's albums). I'd have to rate Run DMC above Salt N Pepa because they used ghostwriters.
LUCIEN
I hate getting punched in the head
That makes sense. At the same time, bands like Metallica, Megadeth, and The Beatles usually only have 1 or 2 songwriters who do everything. If more traditional bands do it we should give some slack to groups.
Solo artists still going to get critiqued on it tho
konceptjones
The one between three and three.
Nah dawg. If you write it, you spit it. Unsigned or not that's yours to drop. Think about Live at the BBQ; Nas was unsigned, went up first and ripped it. Can you imagine Large Professor saying that verse?
AZ was unsigned when he dropped a verse on "Life's a Bitch", Red Hot Lover Tone (aka "Tone" from Trackmasters) was unsigned when he did "Back to the Grill", Mos Def did the intro and a guest verse on Da Bush Babee's album "Gravity", and a whole lotta unknowns got their chance to shine spittin their first 16 on a track that their homeboy with a deal put them on. In fact, that's pretty much standard issue in hip hop: "I got on, I'mma get you a verse on a track to help you get put on".
I'm sure there's thousands of cases when a member of the crew wrote a hot verse but for whatever reason the leader of the crew ended up saying it because it just made more sense at the time. That doesn't make the leader of the crew wack, it just means that one of his homies wrote a hot verse and he said it. It makes perfect sense if you think about it. Also, consider that the leader of the crew is 6 feet tall and muscular with tattoos and the cat who wrote the verse is 5'5" skinny and wears glasses. It makes more sense for the leader to say the verse.
konceptjones
The one between three and three.
nah, shits wack. The words you spit should be your own. It never makes sense that you write a verse and somebody else spits it. Anything less is just lazy.
I mean... I can see some shit like Eazy E or Dre, 'cause neither of them were ever claiming to be MC's like that. Yeah they rapped and alladat, but Eazy was the label owner and Dre was just the producer and DJ. Cube, Ren, D.O.C., and Arabian Prince were the actual MC's in NWA.
Ain't nobody moving shit for Scarface.
He ain't considered GOAT for his Geto Boys shit, he in the top 5/10 for his solo work. Now point me in the direction of somebody who wrote those verses for him.
Natural Born Sinners
Active Member
I agree w this. I'm not knocking anyone for how they feel about ghostwriting. But I'm not looking at a rapper as a true rapper if they got a lyric sweatshop going on. I'll even still buy and support they music. But my view on them just change. Is like finding out the favorite dish your girl make ain't from scratch. Ima still fuck w it when she make it, but ima look at her different everytime she whipping up in the kitchen lol
konceptjones
The one between three and three.
precisely this analogy.
Your girl put lasagna in front of you and shit is bangin. You like "damn, she really put some effort into this dinner for us, she must really be feelin' a bruh. Then you offer to take the garbage out for her and you see the Stouffers box and a box for some Texas Toast garlic bread. Whole perspective on the meal changes. Yeah it tasted good but it ain't "her". There was no effort other then to take the shits out of the box and turn the oven on.
It take little effort to say some shit someone else wrote and these days these ghostwriters are even doing reference tracks so now the words ain't yours and neither is the flow and cadence.
This some ole Stouffer's heat and eat rap shit.
